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In Retaliation For Human Rights Bill, Russia Threatens To Cut Off All US Adoptions

Dec. 18, 2012 8:35am Tiffany Gabbay

Russia Threatens To Cut Off US Adoptions in Retaliation for the Magnitsky Act

(Photo source: AP)

As of 2007, statistics indicate that more than 730,000 children living in Russia are parentless, yet adoptions in the country have typically been wrought in corruption and red tape, leaving helpless orphans in a perpetual state of limbo and without a real home to call their own.

Making matters worse, members of Russia’s ruling party are now threatening to cut off adoptions to the U.S. outright as retaliation for the Magnitsky Act — a series of human rights sanctions — President Obama signed into law Friday.

The bill denies visas and freezes U.S. bank accounts and financial assets of suspected Russian human rights violators. The act is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who was imprisoned, abused and later died in 2009 for exposing corrupt government officials who he claimed stole $250 million in tax dollars.

On Monday, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma, Sergei Neverov, told the Russian news site RIA Novosti that he and his fellow lawmakers are prepared to introduce an amendment to current legislation that would ban all adoptions by U.S. citizens.

“I think it will be approved,” he added.

Rio Novosti adds:

Until now, Russian officials suggested their response would slap reciprocal sanctions on US officials but on Friday they suggested broadening the list to include American parents accused of abusing adopted Russian children as well as judges that gave them lenient punishments. [...]

Adoptions to the United States have been a hot topic in Russia in recent years, sparked by high-profile cases of abused Russian adoptees. Adoptions nearly ground to a halt in 2010 after a Tennessee woman put her 7-year old adopted Russian son, Artyom, on a plane back to Russia alone with little more than a note saying she did not want him anymore.

His is among the nearly two dozen cases cited by Russian media of adopted children who allegedly suffered at the hands of adopted American parents. Russia is one of the most popular places in the world for Americans wanting to adopt. Tens of thousands of Russian children have been adopted by American parents since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Using orphaned children as pawns in what the Novosti calls the latest “wave of anti-Americanism,” is not likely to engender sympathy from those who champion human rights and only underscores the ever-growing sentiment that Vladimir Putin’s government is as corrupt as the Russia of old.

In an attempt to assuage criticism, Russian lawmakers who advocated for the U.S. adoption-ban alleged that they will compensate homeless children by increasing funding for the country’s “inadequate orphanages.”

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Comments (39)

SPIN_MD
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 11:59am
While I think it is sad, I think the Russians should take care of their own. I’ve heard too many horror stories about Russian adoptions, especially those of older children. I say this will be a good thing in the long run.

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ovcharka
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:39pm
Maybe I’m just overly skeptical, but I think this whole issue is nothing more than a diversion for something about to happen between the US and Russia. It’s a smoke screen. What was bh0 talking about at the live mic when he said he’d have more flexibility after the election? Any connection? This adoption thing came out of nowhere. For some reason bh0 and Putin are trying to convince everyone that they are at odds. I’m not buying it.

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lamarlamar
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 10:25pm
I have a problem with a government that exports their children for profit.

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AnAmerican111
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 7:32pm
Really? That’s great news! Keep them in Russia.
Why is it that America always has to clean up after Communism?…………Cause Communism never works!

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- MDECKER
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 8:17pm
  Sad, but True.
  
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Silvertruth
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 7:10pm
There are plenty of children here in the US that need parents too. My wife and I are adopting here, so, I’m not sure why you have to go to Russia to get a child to adopt.

Stay local, it works and it helps the child as well as the country.

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Arshloch
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 4:47pm
Maybe the Ruskies can solve their over stocked child problem by looking up the definition of the word casteration.

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Aldo
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 3:10pm
I adopted two kids from Russia in 1992.
Both had special needs. The first was a cleft pallate and the other didn’t surface until much later. Although I was told an accurate history, so I should have expected attachment disorder. Between the 13 surgeries on the cleft pallate, the weekly counceling sessions and the strain of mental illness, it almost broke us up. Both are doing well and we’re still married and the two girls who are now self sufficient and productive bring us joy. Seven years ago, we had a biological son with a congenital heart condition. So far, four surgeries and counting.

Moral of the story: every child is a “special needs” child. It just depends on when you find out. I believe you get the children you are meant to have. People who go to Russia or the foster care system looking for “perfect” children won’t find them. There are no guarantees

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Matt
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 2:16pm
You know your country is being run by some savory characters when they put a gun to their own children’s heads to try and protect criminal politicians ability to screw over their own citizens.

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ghostsouls
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 1:52pm
While this may make some Americans sad, they are hurting their own children, so as to not have a loving healthy long life. Who do they think they are hurting….just the children. Isn’t that what bullies do, pick on the weakest of them all?

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OHN
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 1:49pm
Good we cant take care of our own kids !!!!!!!!!! GOOD

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love the kids
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 12:57pm
If they had our Liberal Govt. over there, most of them would have been aborted in the first place. Second, for anyone who has adopted from Russia lately, they just use it as a money grab anyway, they make you travel over there 2 to 3 times, while staying at least a week each time.
But what makes me really crazy, is why would they give up there biggest and most valuable asset to America??? Anyway, we have gun rights in America so it’s probably much safer for them to stay right where they are.

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- Rodeoamy
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 1:14pm
  Russia performs the most abortions of any country, by far.
  
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- RabidPatriot
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 1:36pm
  You’re right. It wasn’t that long ago that Stalin murdered tens of millions of its unarmed citizens. Those of you that got a D in history should just write things in your personal journals at home and leave the thinking to other people.
  
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- Kerbouchard
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 6:39pm
  LTK: Anyway, we have gun rights in America so it’s probably much safer for them to stay right where they are.”
  
  Are you kidding?! Do you not remember Beslan? The Beslan school attack still has highest number of innocents killed and probably will for a very, very long time. BTW, I have actually visited Russian orphanages and they are incredibly tough and sad places for children. The children I saw were starving for love and attention. It was fun spending time with them, but also heart extremely breaking.
  
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rsanchez1
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 12:52pm
On the one hand, the Russians are stupid for cutting off adoptions. It will cost them more to raise the kids themselves than to let an American couple raise them.

On the other hand, American couples really should be adopting American children. There are so many children in need right now in America.

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- Matt
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 2:16pm
  Who says they will be raising the kids? You think Putin cares if some Russian children starve to death? He doesn’t care, as long as he can keep running his country like the Mafia.
  
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Rodeoamy
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 12:29pm
There is a lot of ignorance about Russian adoption. We watched our friends go through a grueling see-saw with their foster child that they were in the process of adopting. She was a bubbly, sweet little girl and although she was thriving under our friends’ care, the judge ordered her to go back to the birth mother. During her brief return, the birth mother tried to smother her to death, but only managed to render her brain damaged. Our friends still wanted her and adopted her, special needs and all. You have to do a gut check and ask yourself if you’re willing to subject yourself to something like that. Or to having a druggy woman, flit in and out of your family’s lives because she’s the “mother”. It was for this reason we went international, i.e. “closed” adoptions are very rare and can require a long wait. We had a friend that had just completed a very smooth and problem-free Russian adoption, so we followed in her footsteps. I wouldn’t have cared where our child came from, we were going to Russia based on the competency of the agency, and Russia happened to be where they operated. We cannot imagine life without our son. Every child needs a family that can provide for and love them. Kids don’t give a damn what their national anthem is, they want a family that loves them. I’d do it again a million times.

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Abigail Adams
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 12:20pm
I am an adoptive mom but my children were all born here. We did look at International adoption though. I would NEVER adopt from Russia. The children are treated like commodities and Russian social workers routinely gloss over problems the children, both physical and mental, in an effort to “get rid” of as many kids as they can.
But not every parent can handle special needs kids. And adopting a child you think is perfectly healthy, only to find they have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is devastating. Marriages have ended over it. Russian children have been moved to other families better equipped to deal with severe issues, too, while the family who originally brought the child home is out thousands of dollars.

Russian adoptions are corrupt and all those poor orphan children are broken. Russia doesn’t care about them :(

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schroeder123
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 12:09pm
Enough all ready.
We have plenty of kids here in the USA up for adoption. Who gives a crap about the Russian governemnt. Take a hike.
Id rather see our kids adopted first.

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John.Galt
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 12:02pm
This is really strange… we want to punish their human rights violators, and Russia’s response is that they are going to punish their own orphans.

Sounds like a strategy LIB-TARDS would love!! Ya know, like the unions striking until Hostess goes out of business, and ALL 18,000 union workers are now unemployed… for some reason, libs love creating situations where everyone LOSES!!

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- muddpuddle
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 12:12pm
  Theyll do it only because that bill never was about advancing human rights…. it was about control, and making an inroad to US lawmaking, and having a blank check from the US to help other nations administer this stupid bill
  
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- muddpuddle
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 12:14pm
  oops…. wrong bill…..
  
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John.Galt
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 11:57am
Wow. Brilliant. Let me see, do I have this right? The Russians are going to punish THEIR OWN ORPHANS because they don’t like America’s rejection of the “human rights” bill?

Umm… OK… any way we can get the global warming alarmists to stop exhaling “poisonous” carbon dioxide to protest rejection of Kyoto??

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txannie
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 11:44am
This probably isn’t a popular idea, but….Why do we not adopt America’s children that need homes first? I know, our rules are hard and I am not sure just why they are so hard, but shouldn’t we work at changing our adoption problems before going to another country that we have absolutely no idea of how the pre-natal care, health of the kids has been, etc? Or is it really the problem of damaged people not qualifying so they go where it doesn’t matter what kind of parent they will be? It’s not like we don’t have a wide variety of ethnic children here that need good loving parents. Do we really need to go over there and bring damaged children here when we have our fair share of damaged children that need help here? Didn’t we have a good example of what a damaged kid can do recently? If Russia wants to use the children as a weapon or a bargaining chip why should we allow them to do that? We cannot save the world if we cannot save ourselves first.

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- JustMeInAZ
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 2:57pm
  Hi TXANNIE, my wife and I adopted a beautiful little girl from China. We wanted to adopt, but there was no way we were going to adopt here in the US. The ******** have ruined everything for adoptive parents. A child was adopted when he was an infant here in the US, His mother was a druggie looser. He was thriving in his new home, loved his new parents, was with them for EIGHT YEARS, then some dumbass judge forced the adoptive parents (the only parents this child really new) to give the child back because she “claimed” she was clean now. BULLSCHTICK!! This is not a rare case. I don’t blame anyone for going overseas to adopt, more power to them. We have friends that have adopted, mother was a druggie looser, now she wants the kids back from a great Christian home. Guess what, boom, they’re handed back to the abusive parent.
  
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jrc99
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 10:04am
Are we sure the Soviet Union is gone?

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Cavallo
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 9:54am
Looks like the Ruskies might have actually fallen for Bobo the Wonder Marxist’s crocodile tears act over Sand Hook. Sorry Russia, Bobo doesn’t give a crap about your kids. His Marxism is superior to yours and you’re just jealous that he can get away with the corruption, murder, and graft better than you can.

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SpankDaMonkey
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 9:47am
.
Adopt American c’mon people……………

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- barber2
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 9:56am
  Unless you are a female celebrity .
  
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- naughtycal
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 10:19am
  I was thinking the same thing don’t we have orphans right here in the U.S. already……Americans need to learn charity starts at home.
  
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- nocalifornia
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 11:32am
  Heck they (celebrities) all go over to Kenya to adopt, hoping to then be related to the king.
  
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- Pauln
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 11:34am
  I was also thinking the same, there are so many children in need of a loving home.
  
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- JustMeInAZ
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 3:02pm
  Spanksamonkey, not just no, but HELL NO! When kids are adopted here in the states, by loving caring couples, only to have the child ripped out of the home because some dumbass judge gives the kid back to the original useless POS druggie parent. NO DAMN WAY! One kid was with a family from an infant to EIGHT years old and was taken from the only home he knew and given back to his druggie looser mom. This is not an isolated incedent. More power to people who adopt overseas. They will keep adopting overseas as long as the dumbass judegs and ******** keep ripping families aprt like that.
  
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biohazard23
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 9:35am
Yeah, that’s it. Punish the children instead of, oh, I don’t know, working to resolve their human rights issues and abuses. That will show them! Their politicians are no different than ours. Exploit the weakest and the most vulnerable to push an agenda. Pathetic.

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- barber2
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 9:55am
  BIO: I bet Putin resents the Chicago radicals OCCUPYING our White House ! They have gone Far Left of present day Russia with their intimidation tactics , media control and anti-capitalist regulations ! AND Obama has his very own CZARS ! Must frost old Vladimir . But, he does have those 10 Russian ” spies” who were flown back ( American taxpayer expense ?? ) in 2009 to commiserate with . That hot red- head who garnered so much Lap Dog Media distraction attention . Oh, those were the early days of Obama I….
  
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- biohazard23
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 10:58am
  Barber, hear hear!! As for the spies, I’m sure Putin has already become intimately acquainted with Ms Chapman.
  
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paulusmaximus
Posted on December 18, 2012 at 9:25am
Russian corruption, sounds like the White House staff! Why isn’t it preferable to adopt children here?
Is it because the red tape and corruption is worse here then there?

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- Cavallo
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 10:05am
  Likely. You can probably just drop an extra grand on them to cut the way through and get a kid a good home. Can’t do that here. The State is far more terrifying and strict in the United States than Russia. You’ve come a long way, Baby.
  
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