Violence against pupils of the rehabilitation center in Lviv region: law enforcement officers reacted only after

The pupils of the institution were moved to a safer place

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Employees of one of the educational and rehabilitation centers in the Lviv region probably regularly committed violence against pupils.

This became known as a result of the visit to the institution by the human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets and volunteer psychologists.

A monitoring visit was conducted in the center – its students testified that they regularly suffer from violence. Law enforcement officers opened criminal proceedings only after publicity and an appeal by the ombudsman.

By in words ombudsman, the “most vulnerable categories of children” live in this educational and rehabilitation center:

• orphans;
• those who were deprived of parental care;
• those who are in difficult life circumstances;
• those with special educational needs.

During the visit, children and graduates of the Internet reported that the director of the institution committed acts of a sexual nature regarding pets, publicly humiliated, threatened beating and placement in a psychiatric hospital for “bad behavior” or violation of the daily routine.

“The children complained that they were systematically told: “No one needs you”, “Your parents are alcoholics”, “You are sick”, “Nothing good will come of you”– says Dmytro Lubinets.

Accordingly, the employees of the institution treated the pupils as “sick” and “inadequate”.

In the public organization “Ukrainian Network for Children’s Rights”, whose members participated in the monitoring visit, addedthat the children complained about being beaten with an iron rod by the director’s wife, who also works at the institution.

In addition, the pupils of the center did not get enough food.

“To briefly summarize our observations during the monitoring visit, the children are in a state of stress, they are scared, they are under constant moral pressure from adults. The children do not have an example of healthy communication with them from the staff. In the institution, the interests and needs of the child are the last place. Children’s basic needs are not taken care of at all.”– the team of psychologists who worked with them assessed the condition of the pupils.

For the past six months, children and others in their interests have sought help from the National Police, local children’s services and the Department of Education. However, their efforts were in vain because authorized persons did not respond to statements.

In his turn, the director of the institution “showed off his impunity and the necessary connections.” The man allegedly threatened volunteer organizations that tried to help children.

“For every complaint about the conditions of detention or the behavior of the employees of the institution, they were beaten with sticks and humiliated”– says Dmytro Lubinets.

According to the results of the visit, the adults turned to law enforcement officers and the prosecutor’s office to start documenting the facts of the violation of children’s rights. As a result of this started criminal proceedingsin particular for sexual violence – Part 3 of Art. 153 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Currently, all pupils of the institution have been moved to a safer place.

“First of all, the principle of the inevitability of punishing persons who have caused harm and violated the rights of children, whose protection the state should stand for, must work. And my main goal is to ensure the safety of children and their faith in justice.

All this should be done with respect for the child and implementation of the principles of child-friendly justice”said the human rights commissioner.

We will remind, at the end of August it became known about a case of sexual violence against a 12-year-old boy in Poltava Oblast.

The parents of two of the three perpetrators were brought to justice and fined.

It turned out that the event happened in the middle of June, but the law enforcement authorities learned about this fact only on August 5. Law enforcement officers began investigating the sexual assault only at the end of August.

Later, four law enforcement officers suspended from work