Russian children rights commissioner calls for legislation to protect children from pedophiles

Russian children rights commissioner calls for legislation to protect children from pedophiles

2011-07-24 20:45:03 GMT+7 (ICT)

MOSCOW (BNO NEWS) -- Pavel Astakhov, Russia's Children Rights Commissioner to President Dmitri Medvedev, has called for urgent measures to protect children from pedophiles, according to a report on Sunday.

The comments came amid anger over the brutal rape of a seven-year-old girl in Blagoveshchensk, a city in Amur Oblast. The girl was allegedly raped on Tuesday before her attacker attempted to strangle her. A group of more than 200 people later surrounded the suspect's house, demanding 'fair justice.'

In response, Astakhov said it is important to speed up the adoption of a law that increases the punishment for sex crimes against children. "Until Russia creates adequate legislation to protect children from pedophilia and pornography and bans the advertisement of those obnoxious things on the Internet which stimulate sexual encroachments against children, such cases will continue," the commissioner said, as cited by ITAR-TASS.

Astakhov urged politicians to speed up the approval of such legislation, saying children are being raped by pedophiles while the debate continues. "Dragging feet in this case costs children's lives," he stressed.

The commissioner also reaffirmed his support for the castration of convicted pedophiles in light of an attack on Friday in Krasnoyarsk of Krasnoyarsk Krai. During that attack, a convicted child rapist armed with a knife broke into a children's camp and raped several girls.

More than 9,500 sex crimes against children were reported in Russia in 2009, including over 960 rapes. Despite the authorities' declared fight against sexual abuse of minors, police are often slow to respond to allegations of child abuse, according to activists.

Astakhov has previously suggested the existence of a "pedophile lobby" in the country's lower house of parliament, which he believes is responsible for blocking legislation against child sexual abuse.

However, a new bill - yet to be passed - introduces life sentence as a possible punishment for pedophiles who are repeat offenders. It also stipulates voluntary medical treatment, including chemical castration, for other rapists.

Laws regarding the possession of child pornography have also been under discussion for years. Russia is only one of two major countries in the world where the simple possession of child pornography is legal, although the production of it is illegal. The second country is Japan where it is legal to possess child pornography as long as there is no intend to sell or distribute the material.

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