Doc. 8800
8 July 2000

Improving the lot of abandoned children

Motion for a recommendation

presented by Mr Spindelegger and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1. The Assembly notes with concern recent reports of cruelty and neglect in the orphanages of some member states.

2. In particular, it is worried about reports that in Russia, for example, parents are encouraged by hospital staff on maternity wards to abandon mentally and physically handicapped children at birth, and about reports that abandoned children are too easily labelled “oligophrenic” (mentally retarded) at a very early age, without sufficient observation and examination, thus channelling them as “uneducable” into a system of closed institutions.

3. The Assembly is also concerned about allegations concerning the same country that infants and handicapped children are sometimes forcibly kept in “lying-down rooms” in state institutions for children, sedated and tied to beds 24 hours per day; that “difficult” or “unruly” children are confined to bare rooms for weeks, if not months, at a time as a form of punishment; and that in some state institutions, mismanagement and abuse of children is rife.

4. The Assembly believes that these problems are not limited to any specific member states, but that the situation in some member states in Central and Eastern Europe might be particularly worrying, due to a lack of funds in these countries available to improve the lot of abandoned children.

5. The Assembly thus recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

a. include the treatment of abandoned children in its co-operation and assistance programme with countries experiencing such problems, with a view to

-       changing the mentality – in particular in hospitals (maternity wards) - with regard to mentally and physically handicapped children, in order to encourage parents not to abandon them to state institutions;

-       providing assistance to families in caring for children with disabilities at home, e.g. home helpers, day training and education programmes;

-       improving conditions in children’s houses, orphanages and psychoneurological institutions for children by providing both material assistance and assistance in staff training;

-       eliminating “lying-down rooms” (currently used for infants and handicapped children in some countries), and confinement to bare rooms (currently used for “difficult” children in some countries) as a form of inhuman and degrading treatment;

-       on a national level, establish an independent and confidential complaint and appeal procedure for children in state institutions, both regarding acute problems (e.g. living conditions, abuse, etc.) and formal decisions (e.g. incorrect diagnosis of mental retardation, decision to be interned in a closed institution, etc.).

b. treat the setting up of a European ombudsman for children, as recommended in Recommendation 1460 (2000), as a matter of urgency.

Signed ¹ :

Spindelegger, Austria, EPP/CD

Akçali, Turkey, EDG

Belohorska, Slovakia, EDG

Bindig, Germany, SOC

Clerfayt, Belgium, LDR

Frunda, Romania, EPP/CD

Gross, Switzerland, SOC

Gülek, Turkey, SOC

Jaskiernia, Poland, SOC

Jurgens, Netherlands, SOC

Plattner, Switzerland, SOC

Poptodorova, Bulgaria, SOC

Provera, Italy, LDR

Severinsen, Denmark, LDR

Wohlwend, Liechtenstein, EPP/CD

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¹       SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      EDG: European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group