A Russian bill forbidding American citizens from adopting Russian children was signed on December 28th in response to American legislation punishing those in the Russian Federation who committed crimes against humanity.

The Dima Yakovlev Law went into effect on January 1.

The Russian Legal Information Agency (R.L.I.A) reports that the accidental death of Dima Yakovlev was the major reason for the bill.

Yakovlev’s adopted father left him in a hot car for several hours and was acquitted for charges of manslaughter. Putin said that this and other accidental deaths of Russian adoptees at the hands of ‘irresponsible’ Americans prompted the law.

It deserves to be said that the law also encouraged more Russians to adopt, and it makes provisions for improvements of the orphanage system, according to the R.L.I.A. website.

Russian orphanages, like most orphanages, are notoriously overcrowded and underfunded.

According to the U.S. Department of State, Russia is the third-most popular country for adoptions by American citizens.

Adoption.state.gov says that adoption numbers all over the world have been down in the past few years, but at their highest in 2004, with 5,862 children adopted from Russia; and in 2011, almost 1,000 were adopted. (Adoption.state.gov)

The bill also suggests that adoptions already in process will be stopped.

Many orphans who were to be adopted– and have already met their future parents– may not be able to go home with their families.
AdoptionKnowHow.com says that the United States makes up 62% of Russia’s adoptions. One may question why would Russia want to prevent more than half of its country’s orphans from being adopted. (AdoptionKnowHow.com)

The answer is simple: to create a political standoff.

President Putin and a majority of Russian lawmakers have now signed off on the adoption bill as a protest of recent American legislation.
The American Congress approved a bill titled the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, preventing Russians with previous human rights violations from obtaining U.S. visas.

Human rights refer to the inalienable rights that we should be guaranteed from birth. The Human Rights Watch, an international organization that monitors crimes against humanity, tracks hundreds of thousands of cases of violations. Violations against human rights cover a wide range of topics, including human trafficking, restrictions on freedom of speech, genocide, slavery, women’s rights, and most importantly justice when crimes were committed (Hrw.org).

The Wall Street Journal hypothesizes that Putin and the Russian Parliament see the American bill as a direct attack against Russian officials. In the Russian president’s opinion, the bill’s ambivalent nature will prevent any actual punishment of human rights violators.

Putin also believes that America has little room to criticize in the area of human rights, probably referring to accusations of abuse and torture in Guantanamo Bay (Online.wsj.com/home-page).

However, the American Congress signed the Sergei Magnitsky Act in protest of the unlawful imprisonment, abuse, and death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009.
English newspaper The Telegraph reported that in 2007, Magnitsky uncovered evidence Russian officials committed around $200 million in tax fraud.

Ironically, Magnitsky was then falsely accused of aiding tax fraud in Nov. 2008 and thrown in prison for 11 months without trial. He was often beaten and denied medical treatment for the pancreatitis that eventually killed him (Telegraph.co.uk).

The injustices Magnitsky suffered most certainly qualify as a violation of human rights.

Even worse, the attack and murder of human rights defenders and whistleblowers like Sergei Magnitsky is not Russia’s only violation. Human Rights Watch’s website’s list of crimes against humanity in the Russian Federation includes, but is not limited to: human trafficking, insurgent acts, and the alleged rigging of elections.

Who is wrong in this case? Does the United States have any grounds to criticize another nation for having corruption issues?

The argumentative points against America are the irresponsible care of children, an honorable, but possibly insulting and ineffective bill, as well as the human rights violations in Guantanamo Bay.

The argumentative points against Russia are the prevention of orphans finding families and a long history of human rights violations.

In this huge case of ethics, one thing is clear– family-less children should not be forced to suffer because of any political standoff. One can only hope that Russia stands down and overturns their bill.

Sources:
-Adoption.state.gov
-Hrw.org
-Online.wsj.com/home-page
-Rapsinews.com
-Telegraph.co.uk
-Adoptionknowhow.com/russia