* Russian ban on U.S. adoptions imposed on Jan. 1
* But bilateral agreement on adoptions in place till 2014
* U.S. State Department “very hopeful” over pending
adoptions
(Recasts, adds new quotes from Putin spokesman)
By Steve Gutterman
MOSCOW, Jan 10 (Reuters) – A Kremlin official said on
Thursday a bilateral agreement with Washington on adoptions was
still in place, creating uncertainty over the immediate impact
of Russia’s new ban on Americans adopting Russian children.
Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the ban from Jan.
1 as part of a law passed to retaliate against U.S. legislation
intended to punish Russian human rights abusers.
Moscow had told Washington it was also terminating a
bilateral agreement regulating adoptions – but Putin’s spokesman
on Thursday said a technicality meant that agreement would have
to remain in force until the beginning of 2014.
“The agreement is still in effect,” Dmitry Peskov told
state-run news agency RIA, citing a built-in one-year delay to
any terminations.
He confirmed that to Reuters, and said it would be up to
legal experts to determine what effect it might have on American
families who were still going through the process of adopting
Russian children when the ban was imposed.
The U.S. State Department said it was unclear about the
impact of Peskov’s statement but told reporters it was “very
hopeful” it would be able to work through adoption cases that
had already begun.
U.S. officials were sifting through emails from about 950
American families to establish where they were in the adoption
process, said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.
A prominent Russian defence lawyer, Genri Reznik, told Ekho
Moskvy radio station that because an article of the Russian
constitution says international treaties take precedence over
Russian laws if they contradict one another, Peskov’s
announcement meant adoption procedures could continue for a
year.
UNCERTAINTY
But Peskov added to the uncertainty in later interviews by
suggesting only children whose adoptions have been approved by
Russian courts would be able to go to the United States.
“In cases where certain legal procedures have not been
completed, a full ban on adoptions by parents from America takes
effect,” Peskov told the Internet and cable TV channel Dozhd.
“The (Russia-U.S.) agreement is in no way a mechanism that
obliges the Russian side to give its children up for adoption,”
he added.
Peskov gave no numbers on Thursday, but he was quoted as
saying in late December that six adoptions that had been
approved would go through while another 46 that were underway
would not. He was not immediately available to make further
comment on Thursday.
Russian lawmakers have said the adoption ban was justified
by the deaths of 19 Russian-born children adopted by American
parents in the past decade.
But child rights activists have accused the Russian
government of making vulnerable children pawns in a political
dispute. Opponents of Putin are planning a protest march over
the law in Moscow on Sunday.
Critics of the ban say Russian orphanages are overcrowded and
that the number of adoptions by Russian families remain modest.
Americans have adopted more than 60,000 Russian children since
the 1991 Soviet collapse, including 962 in 2011.
(Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
