6 children want to leave Patriarchate’s boarding school, Ombudswoman suspects they may be victims of violence
On June 2, 2021 Georgian public Defender Nino Lomjaria stated that the country’s Prosecutor’s Office is investigating several cases of violence which occurred in 2016-2020 in the Patriarcate’s Ninotsminda boarding school. Photo: publika.ge.
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Six children living in a boarding school run by the Georgian Patriarchate and which is suspected of inflicting physical and psychological violence on its wards say they would like to leave the institution ‘to live closer to Tbilisi’, the Agency for Social Care and Assistance for Victims of Trafficking said yesterday.
Ombudswoman Nino Lomjaria and several NGOs express the suspicion that the children in the school may be the victims of psychological and physical violence and they are not able to talk openly about their problems.
On June 2, 2021 Georgian public Defender Nino Lomjaria stated that the country’s Prosecutor’s Office is investigating several cases of violence which occurred in 2016-2020 in the Patriarcate’s Ninotsminda boarding school.
Lomjaria also said top clerics did not allow inspectors from the Ombudsman’s office to conduct mandatory monitoring.
Archbishop Spiridon, who administers the boarding school, stated several times that he will not allow the public defender’s monitors into the building ‘because Lomjaria and her staff support anti-Cristian attitudes’.
Lomjaria also said that only one social worker has been allowed into the boarding school after ‘sharp statements’ from her office and the involvement of the UN.
However, the social worker was unable to conduct any monitoring ‘because it is Public Defender’s job and the social worker has no access to necessary documentation’.
Head of the Partnership for Human Rights organisation Ana Arganashvili told Rustavi 2 yesterday that her organisation is going to defend the rights of children living in the Ninotsminda boarding school.
Arganashvili said that the boarding school has strict discipline rules. If a child behaves badly, he/she will have to walk down on his/her knees and will not get food.
She also said that out of 53 children, eight are with disabilities and special needs, which ‘once again shows that the school needs monitoring as soon as possible’.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has stated that the country’s Prosecutor’s Office is investigating several cases of violence in the Patriarchate’s Ninotsminda boarding school where top clerics have not allowed inspectors to conduct mandatory monitoring.
Georgian civic activists and NGOs have plans to gather at the administration building of the government of Georgia at 6 p.m. today, on International Childrens’ Day, to protest the decision of the leadership of Ninotsminda boarding school in eastern Georgia not to allow inspectors, including the country’s ombudsperson, to carry out monitoring there.
Civic activist Giga Makarashvili says that a law enforcer broke his hand during a rally at the country’s Prosecutor’s Office yesterday.
Sixteen children have expressed the desire to leave the Patriarchate’s Ninotsminda boarding school, the Agency for State Care and Assistance for the Victims of Human Trafficking has reported. The state agency, which entered the boarding school earlier this week, said that six children have already been placed in a different facility amid allegations of violence in the school.
Several minors from the Patriarchate’s boarding school in Ninotsminda have already been interrogated following allegations of violence in the school, reports the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia (MIA).
A total of 11 minors, including one with disabilities, have been removed from the Patriarchate’s boarding school in Ninotsminda amid allegations of violence. The Health Ministry announced earlier today that its State Care Agency, which deals with the most vulnerable groups in Georgia, will ensure the selection of an alternative form of care for the children.
The Georgian Patriarchate’s Ninotsminda boarding school in eastern Georgia, which was in the public spotlight between May–June 2021 for allegations of violence against its wards, has been fined 1,000 GEL (322 USD) by the State Inspector’s Office for disclosing children’s personal data.