May 31, Minsk / Ekaterina Nechaeva - BELTA/. Difficult teenagers who have committed administrative offenses three or more times within a year are proposed to be sent for rehabilitation to special educational and medical-rehabilitation institutions of the Ministry of Education system. This was announced today to journalists by the Deputy Head of the Prevention Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Alexander Sorokovik, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
The proposal to expand the category of teenagers to be sent for rehabilitation to special institutions is contained in the draft law on amendments to the law on the fundamentals of the system for preventing neglect and offenses of minors. The document has already been adopted in the first reading by the House of Representatives.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, about 14,000 teenagers are registered with the juvenile inspection, including about 1,500 individuals sentenced to measures of punishment related to isolation from society, as well as those amnestied, returned from educational colonies, and closed-type special institutions. "Based on the results of last year, this category committed 957 criminal offenses. In 2010, out of 342 teenagers who were brought to justice three or more times for committing offenses, 109 individuals subsequently committed crimes," said Alexander Maleshko.
For example, one of the teenagers was brought to administrative responsibility 22 times in 2010 for offenses committed while intoxicated. As a result, he was diagnosed with alcohol dependence. Another teenager was brought to justice three times for petty hooliganism and drinking alcohol in public places, and eventually was convicted of murder. Perhaps if they had been sent to special institutions, tragedies could have been avoided.
The representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs believes that sending difficult teenagers for rehabilitation will lead to greater success in reducing the level of juvenile delinquency. Although there are already certain achievements in this direction. Thus, in recent years, there has been a steady trend of decreasing the number of crimes committed by teenagers. The share of such crimes has been around 5% for several years. The number of serious and particularly serious crimes involving minors is decreasing annually, including those committed by them while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, by teenagers with a criminal record, and in groups.
Over the past year, largely due to the introduction of a ban on drinking beer in public places, the number of minors who committed crimes while intoxicated has been reduced by more than 20%. Nevertheless, the problem of teenage drunkenness remains relevant. Almost every fourth minor was intoxicated at the time of committing a crime.
A system of interaction between interested state bodies and public organisations has been established in Belarus to prevent juvenile delinquency. New methods and forms of working with minors are being sought. Many events, competitions to foster law-abiding behaviour, hiking trips and rallies, excursions, visits to historical and cultural monuments, and competitions have become traditional. Orthodox priests conduct pastoral talks with minors registered with the Juvenile Affairs Inspectorate. Military-patriotic and defence sports camps are organised on the basis of units and divisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry for Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Defence, and the State Border Committee. In June of this year, it is planned to organise about 150 such camps, which will accommodate about 5,000 minors.
BELTA