KAZAKHSTAN ADOPTIONS: ALLEDGED ABUSE OF ADOPTED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ALMATY 001415

SIPDIS

Frankfurt for RCO RBROWN
State for CA/CI: CLAMORA; SCA/CEN JMUDGE; DRL/PHD CKUCHTA-
HELBLING

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KOCI PREL PHUM PGOV CASC CVIS KPAO KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN ADOPTIONS: ALLEDGED ABUSE OF ADOPTED
CHILD SPARKS HEATED DEBATE

REF: LAMORA/LODINSKY EMAILS


1. SUMMARY. The first-ever reported allegation of sexual
abuse of an adopted Kazakhstani child in the United States
has ignited a firestorm of anti-adoption criticism in the
Kazakhstani parliament and provoked widespread hand wringing
among adoption providers and pro-adoption advocates. With
confirmed information scarce on the alleged abuse, some
parliamentarians have called for a moratorium of further
adoptions and have brought to a head the previously stagnant
draft amendments to the current Kazakhstani Family and
Marriage code. In an effort to provide information to the
Kazakhstani public, the Ambassador has led a coordinated
effort to meet with media representatives and senior
decision makers to discuss general adoption issues in the
context of the allegation.

--------------
Report's Ripple Effects
--------------


2. News reports that an adopted Kazakhstani child had been
abused in the United States ignited a firestorm of
consternation in the Kazakhstani parliament last week, and
led to the introduction of several bills calling for a
banning of intercountry adoptions. Although legislation
modifying current adoption regulations was ultimately
rejected, the reported abuse served as a convenient platform
for anti-adoption advocates. The ensuing debate also
revealed that a reported 100,000 children are living without
the care of their biological parents in Kazakhstan.


3. Embassy was initially alerted to the report by a key
Ministry of Education contact that had heard of the
allegation and requested the embassy investigate its
veracity. On Friday, April 7, the weekly Kazakhstani press
published headlines trumpeting the alleged abuse and "the
scandal of Kazakhstani children in the United States."
Subsequently, the consular section, in close cooperation
with CA/CI, has maintained an ongoing dialogue with key MFA,
MOE and local adoption coordinators to provide them with the
most accurate and complete news on the allegation. Ministry
contacts and local officials were initially stunned by the
report and concerned about the inevitable backlash in the
parliament and among the public. Their fears were quickly
confirmed.

-------------- --------------
Parliament Debate Condemns Adoptions; Exposes Rifts
-------------- --------------


4. Days after the report first aired, the Kazakhstani
Parliament, in a previously scheduled debate on adoption and
family issues, seized on the abuse story to launch charges,
countercharges, and anti-adoption hyperbole. Several
deputies demanded a ban of intercountry adoptions. A later
report that the accused child molester had been released on
bail fueled even sharper vitriolic debate. Deputy Tito
Syzdykov accused Kazakhstan of gross negligence in adoption
processing and charged that the government is unable to
track the status of adopted children abroad. "Why don't we
care about our citizens?" Syzdykov charged, "We sell oil and
gas, but we should stop selling our children." Deputies
focused attention on the number of children adopted by
single parents, same-gender parents, and homosexuals. Other
deputies demanded that the Prime Minister and Procurator
General investigate the allegation and report back to the
parliament.


5. A director of an Astana-based orphanage charged that the
bail paid by the alleged abuser "was outrageous; if he had
been caught in Kazakhstan he would have been shot." The
Deputy Akim (or mayor) of Almaty pointed to the failure of
adoptive parents to submit post placement reports (PPRs)
confirming the status of adopted children as "the key
problem. We do not have information about adopted children.
We are the child's country and we need to know about her
life."

--------------
Venting Accomplished; Proposals Tabled
--------------


6. Although the debate on the Family and Marriage Code was
heated and sustained, no modifications to existing law were
passed, and current law was allowed to remain in force.
Local media were remarkably balanced in their reporting of
the debate. An Interfax report examined the variety of
opinions between the upper and lower houses of Parliament
and of experts from within the government itself, and
concluded that although the case of the abused child was
tragic, equally tragic was the status of thousands of
abandoned children in Kazakhstan. Parliament rejected calls
to make only sick and ill children available for adoption,
the prohibition of adoption by single prospective parents,
homosexuals, and adoption "to parents residing in bad
weather countries and in difficult social and economic
conditions."


7. The government agreed to establish an ombudsman position
that would be charged with safeguarding the rights, health
and treatment of Kazakhstani children both domestically and
abroad. A working group consisting of representatives from
UNICEF, the Ministry of Education and several NGOs has been
formed to hammer out a draft proposal on the creation of an
ombudsman office. According to press accounts, the
ombudsman will be an independent entity with full
investigatory authority.

--------------
Over 94,000 Orphans in Kazakhstan
--------------


8. The abuse allegation revealed the dark underside of the
plight of orphaned children in Kazakhstan. According to the
minutes of the parliament debate, there are over 94,000
orphans in Kazakhstan (population 15 million); of that
number 16,843 live in orphanages and over 80 percent of the
orphans are "ill children" with a growing number infected
with sexually transmitted diseases. According to Bakhyt
Syzdykova, Chairman of the Parliament's Adoption Committee,
"Kazakhstanis adopt only healthy children-and if the
children are found to be ill they are frequently returned to
the orphanage or abandoned again." Of the 5,000 Kazakhstani
children adopted over the past decade, ten percent were
adopted by single prospective adoptive parents (PAPs)--
providing ammunition to anti-gay adoption groups that
Kazakhstani children are endangered by homosexuals.

-------------- ---
Cost of Adoption: Between USD 100 and USD 25,000
-------------- ---


9. Although the cost of adopting in Kazakhstan was not
mentioned in the debate, Post received a diplomatic note
several days later asking for an explanation behind figures
the Embassy estimates as the cost of adoption. According to
the diplomatic note, the "official" cost of adopting a child
"can be no more than USD 100, while the Embassy states that
the cost is between USD 18,000 and 25,000." Although the
embassy has no first-hand statistics supporting the higher
amount, we gleaned the adoption cost figures from
questionnaires completed by PAPs prior to their departure
from Kazakhstan.


10. According to the questionnaires (taken from 266 PAPs
FY2006 year and 3,701 overall from FY2000 to present),71
percent claimed the cost of adopting a child was between USD
15,000 and USD 30,000. The majority of families (36
percent) stay in country between 31 and 49 days.
Approximately 12 percent of PAPs stayed in Kazakhstan for
more than 50 days, with a few reporting stays of 75, 90, and
120 days, respectively, with most of those stays occurring
in FY2005 and FY2006. Many PAPs make multiple trips to
Kazakhstan with one family admitting to having returned
three times. Fully 66 percent of PAPs adopted one child,
while 14 percent adopted two children (the remaining
percentage is "unknown"). Forty percent of adopted
Kazakhstani children were male and sixty percent were
female.


11. The huge disparity between the "official" and "real"
cost of adoption is due to how one computes the actual cost
to adopt a child thousands of miles from the United States.
The GOK ignores travel and per diem costs, as well as the
cost of food, clothing, transportation and facilitation
services in Kazakhstan. In addition, there is substantial
anecdotal information that PAPs provide orphanages and a
range of Kazakhstani officials with financial "gifts" to
compensate them for completing adoption processing
expeditiously.

--------------
Post's Outreach Program
--------------


12. Post has embarked on a sustained and aggressive
outreach program to inform the Kazakhstani public of the
circumstances behind adoption by Americans and to dispel
rumors of how the pending allegation of abuse would be
handled in the U.S. The Ambassador, Public Affairs
officers, and Consular officers have met with print,
television, and media representatives as well as with MFA
and MOE officers to provide the fullest detail behind the
alleged abuse. Extended interviews have aired on all
national television newscasts and have received prominent
display in the print media as well.

--------------
Comment
--------------


13. The first-ever reported abuse of a Kazakhstani child by
an adoptive American parent caused a strongly negative
reaction here. Despite the rhetoric and hyperbole of
parliamentary debates, there were signs that the allegation
would spur deputies to make a serious review of current
adoption laws and strengthen the largely unregulated plight
of orphans in Kazakhstan, including the potential for a
centralized PPR database. Fears of a complete adoption
moratorium have subsided; however the prospect of an
informal slowdown of adoption dossier processing is an
ongoing threat, given that judges and prosecutors may feel
that political attitudes toward international adoption are
now changing. The embassy will continue its proactive and
aggressive outreach efforts, in close cooperation with
CA/CI, to answer questions and dispel rumors.

Ordway