LITTLE ROCK — Remember the old National Lampoon cover that had a picture of a nervous-looking dog with a gun pointed at his head? “If you don’t buy this magazine, we’ll kill this dog,” was the caption. That was meant as satire. But the Russian parliament has done its own version of the joke, which it is not playing for laughs.
Last week the Duma overwhelmingly approved a bill banning adoption of Russian children by American citizens. The measure would be retaliation for a new U.S. law called the Magnitsky Act.
Named for a Russian attorney who died in prison after being tortured and deprived of medical treatment, the new statute allows Washington to refuse visas to Russian officials who commit human rights abuses, while freezing their financial assets.
There is not much doubt that the lawyer in question had his rights violated, possibly for airing claims of official corruption. A Russian government investigation blamed his death on “shortcomings in the provision of medical assistance” while he was behind bars. Two doctors were charged, though one prosecution was later dropped.
The Russians, it turns out, have their own complaints with our system of justice. They accuse it of unconscionable leniency in dealing with cases of Russian children who have died due to abuse or neglect by their adoptive American parents.
One case well-known to Russians, though not Americans, involved a 21-month-old boy who died of heatstroke after being left in a parked car for nine hours. The father was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter.
You can understand that Russian lawmakers could erroneously blame the U.S. government for that. You can even understand why Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to respond to the Magnitsky Act by imposing similar sanctions against U.S. judges involved in such alleged miscarriages of justice.
But the greater injury would be to thousands of blameless children deprived of permanent, loving families.
Editorial, Pages 16 on 12/29/2012