16 children want to leave Patriarchate’s boarding school accused of abuse
The Agency for State Care and Assistance for the Victims of Human Trafficking has not spoken about the reasons why the children want to leave the Patriarchate’s boarding school.
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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.
The agency says that they received the most recent call reporting alleged violence in the boarding school 10 days ago.
Ninotsminmda boarding school, which currently houses 47 children, has been under the spotlight for several months.
Top clerics who administer the facility have not allowed inspectors, particularly the Public Defender’s Office’s staff, to conduct monitoring according to the law.
Deputy Health Minister Tamar Gabunia has stated that the ministry is working on Ninotsminda boarding school issue and the decisions will be made which will be 'in the best interests of children.'
The reason behind the refusal was the ‘anti-Christian attitudes’ of the public defender and her employees.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria stated earlier this week that the country’s Prosecutor’s Office is investigating three cases of alleged violence and one case of alleged rape in the Ninotsminda boarding school.
She has accused state agencies of ‘doing nothing genuine’ to ensure the monitoring of the facility ‘where children may be victims of violence.’
Civic activists, who have organised several rallies to protest the barring of inspectors into the facility, have stated that the government ‘always closes its eyes when it comes to the Patriarchate because of the institute’s high public rating.’
Civic activist Giga Makarashvili says that a law enforcer broke his hand during a rally at the country’s Prosecutor’s Office yesterday.
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.
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.
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.
UNICEF Georgia (United Children’s Emergency Fund) says it is ready to support the Georgian government in moving children from Ninotsminda boarding school to family and community-based care amidst allegations of physical and sexual abuse.
Civic activists have thrown hundreds of leaflets at MPs during a session in parliament with the caption ‘What is happening in the Ninotsminda boarding house?’
Safety, well-being, exercise of rights by and development of any child placed in care settings should be thoroughly monitored by national institutions, including by the Public Defender’s Office, reads the United Nations Country Team in Georgia responding to recent incidents in a Patriarchate’s boarding house in Ninotsminda.
Ombudswoman Nino Lomjaria has visited the Patriarchate’s Ninotsminda boarding school for the first time since 2018 earlier today, following accusations of physical and sexual abuse at the facility.
The Georgian Patriarchate has accused three opposition-minded TV channels Mtavari Arkhi, TV Pirveli and Formula TV of ‘insulting its institution’ and using hate speech following a recent incident in which Monk Ioane verbally harassed a Formula TV journalist.