The Foundation For The Defense Of Citizens Against State Abuses (FACIAS) has submitted a formal notification to the Prosecutor General's Office, drawing attention to the concerning circumstances surrounding the treatment of 63 children with disabilities in four residential facilities operating under the jurisdiction of DGASPC Mures. The notification highlights the critical situation where the lives and health of these vulnerable minors are being jeopardised by inhumane conditions, overcrowding, inadequate medical care, and substandard nutrition. FACIAS has called for an urgent investigation by the prosecutors of the Prosecutor's Office of the High Court of Cassation and Justice to hold those responsible to account, and has drawn attention to the biased statements of the local authorities, which seek to minimise the seriousness of this case.
A series of inspections conducted in January 2025 exposed significant irregularities in four residential facilities for children with disabilities under the jurisdiction of the DGASPC Mures. The inspections revealed that 63 children were being accommodated in overcrowded environments and subjected to unsanitary conditions, with limited access to proper medical care and sustenance, and food that had surpassed its expiration date. These violations constitute egregious infringements upon the fundamental rights of the minors involved. In light of these findings, FACIAS is urging the Prosecutor General to prioritise an investigation into this case, in accordance with Article 197 of the Criminal Code, which deals with the offence of ill-treatment of minors.
According to reports and information published in the media, the checks revealed the following serious problems:
- Children aged between 3-7 years are not in the care of professional maternal assistants, as required by law, but are placed in centers. Thus, DGASPC Mureș has breached its obligation to provide care for children in a family environment;
- In one of the centers, eight children were locked in padlocked dormitories located outside so that they could not leave their rooms, citing staff shortages as the reason;
- In two of the centers, a check of the medicines in the emergency machines identified expired medicines. The staff on duty stated that they had recently administered these treatments;
- In all four centers, the living and care conditions are inadequate, do not meet the legal standards, and 9 children were observed in one bedroom, rooms without doors, unsanitary spaces, mattresses covered in plastic, beds of inadequate size - all of which are likely to endanger the life and integrity of children;
- An outbreak of chickenpox was identified in one of the centers, five children were diagnosed, not all of them were isolated from other institutionalized children;
- There are children with disabilities who don't benefit from physiotherapy services even though doctors say the lack of recovery can be life-threatening;
- In the food warehouses, they found ham that had expired a few days ago, jars of pickles or vegetables that had expired for almost a year, garlic that had turned sour, rotten onions;
- Christmas parties paid out of children's pocket money.
FACIAS reiterates the concerns raised in previous reports regarding the situation at the four residential centres under the DGASPC Mureș. Despite initial reports in March 2024, no remedial action has been taken by the responsible authorities. Furthermore, public statements by the president of Mureș County Council, Péter Ferenc, who asserts that "there is a satisfactory general condition in which these children can be treated. I would say that there are decent conditions" in these centres, raises serious questions about the objectivity of the local authorities, which are trying to minimise the serious irregularities.
Given the seriousness of the situation and the risk of influencing the investigation at local level, FACIAS calls for the investigation to be taken over by prosecutors from the Prosecutor's Office of the High Court of Cassation and Justice. FACIAS believes that any delay in taking concrete steps to stop this practice exposes the 63 children to additional life-threatening risks and perpetuates a system that tolerates abuse of the most vulnerable members of society.