Seven years at the feeder

The topic of children's rights suddenly sounded in the Russian media, blogs and social networks - the reason for this was the next scandalous statement of the Astakhov Commissioner for the Rights, and then the resignation of this odious ombudsman. Astakhov was remembered by his sensational boorish statements about “wrinkled women at 27 years old” (which explained his support from a marriage with a minor girl in Chechnya) and “fading” children (miraculously surviving a deadly storm, which claimed the lives of their comrades in misfortune). Hundreds of thousands of people signed the demand of the resignation from the post of the Commissioner for the Rights of Children of such a cynical and heartless person. The claims to Astakhov were before - his struggle against the international adoption of Russian orphans outraged the opponents of the "law of Dima Yakovlev."

Reading the reports of the outgoing Ombudsman about the work done and criticism of his words and affairs from the opponents of Astakhov, I cannot get rid of the feeling that everyone is talking about anything, not about the rights of the child. Seven years in Russia, the protection of children's rights at the federal level has been imitated. Instead of talking about the real lack of rights of real children - about violation of their rights to protect against discrimination, about restricting the right to expression, about violence, practically institutionalized in children's colonies and prisons - all discuss only scandalous severities and dubious sorties of "children's landing" (so ridiculously called the Astakhov his inspections of children's institutions). Astakhov, and the whole concept of state protection of children's rights in Russia is not bad by the cynical words themselves, not even insufficient concern for orphans. These are all manifestations of one common problem: everyone does not care about the rights of children, nobody, by and large, does not know what these rights are, how are different from all other norms.

The tragic story of the death of children who went on a storm is amazing. The classic Pushkin "but I could" - the basis of our usual solidarity, each of us could be in the place of the parents of these children. It is not surprising that the pain and anger of citizens spilled into their diaries and blogs, and the indignation of the indifference of the “official for children” even took the form of a petition demanding a resignation. We could also be in the place of instructors and counselors, who are now judged in order to make some kind of victim to universal despair. The main thing is to find the guilty. Revenge dramates emotions, even sometimes leads to gleeents of those who achieved it. I feel sorry for the counselors, I imagine what it is: to try to keep the child drowning in the ice waves - and cannot be kept ... these young people are already very difficult to live now, and without criminal prosecution. Put them with an old Soviet reproach "Why are you alive when others died?" Absolutely and mean. It is clear that those who are stronger have sailed, adults are obliged to fight for their lives, including for the sake of the children whom they should save.

Neither the arrests of criminally negligent chiefs of the children's camp who sent children and students on this campaign, nor the resignation of the scandalously tactless ombudsman will not change anything. And the personal responsibility for the life of the children entrusted to us was, is and will be at every adult. This is not about the rights of children, but about the duties of elders. It is a pity that the explosion of solidarity, the collective manifestations of pain and anger did not appear after publications about the mockery of adolescents in children's colonies - this was written about this after the death of a Ukrainian boy in the Belorechensky colony for minors, and in connection with the new law on reducing the age of criminal liability to 14 years. And without journalistic investigations, after all, it is clear to us that in the colonies they beat and rape, humiliate and torment children. But it is difficult for us to imagine the parents of these children.

How difficult it is for us to connect our lives with children-victims of sex traffic, who are brought to Russian cities from Africa and Asia. We knew and know that all this is, but we do not require the resignations of those who did nothing to terminate the practice of crimes in relation to children's children. Although the rights of children also concern the outcasts - there are even more of them, because no one and nothing but law will protect these children. That is why the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child for a long time sought to join Russia to an optional agreement on the prevention of children's trafficking, sexual exploitation, and the use of children in pornography. At the nearest session of the committee, the Russian report on the implementation of the conditions of this protocol will be considered.

This nonsense Astakhov was engaged for seven years, and the children were raped to death

What do we learn from the reports of state structures on activities aimed at protecting the rights of children themselves, that is, not supporting children in difficult life situations, namely, to uphold this or that child’s right? It turns out that the main achievement of Russia in protecting the sexual immunity of the child was the same law “On the Protection of Children from Harmful Information”, which announced the “propaganda” of LGBT, banned all the conversations about suicide in the public sphere (which does not protect anyone from suicides, but only interferes with their prevention), introduced discriminatory in relation to children “18+” on important educational projects.

From the same report, we learn that criminal cases of holding people who have forced children to sexual actions (and for the lack of other articles in the Criminal Code, both violent early marriages and the organization of a sexual violence system as a means of pacification in colonies and military institutions should be attributed here - only a few dozen for the entire reporting period. It turns out that there are also sentences on charges of sexual exploitation of children, on the use of children in the porn industry.

But the country proudly reports by blocking a huge number of sites, as if criminals were once afraid of these locks! Meanwhile, Russia remains at one of the first places in the world in the number of pornography, as accessible to children (they, unlike officials of Rospotrebnadzor, understand that the blocking is not a problem for skillful Internet users), so the worst! - using children. Even worse is that thousands of children (for the most part of foreigners) are in sexual exploitation, and it is almost impossible to save them. As the expert working in this area explained, "all the big brothels exist with the support of the FSB or the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they simply cannot exist without a strong curator, if some police officers are being sent there, they will immediately call them." Children are taken to Russia from Vietnam, Cameroon, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan. Boys and girls are taken, very small (from three years old) and older. The specialist explains: "There is the concept of exotic, children are more expensive, more expensive than the virgin and virgins, so it is beneficial to bring them."

What did Astakhov do in his seven years at the nurse of the "child's rights" for these children? In his report, the Commissioner reports that he actively worked on improving the law “in order to protect children from sexual encroachments and sexual exploitation”, even leads its own particularly successful formulations: “The bill excludes the recognition of pornographic materials (objects) containing the image or description of the genital organs of the child if they have a special historical, artistic or cultural value”. Please explain to me how the image or description of the genitals can have "historical value"? This nonsense Astakhov was engaged in seven years, and the children were raped to death.

Stefania Kulaeva - expert of the anti -discrimination center "Memorial"