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This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.
Written declaration No. 536 | Doc. 13113 rev. | 29 January 2013
Intercountry adoption: children as hostages of international relations
1. We are worried about the situation of Russian children
who are taken as hostages of transatlantic diplomatic tensions following
the interruption by the Russian Federation of intercountry adoption
procedures involving the United States of America as a "receiving
country".
2. On the pretext of protecting Russian children against violence,
the State Duma, in December 2012, adopted a new law prohibiting
the intercountry adoption of Russian children by American families.
This may affect numerous children, given that about 650 000 Russian
children are currently estimated to be growing up without parental
care and about 60 000 were placed in American families in the past
20 years.
3. We reaffirm our commitment to the fact that the child's best
interest must be a primary consideration in all actions concerning
children whether undertaken by public or private social welfare
institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative
bodies", as provided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
We call upon the Russian authorities to revoke the above-mentioned
decision.
4. Especially in times of economic crisis, children as a vulnerable
group (including many children with disabilities) must not be further
victimised by short-sighted political decisions, but be given the
widest range of care options possible.