A/HRC/41/52 79. Human rights organizations and trade unionists have already expressed their opposition to this decree. 91 In particular, they have brought attention to the fact that the decree provides for the possibility of sending able-bodied individuals who have an “asocial lifestyle” to labour treatment centres. Labour treatment centres were originally conceived to isolate people with substance-abuse issues and provide them with “medico-social rehabilitation through compulsory work”. Placement in labour treatment centres is associated with deprivation of liberty and the conditions have been reported as equating to those of detention centres. The terminology “asocial life style” being extremely vague, the Special Rapporteur is concerned that this could lead to cases of arbitrary detention or other abuses. 3. Rights of the family and its members 80. Presidential decree No. 18, initially adopted in 2006, defines measures to be taken to protect children in dysfunctional families. It regulates the procedure for removing children from families and payment by parents for the State care provided to their children. Based on the decree, children could be threatened with removal from their families for outstanding payments of electricity bills or if a parent was unemployed. 92 On 15 January 2019, the Council of Ministers issued a new regulation, further specifying criteria for determining who should be put on the list of children in socially dangerous situations.93 The Special Rapporteur welcomes these clarifications, but considers that the new regulation still contains vague criteria that could lead to an arbitrary decision to place a child on the list. 81. The decision to remove a child from his or her family is taken by commissions composed of representatives of local authorities. That raises the question of a possible conflict of interest, since local authorities have a clear interest in ensuring that residents comply with local rules and procedures. The decision can be appealed but the process is reported as lengthy and with little chance of success. 82. The economic consequences of decree No. 18 should not be underestimated. Parents are obliged to pay for the maintenance of a child during the period when the child is in State care. That can be problematic for families who are often in an already difficult economic situation. If parents do not pay the costs, children can be permanently taken away from them and if they are unemployed, they are obliged to take up any job offered by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. Failure to attend the job offered exposes parents to being sent to labour treatment centres. 83. According to information received, threats to add children to the list or threats to remove children from the family put enormous psychological pressure on already vulnerable families and can lead to dramatic situations. In February alone, two mothers committed suicide after having their children either removed or threatened with removal.94 It was also brought to the Special Rapporteur’s attention that some political dissidents and civil society activists have also been threatened with being added to the list, in an apparent move to deter them from conducting their activities. 84. Based on the above information, the Special Rapporteur is of the opinion that the current application of the decree can constitute arbitrary interference with the right to privacy, family and home. 95 Moreover, the Special Rapporteur is concerned that the best interests of the child are not the legal basis and are not always the basis in practice for determining whether a child should be taken away from his or her family. As a result, under the provisions of the decree parents are often punished, to the detriment of the best interests of the child and puts vulnerable families in even more difficult situations. 91 92 93 94 95 18 See http://spring96.org/ru/news/91615 (in Russian). See https://people.onliner.by/2017/02/20/bumajka and https://www.kp.by/daily/26851/3893963/ (both in Russian). See www.government.by/upload/docs/filec51b6f7bb17cedc6.PDF (in Russian). See https://belsat.eu/ru/in-focus/novoe-samoubijstvo-30-letnyaya-mat-pokonchila-s-zhiznyu-kogdasotsialnaya-opeka-otobrala-detej/ and https://belsat.eu/ru/programs/samoubijstvo-na-gomelshhinemoloduyu-mat-s-osobennostyami-razvitiya-sotsopeka-zastavlyala-rabotat/ (both in Russian). See International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 17.