The Latvian chapter of the international organization Save the Children last week revealed alleged crimes against children at the Vegi Center, a specialized social center for the mentally disabled.
The organization accused teachers at the center, located in the Talsu region in western Latvia, of emotional, psychological, physical and sexual violence against children.
The allegations are based on video-taped testimony given to Save the Children by the children and employees. Vegi principal Vitolds Kairiss denies the accusations, saying they were made up by a fired employee.
Kairiss himself was fired this week for operational irregularities at the center that the Ministry of Welfare, which oversees it, says are unrelated to the allegations.
Latvian Prosecutor General Janis Maizitis instructed Talsu region prosecutors to investigate the allegations, Prosecutor GeneralÕs Office spokeswoman Dzintra Subrovska told The Baltic Times.
Vegi cares for 150 children aged from three to 18, all of whom have a mental disability and other side effects.
Save the Children blames the centerÕs staff for not providing medical help to the children and refusing to report known cases of abuse.
Biruta Mertena, the centerÕs only psychologist, says she was fired when she spoke about the alleged abuse. ÒI witnessed a couple of cases of child abuse and I told Kairiss what I had seen. After some time I was fired for being late for work,Ó Mertena says.
A woman who has been working at the center for 10 years and wanted to remain anonymous told The Baltic Times that she had seen Òa child coming into a room with his back covered in red stripes from a brush. (Teacher) Aigars Budnieks entered a little later and he was drunk.Ó
In the taped testimonies, viewed by The Baltic Times, most of the children blamed two teachers Ð Aigars Budnieks and Leons Dokis.
In one tape, showed by Save the Children at a press conference, a child described how he was treated.
ÒBudnieks asked me to wash his car,Ó the child said. ÒWhen he came back he didnÕt like the job I had done so he lifted me and threw me into the bushes.Ó
Other children said Budnieks forced them to water his potato field, making them carry pails of water over long distances. Another said that Budnieks fastened him to his car with a wire and dragged him over ice as he tried to free himself.
The allegations of beatings and torture were made by several children. ÒWe were beaten for nothing. We couldnÕt complain because we did not have a witness,Ó said one child.
Welfare ministry officials have said that they did not hear of the allegations earlier during routine inspections of the center.
Doubts have been raised about the childrenÕs evidence because of their mental disabilities, but Save the Children Director Inguna Ebela, a medical doctor, said the allegations cannot be dismissed so simply.
ÒThe children are able to speak and say what is happening around them,Ó she said. ÒThey understand who is nice and who is bad.Ó
An odd feature of the Vegi Center is that most of the staff are related to other staff members or employees of the Talsi regional education administration.
Budnieks, for example, is the son of the chief accountant. The head of the education department is the sister of a social services worker and their mother is a nurse at the center who has been accused of beating children with a shoe.
MP Vaira Paegle has become personally involved in pushing for an investigation into the case.
ÒI think there is a terrible attitude against children in Latvia,Ó she said. Prosecutors in Talsi say the investigation could take up to a month.
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