There are one million child refugees fleeing the escalating Syria conflict. Why world community did not stop in time the terrible bloodshed? Because Russia and China vetoed in UN all proposals on joint international rescue operations. Thus instead of cooperation in an emergency we see the vast violation of children’s rights by INACTION.

There are 259 Russian orphans deprived of the possibility to be adopted to American families by the Russian Law from December 2012. This politically motivated ban is a heartbreaking and demonstrative act of Russia’s aggression against the United States without the approval of the UN Council of Security. And this is vast violation of rights of children by ACTION because among these kids there are many disabled ones who instead of proper treatment and development in the loving US families are doomed to be ‘buried alive’ for the grass-like life in Russian children’s institutions, and because among these 259 children there are ones who are older and more conscious to feel psychological attachment – they were deceived in their personal expectations of unification with US adoptive parents. Yes, there are terrible cases of deaths of adopted children – in the USA and in Russia as well. But again – instead of elaboration of joint preventive measures Russian politicians chose the revenge in a form of severe punishment of OTHER Russian children.

In his interview in the end of July Russian President’s Child-Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said that Susan S. Jacobs (Special Department of State Advisor for International Children's Issues), Daniel A. Russell (Deputy Secretary of State) and other US participants of the negotiations in Washington “could not help to AGREE with him that there is no adoption ban problem at all”. I can’t believe that this may be the truth.

Dear Mr. President, Dear Members of the United States Congress, I appeal to you to make the above named issues and children’s rights as a whole the most important topic on the agenda of the upcoming G-20 Meeting in Sankt-Petersburg.

02.09.2013
Boris Altshuler,
Chair of the “Right of the Child”, Moscow,
Member Moscow Helsinki Group,

Member Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation

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