Events

Inna Svyatenko: The Kiev regime violated at least 12 international documents on children’s protection

The interim results of the parliamentary commission’s activities have been completed.


In six months, the parliamentary commission has gathered a lot of material allowing it to develop a report on criminal activities against minors by the Kiev regime, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Inna Svyatenko said at the final meeting of the parliamentary commission in 2023.

The meeting participants had previously discussed the initial version of the report.

The work of the commission, chaired by the deputy speakers of both houses of parliament, Inna Svyatenko and Anna Kuznetsova, included Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on the Rules of Procedure and Parliamentary Governance Vyacheslav Timchenko, senators of the Russian Federation, deputies of the State Duma, Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Mikhail Murashko, State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Justice Andrei Loginov, military correspondent in the special military operation Alexander Sladkov, experts and representatives of authorities and Russian regions, including the new regions.

“In preparing the report, we used the international classification of major crimes against underage children as a foundation. I have to say that our initial statement that the Kiev authorities not only condone the criminals who commit these crimes, but also commit them themselves, was fully confirmed,” Inna Svyatenko said.

The nine paragraphs of the document list crimes such as relocating children abroad without parental consent, abducting for illegal adoption and exploitation, selling as organ donors; crimes against sexual integrity, violation of the social rights to health, education, spiritual, moral and physical development, attack on healthcare and education facilities, and abandonment without care and guardianship after the arrest of parents, as well as the Kiev regime’s state propaganda of the ideology of Ukrainian neo-Nazism and Russophobia, glorification of Ukrainian Nazis helping Hitler Germany among underage children; recruitment, involvement of teenagers in reconnaissance, sabotage and destructive activities.

Inna Svyatenko stressed that over 12 international documents aimed at protecting children had been violated.

“The materials reflect data on Russia’s measures to support child victims and detailed information on hundreds of appeals sent to international organisations to call for condemnation of Kiev’s crimes against children. However, documents on the reaction of the international community are almost nonexistent,” the Senator said. In this regard, she recalled Leonid Roshal’s quote from an interview in April: “I invited the heads of five countries to visit a child who lost an arm and legs in Donbass. Only Putin arrived.”

The initial version of the report that was presented at this meeting will be amended with consideration for additions and proposals made by working groups, Inna Svyatenko said.

“Our commission’s main goal is to make everything possible to ensure that assistance is provided to each of the victims, and that the perpetrators of children’s tragedies bear the inevitable responsibility for the crimes committed,” the Federation Council Deputy Speaker said.

Inna Svyatenko added that the commission has, based on an impressive amount of information, prepared an appeal to the United Nations, international parliamentary organisations, and world parliaments, given the violations of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a result of the criminal actions of the Kiev regime. The Federal Assembly chambers approved it.

“In the appeal, we pointed out that our parliamentary commission is open to interact and join forces in order to provide all possible assistance to children. We must use every method of parliamentary diplomacy at our disposal. This appeal is one of the opportunities to obtain a clear international legal response to the crimes committed by the Kiev regime from foreign politicians and the public.”

Inna Svyatenko stressed that the commission could not replace investigative authorities.

“We are called on to act more quickly, assertively, and persistently in promoting information about crimes being committed against children. From this point of view, direct eyewitness accounts of what is happening in the special military operation zone and in the regions of the Russian Federation that are subject to attacks by the Ukrainian armed forces are especially important to us.”

“At every meeting, we record the Kiev regime’s violations of children’s rights again and again. We are working, among other things, to put an end to these tragedies as soon as possible. It makes me very happy when we succeed at something. During Direct Line with the President of the Russian Federation, a participant from Lugansk said: “Our children have finally begun to go to playgrounds.” One cannot but rejoice at news of positive changes in the new regions,” Inna Svyatenko recalled. “As legislators, we also need to accept the president’s proposal to develop measures to attract medical personnel to the new regions. We also need to think what we can propose within the framework of our commission in addition to the mechanisms that are already being implemented.”

Anna Kuznetsova noted that an impressive amount of evidence has been collected on the Kiev regime’s crimes against children.

“The dialogue on this topic with our colleagues from other parliaments is improving and becoming more comprehensive. We have also intensified our cooperation with other international associations. There is a need for truthful information.”

The Deputy Speaker of the State Duma drew attention to the spread of fake news and the system of recruiting schoolchildren to commit crimes. She added that schoolchildren are also influenced through online computer games. Anna Kuznetsova considers it necessary to send a corresponding appeal to the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Roskomnadzor) and the Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor).

Mikhail Murashko elaborated on providing medical assistance to children.

“Helping children is a distinctive feature of Russia’s healthcare and general state policy,” the Minister said. The head of the Russian Ministry of Health announced figures on affected children in the new regions of the Russian Federation: the DPR, the LPR, and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as in the border regions of the Russian Federation.

Andrei Loginov listed the criteria of international responsibility that may be used when evaluating the violations of the rights and freedoms of children.

“Many of the acts are systematic and part of a large and deliberate policy of human rights violations carried out by the Kiev regime. Considering the nature of the violations, as well as the significant number of victims, this may serve as an additional criterion for international responsibility,” the State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation said.

War correspondent Alexander Sladkov spoke about the crimes the Kiev regime committed in Donbass, as well as the role of the media in spreading truthful information within accessible formats. He believes it important to not only show viewers and readers tragic statistics, but also tell the stories of specific people and their destinies. The journalist called for balanced information to convey the truth to every Russian and citizens of other countries.

After considering the commission’s report in the chambers of the Federal Assembly, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Andrey Klimov made a proposal to inform the foreign ambassadors accredited in the Russian Federation about the facts stated in it.

In June, both chambers adopted resolutions to conduct a parliamentary investigation into the crimes of the Kiev regime against children. The parliamentary commission included 13 members of the Federation Council and 13 State Duma deputies. The commission, according to the law, is created for a period of up to one year, and the results of the investigation will be sent to the country’s leadership. The first meeting of the commission took place on 30 June.