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 Prosecutor’s 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 society’s 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 Prosecutor’s 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.
And, finally, the fifth area is ensuring children’s safety in educational, healthcare, sports and other social establishments. The tragedy that occurred last fall in one of the schools in the Orenburg Region once again revealed some very serious systemic problems, problems in the way education is organised and the way it is supervised.
The technical condition of buildings, fire safety, implementation of pass control – all of these must given constant attention by those responsible for security, and they personally must bear the direct responsibility, legal responsibility.
Cases of neglect and a “don’t care” attitude to children by medical personnel, which unfortunately also occur quite often, and failure to provide emergency care in a timely manner should also be the subject of professional, public investigation and legal control.
The State Duma is now considering a bill that I have introduced concerning changes to the law On Basic Guarantees of Children's Rights in our Country. In fact, it will consolidate dozens of initiatives on this subject for the prevention of crimes against children. I hope that this bill will soon be adopted, as well as those proposals to be formulated on the basis of our meeting in relation to criminal liability and other liability for acts against children.
Dear colleagues! There is no simple solution for the problem that we are dealing with here today, but let me say again that only the total dedication and the concerted efforts of our whole society can bring about the prevention of the most terrible, cynical crimes in this area.