Russia: State Violence Against Children Russian NGOs’ Written Contribution to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Day of General Discussion

1 Committee on the Rights of the Child Day of General Discussion State Violence Against Children Friday, 22 September 2000 – OHCHR (Palais Wilson, Geneva) Submission by Russian NGOs 2 Russia: State Violence Against Children Russian NGOs’ Written Contribution to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Day of General Discussion, 22 September 2000 1. Introduction A year ago, on 23 September 1999, Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) considered 2-nd Russian State Periodical Report on the Implementation of the Convention of the Rights of the Child in 1993-1998. As representatives of the Coalition of Russian NGOs – authors of the Alternative Report to CRC - we participated in this Session as observers. And we can witness that The Head and members of Russian State Delegation, answering plenty of most difficult questions of CRC members, acknowledged existence of tragic problems, admitted that Russia did not fulfill most of previous (1993) CRC recommendations, and declared that: «Following documents of Russian Government are being prepared now: - Decree on the establishment in Russia of the position of CHILDREN OMBUDSMAN; - Decree on creation of a system of independent PUBLIC INSPECTIONS WITHOUT PRELIMINARY WARNING aimed at supervision of observation of rights of children in Children institutions; - The legislative initiatives on JUVENILE JUSTICE; - Program of realization of the RIGHT OF THE CHILD FOR THE FAMILY, in particular of DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION of orphans, creation for them alternative family care». These priorities were also named in certain articles of the CRC Concluding Observations to Russia’s State Periodical Report (08.10.1999; UN Document ¹ CRC/C/15/Add.110). Immediately after this most important document was publicized Amnesty International issued a Statement demanding from Russian Government to fulfill UN CRC recommendations, to stop tortures and mistreatment of minors in police, to cease inhumane and degrading treatment of inmates in State Children institutions, to establish juvenile justice etc. «Right of Child» presented Russian translation of the CRC «Concluding Observations» at the joint with the UN Information Center in Moscow press-conference dedicated to the International Human Rights Day, 10.12.1999. «Alternative Report» Coalition of Russian NGOs directed CRC «Concluding Observations», together with detailed proposals of urgent reforms, to many State officials including President Putin on the eve of the Special March 2, 2000 Session of Russian Government dedicated to orphans and problems of childhood. We must witness that regardless of many efforts, including personal efforts of the members of Russian State Delegation to the CRC Session on September 23, 1999, nothing essential was done in Russia so far to fulfill CRC recommendations. Meanwhile situation in many aspects even deteriorated. Having in mind the unique capabilities of Russian Government to ignore its obligations and to forget its promises we, when presenting in February 1999 «Alternative Report» to CRC, expressed an idea of Russia’s Annual Intermediate Reports to CRC – as an additional tool to monitor implementation of CRC recommendations. Events (or absence of events) of the last year showed most transparently that this idea was quite actual. 3 2. Some aspects of violence against children by action or inaction of Russian State agents and agencies Children population of Russia decreased in 1995-99 by 3.625 thousands people; at the beginning of 1999 it was 34.9 million children (under age of majority 18 years). During first 6 months of 2000 623 thousand people were born in Russia and 1.146 thousand died (from them died 9.9 thousand children under age of 1 year). Only 20% of pregnancies and deliveries may be considered as physiologically normal; there are more than a million handicapped children in Russia. About 2.5 million children do not study anywhere. Social orphanhood, children delinquency, homelessness and neglect continue to grow, which is considered in many statements, including statements of top State officials, as a sort of national catastrophe. Number of orphans in Russia reached 650 thousand, 95% from them are so called «social orphans» whose parents are alive but abandoned the child or were deprived of their parental rights; about 200 thousand orphans are living in State institutions, most of others – in the families of close relatives. Number of street children is less definite but even more frightening: according to the «Information…» presented to the Government by General Prosecution Office in September 1999 this number is estimated as «several million». Number of children who escaped from their families saving himself from violence of parents is 50 thousand per year; number of children who escaped from State institutions is about 15 thousand per year. Life constantly sets examples of violence towards inmates of the small «closed societies» of Russian State institutions. Situation in the institutions for handicapped children (there are living 30 thousand children) as it was described in the 1998 Human Rights Watch Report «Abandoned to the State. Cruelty and Neglect in Russian Orphanages» did not change since then regardless of all public criticism. The special issue is State violence against children during military conflict in Chechnya. Nevertheless the roots of this tragedy are common with causes of many other violations of human rights – they are lack of transparency and lack of accountability of executive bureaucracy. 3. Root causes and possible remedies Root causes of the dramatic situation are not financial or economical but the institutional ones – we insist on this main conclusion of the Alternative Report and we insist that implementation of the CRC recommendations would be a best remedy to improve the situation. - Considering children-delinquents cases by investigators, persecutors and judges working with adults makes real harm to children and to the society; Russia urgently needs juvenile justice which also incorporates corrective-rehabilitation priorities (see Articles 67-69 of the CRC «Concluding Observations»). - Mechanisms of considering complaints of children were not created. Cruelty in police towards minors suspected in crime, cruelty towards inmates of orphanages or corrective institutions root in absence of proper responsibility of State agents strengthened by actual closeness of the institutions. Special attention must be paid to children-delinquents - inmates of correction institution. According to the Council of Europe demands Russia in 1999 moved penitentiary institutions from Ministry of Interior to Ministry of Justice. However beginning from January 2000 Ministry of Justice severely limited possibility for representatives of human rights NGOs to visit children - inmates of corrective institutions; and this of course resulted in additional gross violations of rights of minors. Again we see that there is urgent need in creation of a system of independent supervision of observation of rights of children. That is why establishing of the Children Ombudsman position (Article 9 of the CRC «Concluding Observations») and creation 4 of a system of independent unannounced inspections of children institutions (Article 39 of the «Concluding Observations» ) would be a good remedy against VIOLENCE WITH ACTION exerted against children by State officials. - Growth of social orphanhood and of child neglect also has institutional roots which may be called «VIOLENCE WITH INACTION» by responsible State officials. Sasha Belyakov, 7 years old boy from Moscow, during 1.5 months in the Fall of 1999 asked different State agents «Please take me from my mother» (his mother became an alchoholic and totally neglected the child); he was ignored by authorities (not by neighbours who fed him), none of the authorities even visited the apartment where child lived under terrible condidions; after all neglected child burned in a fire in the apartment. 15-years old boy Petr Kalinin from the rural settlement Kubansky in Krasnodarsky Krai (North Caucuses) hanged himself after a year of his vain requests to authorities to take him from his alchoholic father who tortured and beat him; there were 9 children in this family, this boy was the eldest, now parents (mother is heavy drunkard as well) are torturing the other 8 children while there is terrible inaction of authorities – inaction regardless of child’s suicide, regardless of the publications about it in the local newspapers. With few exceptions that’s the way the whole country lives. We know not a single case of the authorities unwillingness or incapability to assist girls involved in prostitution business, including HIV-infected girls. The new law «On the Prevention of Child Delinquency and Neglect» (passed by the Parliament in July 1999) vastly deteriorated the situation since it forbade to police to take homeless children from the streets (police was permitted to take only children-delinquents). The direct follow up of this law was inaction of policemen towards children in the most vulnerable circumstances. (On the August 23 there was special raid of Moscow police aimed at the search of homeless children; from 225 found children 189 were sent back to street without any assistance; 27 were supposed delinquents and 9 were returned to the orphanages where they escaped from). Changing of priorities of work of local Guardianship authorities from the existing inaction combined in some cases with institutionalization of the child to active social work aimed at saving and providing family environment for the child would be a remedy from the «national catastrophe» (see Articles 27, 32, 36-38 of the «Concluding Observations»). Leaving the child without protection in extremely difficult family situation or harmful institutionalization of the child are two sides of one and the same Russian decease. «Right of Child» and «Association of Child Psychiatrists and Psychologists» are now carrying on such an institutional reform of the local Guardianship authorities in the Novgorod Region in frames of the Pilot-Project initiated and supported by the American NGO «Kidsave International» which has a motto «Because Every Child Needs a Family». This work is fulfilled in cooperation with Ministry of Education and it became possible thanks to positive position of Governor of the Novgorod Region Michael Prusak and thanks to the Children Ombudsman of the Novgorod Region Nadezhda Lisitsina. This Pilot-Project is the initial part of the Kidsave International Program aimed at finalizing harmful institutionalization of children in the World to the year 2025. 4. Blind Alleys of 2000 and How to Overcome Them A) Juvenile Justice. Russian Delegation in Geneva on September 23, 1999 told the truth: package of the laws on juvenile justice was presented to newly elected State Duma in the beginning of 2000 and was positively considered in its Committees. Unfortunately and totally unexpectedly new Government formed by Vladimir Putin in the beginning of May 2000 directed to Parliament Negative Testimonial to these laws signed by Deputy Chairman of the Government 5 Viktor Khristenko (Document #1591p-P4, 18.05.2000). Negative attitude of the Government was motivated by the absence of financial resources in State Budget-2000 supposed for creation of juvenile courts etc. We note that this motivation makes no sense since adoption of the juvenile justice laws would inevitably take time and hence it has nothing to do with State Budget-2000. At the «Right of Child» press-conference dedicated to the International Children Day, June 1, we said that this position of Vladimir Putin's new Government is an open disrespect to UN and to CRC, and that this is a tragedy for Russian children. We ask all the interested personalities and organizations to appeal to Russian president with a request to change attitude of Russian Government to juvenile justice from the negative to the positive one. B) Federal Children Commissioner (Ombudsman) and right of the child for the family. Above mentioned March 2, 2000 special session of the Russian Government dedicated to problems of orphans etc. did not make any decisions (media just cited Vladimir Putin words: «We must build new family politics»); but it was given an assignment to the Ministry of Education to draft the necessary Decision of the Government – in particular: on establishing of the Russian Children Ombudsman, on the family oriented reform of the local Guardianship authorities, and on deinstitutionalization of orphans. This was half a year ago; however no decisions were made so far. «Right of Child» and «Association of Child Psychiatrists and Psycologists» working together with Kidsave International in frames of the above mentioned deinstitutionalization Pilot-Project in the Novgorod Regon elaborated the «Rights of Children» model draft law for Russian region which incorporates in particular «Right of the Child for the Family» reform of local Guardianship authorities. We hope that by working directly with separate Russian regions will be possible to overcome Federal level dead alleys. We shall be grateful for any support and cooperation which can help in fulfilling this work. C) Unannounced Public Inspections of Children Institutions. Transparency. It is not an easy task to protect child in the institution where he/she is totally dependent on representatives of administration. The simple law is at function: the more criticism of violation of rights of children – the more closed become the institutions. Perhaps unannounced inspections are the only way to make institution transparent to the extent sufficient to prevent violence towards its inmates. And this may serve a model for protection of human rights in general. «Right of Child» and «Asociation of Child Psychiatrists and Psychologists» drafted the Federal and Regional laws «On the Public-Parliamentarin Control over Observation of Rights of Minors in Russian Federation» which were approved by Human Rights Chamber under Russian President chaired by Valery Boschev, Moscow Helsinki Group member and Deputy of two Russian Parliaments. However our attempts to promote this legislation meet permanent resistance and unwillingness of different executive authorities. Another law of this type «On Public Control of Observation of Rights of Prisoners» which was initiated by Valery Borschev and which was even adopted by State Duma in the Autumn 1999 finally was rejected in May 2000 «thanks» to resistance of the Governors of 89 Russian regions, of Russian Government and of Administration of President. State executive and administrative bureaucracy sees real threat in the very idea of independent Public supervision of its institutions. After all we came to dreadful and somewhat paradoxical conclusion: to save child – inmate of State instituton – from violence etc. the international tools must be brought into action. In September 1999 at the OSCE Human Rights Implementation Conference in Vienna «Right of Child» proposed adoption of the «Transparency Code of the OSCE Countries». «Right of Child», being also a project of the Moscow Helsinki Group, initiated an 6 Appeal of the International Helsinki Federation's Conference dedicated to 25 years of the Final Helsinki Act to Governments and Parliaments of the OSCE countries to adopt the OSCE TRANSPARENCY CHARTER (attached). «Right of Child» in a number of its Statements came out with an idea of adoption of the WORLD TRANSPARENCY CHARTER. We hope that UN CRC will support this initiative. Moscow, 24.08.2000 Boris Altshuler, Head of the «Right of Child» Program; Anatoly Severny, President of Asociation of Child Psychiatrists and Psychologists. «Right of Child» Program, Joint Project of the: Russian Research Center for Human Rights, Moscow Helsinki Group, Association of Child Psychiatrists and Psychologists, Association for Protecton of the Rights of the Disabled. 11, Novyi Arbat, rooms 19-18, 19-20, Moscow, 121019, Russia. Tel.: (7-095) 291-58-72, tel./fax: (7-095) 291-91-76. E-mail: [email protected] ; [email protected] Web-page: www.openweb.ru/p_z ATTACHMENT: APPEAL OF PARTICIPANTS OF THE CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO 25 YEARS OF SIGNING OF HELSINKI AGREEMENTS Conference "Helsinki Agreements and Human Rights", Moscow, July 28-29, 2000, was organized by International Helsinki Federation and Moscow Helsinki Group. Participants of the Conference: representatives of human rights organizations of 70 Russian regions, representatives of human rights organizations of countries - former USSR Republics, and representatives of International Helsinki Committees. Conference adopted several appeals and resolutions. To Governments and Parliaments of the OSCE countries Today - 25 years after the signing of the Final Helsinki Act on Cooperation and Security in Europe - the problem of creating practical mechanisms for observation of the human rights guaranteed by the Final Act’s «third basket» is still extremely important. The unaccountability and an absence of proper responsibility of representatives of executive bodies of different levels inevitably results in mass-scale violations of human rights – in jails, in police stations, in children’s institutions, in the Army, in Chechnya, etc.; this is also the reason for the most serious violations of social and economical rights. 7 It is possible to overcome this dangerous unaccountability of bureaucracy only with the creation of instruments of TRANSPARENCY, of independent civil, public, and public-parliamentarian control over executive bodies. Attempts to adopt corresponding legislation in Russia have failed so far – mainly due to the resistance by the Russian Government, by the Administration of the Russian President, by the Governors of Russian regions, - i.e. of those who are supposed to be supervised. The adoption of the International documents, which encourage countries-signatories to develop independent institutions of control over executive bodies, today may be considered as a HISTORICAL IMPERATIVE. We appeal to the Governments and Parliaments of the OSCE countries to elaborate and to adopt the OSCE TRANSPARENCY CHARTER which obliges OSCE member-countries: to fulfill a package of measures that are capable of «opening» the currently «closed» executive bodies; to pass laws broadening the control functions of Parliaments and Parliamentarians; to pass laws on civil control in the military sphere; and last but not least – to pass laws on the public observers authorized to perform UNANNOUNCED visits to jails, police locks-ups, children institutions, etc. July 29, 2000