 Source: HRO.org (info) A number of prominent Russian journalists who are adoptive parents have appealed to the Russian authorities not to approve the amendments prohibiting US citizens from adopting children from Russia. The proposed changes form part of a bill which is to become Russia's answer to the Magnitsky Act passed in the USA, reports the BBC. "We believe that these amendments, first of all, hurt the futures of Russian citizens - orphaned and disabled children. As parents of adopted children we know about Russia's orphanage problem better than anyone. We know that there are currently over 120,000 children in state-run homes across Russia, the majority of whom will never receive qualified medical assistance and care under Russian conditions, let alone parents who love and cherish them," write the letter's authors. The letter was signed by Svetlana Sorokina, Veniamin Dmitroshkin, Elena Fortuna, Elena Fichtenholz and Aleksei Fedoseev, among others. "We believe that sacrificing these children is a crime: it violates the rights of these children and is an unnecessarily harsh, amoral and malicious measure. We urge you not to take Russian orphans hostage and not to deprive them of a future. We hope that together we are united in our understanding that children should not become a political football under any circumstances," the letter points out. On Monday the Duma Committee approved the amendments prohibiting American citizens from adopting orphans from Russia which form part of the law determined to become Russia's answer to the Magnitsky Act. Appendix. The "bill" as proposed for the third Duma reading: Attached file Size 3-reading.doc 55 KB |
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