We have received with deep concern news of the death on July 8 in Herndon, Virginia, USA, of Dima Yakovlev (Chase Dmitry Harrison), a child from Russia, adopted by the American Harrison family only in March this year. From the information that has come in to us it follows that adoptive father Miles Harrison left him fastened in a closed car on a very hot day for several hours. As a result the child, not even two years old, and as has become known, with heart problems, died.

According to available information, the Herndon prosecutor’s office on July 9 charged Miles Harrison with manslaughter. An investigation is being conducted.

And even if in this case, as distinct from several previous, no deliberately cruel treatment of an adopted child is claimed to have been involved, but criminal neglect leading to a tragic outcome, the fact remains – a small citizen of Russia has died. We will duly track the entire course of the investigation and seek to ensure that it is fully objective.

We expect that American law enforcement bodies and the court will thoroughly look into all the causes and circumstances of the tragedy and adopt a just decision. We also hope that the appropriate US social services will draw the necessary conclusions from it.

We have repeatedly called on the American side to conclude a special bilateral agreement on adoptions. Such an international legal document will ensure more effective control over the fate of Russian children taken by adoptive parents to the US. We will persistently keep this issue on the agenda of Russian-American dialogue.