Opening Address at a Meeting on Preventing Crimes against Children.
March 16, 2009
Gorki, Moscow Region
Вступительное слово на совещании по вопросам борьбы с преступлениями против детей.
16 марта 2009 года
Московская область, Горки
PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Dear Colleagues!
We are meeting today to discuss a very sensitive issue, one to which no normal human being can be indifferent. This issue is related to preventing crimes against children.
Last year, 126 thousand children in Russia were victims of violence. As a result of such crimes 1914 children died and 12.5 thousand children went missing. According to the estimates of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 760 thousand children are living in dangerous conditions. According to the Public Prosecutors records violations of the rights and legitimate interests of minors are increasing steadily.
The situation is very serious. In this situation, public agencies and organisations in our country are raising the alarm. We have taken up this issue at the sessions of the Interior Ministry and the Public Prosecutor's Office boards. However, I would like to point out that in itself the problem goes beyond simple law enforcement.
One can judge a societys maturity and development level from the way it treats its children. We need a standardised system for the protection of children in all senses of the word. Today, in this country we simply do not have such a system that is what these terrible figures are telling us.
I would like to reiterate the fact that preventing crimes against children requires not just more measures but genuine systemic change. This involves changes in legislation, preventative measures and complete follow-up care for the victims. It requires coordinated action from all the state organisations, the executive authority, law enforcement agencies and public associations. I hope that today's meeting will give an impetus to this. Let me outline the major areas where our efforts are needed.
The first area: all our experts, defenders of human rights and law enforcement officials agree that we should strengthen the criminal penalties for failure to carry out responsibilities for the upbringing of minors under Article 156 of the Criminal Code, as well as penalties for serious crimes and especially serious crimes against children, including the need to make it impossible for those who commit such crimes to be granted parole.
In addition, we need to introduce so-called follow-up control for those who have committed crimes against minors, including crimes of a sexual nature.
Second: the children who most often suffer from these sorts of crimes, from psychological and physical violence, are those living in dysfunctional families. According to various estimates there are no hard and fast criteria, as you know we identify no less than 100 thousand such families each year. Children growing up in these families permanently join the ranks of homeless and the neglected, become victims of crimes and often commit crimes themselves.
The third point is what to do about this. Obviously we need to dramatically improve the work of social institutions responsible for dealing with dysfunctional families. The relevant structures the child welfare authorities, the commission on minors affairs and social organisations must identify dysfunctional families in a timely fashion according to set criteria, establish contact with them, and of course take action where necessary.
The fourth area involves the rights and legitimate interests of orphans and children left without parental care. The Public Prosecutors investigations have revealed tens of thousands of violations in this regard and show the inadequacy of state oversight, which is carried out by the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Health and Social Development. I would like to hear today about the reasons for this situation.
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