Bulgaria to Face ECHR over Death of 15-year-old in Childcare Institution

Krasimir Kanev, Chair of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC), photo by BGNES

The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) will file a lawsuit at the European Court of Human Rights over the death of a 15-year-old at a state-run childcare institution.

The human rights NGO will sue the state over the death of a 15-year-old mentally disabled girl at an institution located in the northeastern village of Strazha.

The girl died in 2006 from gastrointestinal perforation.

She was subjected to an operation, which failed to save her life, but recovered the following items from her stomach: 25 insoles, 8 cloth rags, 3 dishwashing sponges, 6 socks, 3 pieces of paper and 3 stones (3-4 cm in size).

The prosecuting authority did not hold anybody liable for the death.

The inspection covered only the activities of the hospital staff, while the activities of the child institution, under whose supervision the child had swallowed the deadly pile of objects, were left unexamined.

No details were revealed about how the accident had happened.

The BHC appealed the ruling for the termination of the pre-trial proceedings on the, claiming that the circumstances surrounding the death of the 15-year-old girl had to be clarified.

In November 2011, the Supreme Prosecutor's Office of Cassation upheld the termination of the pre-trial proceedings conclusively.

In its claim to the ECHR the BHC will claim that the state violated a number of rights in the case, including the girl's right to life, right to freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment, right to private life, right to an effective domestic remedy and the right to freedom from discrimination.

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