Press Release
Smith Chairs Capitol Hill Briefing on International Child Abduction
The U.S. must enforce the Goldman Act and make sure that countries are abiding by international agreements against parental child abduction, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said at a briefing on the matter by the Helsinki Commission.
The U.S. must enforce the Goldman Act and make sure that countries are abiding by international agreements against parental child abduction, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said at a briefing on the matter by the Helsinki Commission. “Simply put: child abduction is child abuse. Children abducted by one parent overseas and kept away from the other are at grave risk of serious emotional and psychological problems,” Smith said at the briefing. “Every day the abduction continues only compounds the harm to a child. And, the left-behind parent is usually emotionally and financially devastated by prolonged litigation in a foreign jurisdiction.” Here are Rep. Smith’s full remarks. Smith co-chairs the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, or the Helsinki Commission. He led a panel on Friday featuring the survivor of a parental child abduction, as well as current and former left-behind parents who saw their children taken from them without their consent, and without court permission. One witness, who was abducted to Greece by his father when he was 10 years old, gave a moving testimony of his experience. “I was gone for almost two years, but those two years didn’t have to be,” said Leo Zagaris, now almost 17 years old. “Maybe if the courts moved faster, I could have been home in a matter of weeks,” he said. The U.S. State Department estimates that 700 to 1,000 children are abducted in the U.S. to another country every year by one of their parents, without the consent of the other parent or the permission of the court. The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is an international agreement against child abduction. It has been adopted by 98 countries, including 51 of 57 OSCE participating states. Although it established a legal structure for the safe return of children abducted by one parent out of their home country, the convention does not have a strict “enforcement mechanism” for countries that do not abide by it, Smith said. Abduction cases can take years to settle in court even though the convention requires a six week-maximum on court decisions. And many court decisions in favor of the left-behind parent are not enforced by certain countries. “For many families, the Convention has been a huge disappointment,” Smith said. Smith’s bill, the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act, set up actions that the State Department can take to ensure the safe return of children unlawfully abducted by one of their parents to another country. The actions range in severity from official protests to criminal extradition. Congress passed the bill and it was signed into law. “Taking parents take because they feel they can get away with it,” said Alissa Zagaris, an advocate and mother of Leo Zagaris. “Most central authorities take a very passive approach to these matters,” she said, but in reality “they have a strong, not a passive, paper-pushing role to play.” “Criminal charges work, and they can be an effective tool in negotiating return,” she said. Although the previous administration did not utilize the actions provided by the law, “we are hopeful that the new Administration will apply the Goldman Act as intended to bring home abducted American children,” Smith said. Smith has chaired 13 hearings and briefings on international child abduction since 2009.
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