Press Release
Congressional Hearing Focus on Goldman ActJapan, India, Brazil Get Failing Grades in New State Department Intl Child Abduction ReportIn its 2016 report, mandated by the “Sean and David Goldman Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act,” the U.S. State Department does a better job at identifying countries that fail to meet obligations under an international child abduction treaty, but the agency falls short in properly listing every country that should be condemned for its “pattern of non-compliance,” a key designation and first step towards sanctions. At a hearing today on Capitol Hill, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on human rights and author of the Goldman Act, noted the improvement but asked State Department Officials to explain the reluctance and to identify what steps will be taken to move non-compliant countries to help bring home American children. “Parents of children still held without progress in India, Tunisia, and Brazil will be relieved to see these countries designated ‘non-compliant’ in the 2016 Goldman Act Compliance Report,” Smith said. “And those of us who have watched Japan closely note that the report states clearly that ‘Japan failed to comply with its obligations under the Hague Abduction Convention.’” “What remains inexplicable, perhaps, is how or why Japan was kept off the list of non-compliant countries for a second year in a row when even the State Department condemned them for ‘systemic flaws’ in their ability to enforce court orders to return U.S. children,” Smith said. Smith’s full statement can be found here. “Under the law, failure to enforce return orders is an automatic trigger for designation of ‘pattern of non-compliance. The natural progression then is for the State Department to turn to sanctions. Thus, the designation is key,” said Smith who first introduced the Goldman Act in 2009 and pushed it through to final passage in 2014. James Cook, an American father from Minnesota who won the return of his children from Japan, but has yet to secure enforcement, testified at the hearing and explained the trials left-behind parents face. “Children who knew me as a parent that hugged them, kissed them on the forehead and in so many ways communicated my unconditional acceptance of them as people, have been told to fear me and deny my attempts to access,” said Cook. “I understand their situation, and the choices they had to make to survive, but the emotional pain still remains.” Cook’s full testimony can be found here. This year’s report shows that India had 99 open abduction cases, with 83 still open at the end of the year. Hearing witness Ruchika Abbi of Virginia, a survivor of domestic violence seeking the return of her daughter from her abusive former husband, now in India, said “The parents of American children… face enormous and, often insurmountable obstacles in seeking the return of our children. We receive little assistance from our Government and no assistance from the Indian Government, despite the fact that these cases have been lingering for years! I am asking for help, I am asking that our children be returned home to the United States, without further delay.” Abbi’s full testimony can be found here. The report also noted Brazil’s continued failure to return abducted American children under the Hague Convention. This year’s report shows 25 open cases, with 13 pending for more than two years. Dr. Chris Brann, a father from Texas whose son was abducted to Brazil three years ago, said “It is beyond belief to me that Brazilian courts are rewarding Marcelle for illegally abducting my son.” Brann’s full testimony can be found here. Edeanna Barbirou of Maryland, whose son Eslam was abducted four years ago to Tunisia, explained that the State Department relies too heavily on often-unreliable foreign governments: “We continue to accrue judicial order after judicial order, the Tunisian government continues to provide baseless assurances, and Eslam remains illegally detained in Tunisia.” The State Department has yet to apply any of the strong tools provided by the Goldman Act to push Tunisia on the implementation of its own court orders. Barbirou’s full testimony can be found here. Among its many provisions, the Goldman Act requires an annual report on parental child abduction and those nations found to have demonstrated a “pattern of non-compliance.” Smith’s law also requires the State Department to assist parents whose children have been abducted to countries who have not signed on to the Hague Convention and provides the State Department penalties it can use against non-conforming countries. It also requires the State Department to inform Members of Congress when a constituent whom they represent is a victim of international child abduction. Smith has held nine hearings on international parental child abduction since he met with Monmouth County, N.J. resident David Goldman in 2009, including cases of left-behind parents of American children abducted to India, Japan, Egypt, Brazil, Russia, England and other countries. ### |