Russian police abuse and misconduct against children:
Violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Orenburg
At the beginning of March, 2008 our family won a defamation and invading privacy court case against Leninskiy District police station. What followed in less then a month looks like a direct consequence of the court ruling.
On 29 March 2008, my 14-year-old son Stas was having his free time with his friends, also teenage boys and girls, at the downtown of
About 19 p.m. they were aggressively approached by two police officers in a patrol car. They emerged from the vehicle and one of them verbally assaulted one of the boys, Dima. Then, using physical force and obscene language they seized Stas and two other boys and pushed them into the car, slamming the door on his head. The boys were taken to the Leninskiy District police station.
I learned about the illegal detention of my son shortly before 8 p.m. and immediately arrived at the police station. Contrary to law I was refused to see Stas immediately and had to wait for another hour. As it transpired, the law enforcement personnel needed that time without his parent being present to intimidate Stas under fabricated accusations of involvement in some mythical fighting. As well as the other boys he was questioned, searched, fingerprinted and photographed without his consent though he was not formally charged with any indictable offense. The law enforcement personnel verbally harassed and psychologically abused him during all those illegal actions.
Upon arriving back home Stas showed signs of being deeply psychologically traumatized.
There is no doubt that the boy was deliberately subjected to psychological abuse nearing to mental torture, his liberty and privacy were intentionally violated.
Under Russian law children under age of 16 have no legal liability and they can be detained, fingerprinted and photographed only in case of committing a definite and serious crime or indictable offense. A search of any person must be legally justified, requires a lawful detention and can be done in the presence of two witnesses of the same sex. Unlawful fingerprinting and photographing is prohibited by Russian law as a gross invasion of privacy.
The law enforcement personnel of the Leninskiy District police station violated the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), ratified in
Article 15
1. States Parties recognize the rights of the child to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful assembly.
Freedom of peaceful assembly is also guaranteed by articles 30-31 of The Constitution of Russian Federation.
Article 16
1. No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation.
2. The child has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
The Constitution of Russian Federation similarly prohibits arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy (articles 22-25)
Article 37
States Parties shall ensure that:
(a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age;
(b) No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time;
The Constitution of Russian Federation (article 21) similarly prohibits torture (whether physical or mental), treatment or punishment that is cruel or otherwise inhuman, or is inconsistent with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.