MOSCOW, September 10 (RAPSI) – Russia’s child rights commissioner Anna Kuznetsova has forwarded a proposal for amnesty of certain inmates including minors and woman having family obligations to the State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin, the ombudsman’s press service has told RAPSI.

The initiative touches people convicted of not grave crimes. Thus, Kuznetsova proposes pardon or reducing sentence in certain conditions of prisoners, who committed crimes under the age of 18, jailed pregnant women, single mothers or mothers of many children under the age of 14.

However, the amnesty would not apply to inmates convicted of serious crimes, deprived of parental rights, committed crimes against children and repeatedly sentenced persons, the statement reads.

Kuznetsova believes amnesty can positively influence their correction and further behavior.

As of August 1, 540,657 people were held in penitentiary facilities, including 43,440 women with 455 children living in 13 orphanages located in colonies. In 2018, there were 1,310 minor convicts in young offender institutions and 915 – in detention centers, the ombudsman’s office reported.

According to preliminary estimates, the proposed amnesty may apply to 3,000 inmates. The initiative has been considered and conceptually backed by the Federal Penitentiary Service.

Moreover, the ombudsman’s office along with the amnesty proposal presented an initiative to legally set a mentoring institution to supervise minors and improve their behavior.