Save Liam site

[forthelost]

I've known about this abduction in general terms for a bit, but just the other day I was informed that it's worse.

http://www.saveliam.org/Home.html

He was taken from New York to Italy by his mother, and eventually the Italian authorities took him from his mother and put him in an orphanage. He's been in there for two years, and they won't let his dad come take him home. :burn:

[tweinstein]

For reference, the Hague Convention went into force between Italy and the United States on 05/01/95.

[M.Capestro]

Just heard that Good Morning America (ABC) will be covering this story on this morning's show.

[SageDad]

I just don't understand how something like this could happen with all the advocacy and hard work that the US Dept. of State does on behalf of American children that are illegally held overseas.  

Any idea under what justifications they are pretending to keep this child and deny the legitimacy of US orders?

Guess the Italian government has declared themselves the socio-affective father of this boy.

[Sashia]

Michael L. LandsmanOctober 10 at 8:56pm Reply
On Sunday, Oct. 11 @ 7:45am EST, special guest Amato Berardi, who is a member of the Italian Parliament, together with a legal expert will join Alisyn Camerota on Fox & Friends, to discuss Liam's situation.

Please tune in and view the link to be posted about the update on the Fox News website thereafter.

Thank you for your support.

[rysmom]

There was a new Facebook group for Amici de Liam... to try to raise the Italian peoples knowledge, much like when the Brazilians protested David coming because they didnt have all the facts. Liam's story is horrific in that he hass been juggled around orphanages, and the Italian Government is drectly defying the Hague. Apparently Liam has been seen in Rome...they are hiding him in plain sight...and even if they apprehend the mother the Italians might decide that Liam should stay in an orphanage rather than go with his own father...this is awful

[lisacallenwood]

This case makes me ill. That this child would be sent BACK to an orphanage while he has his father FIGHTING to have him returned to the U.S. once he is found is disgusting!! I truly worry for this child's physical and emotional welfare.
 
The Italian authorities should be moritified of what is going on. Their mistakes have allowed Liam to be abducted once again. SHAME on them!!

[Jeanne M Hannah]

It surprises me that Liam has been in an orphanage for so long (though on another thread I saw that sometimes the Italian social services people have been letting the child live with his mother). So much for respect for the Hague Convention.

I wonder if the folks at the SOS who quickly got the return of the little girl whose father sold her passport and put her in an orphanage could help speed things around. That case was reported in the NY Times in October. http://tinyurl.com/y8o4vx8

[lovellboys]

Michael L. LandsmanOctober 10 at 8:56pm Reply
On Sunday, Oct. 11 @ 7:45am EST, special guest Amato Berardi, who is a member of the Italian Parliament, together with a legal expert will join Alisyn Camerota on Fox & Friends, to discuss Liam's situation.
 
Please tune in and view the link to be posted about the update on the Fox News website thereafter.
 
Thank you for your support.

I found contact information on the 'Save Liam' sight, so I'll get started with that.   I'll try finding info on Amato Beradi. What about Michael's state reps?  Is anyone going to bat for him?
 
This is insane! Liam is in grave danger, so I am making him my priority at the moment.

[SageDad]

It surprises me that Liam has been in an orphanage for so long (though on another thread I saw that sometimes the Italian social services people have been letting the child live with his mother). So much for respect for the Hague Convention.

I wonder if the folks at the SOS who quickly got the return of the little girl whose father sold her passport and put her in an orphanage could help speed things around. That case was reported in the NY Times in October. http://tinyurl.com/y8o4vx8

Liam is not living in an orphanage, the mother and her family picked him up for a visit and dissapeared (ie re-abducted him).

It's always easier to effect returns when the abductor isn't a citizen of the country they run to.  These returns typically avoid the Hague Convention altogether (even when they're in HC states) and use legal mechanisms like deportation or extradition.  China, and many countries, have no qualms about revoking a visa and deporting someone who has abducted a child from another country.  Mexico is even pretty good at doing this for abductors that run to Mexico but aren't Mexican citizens.  Which is to say, even when the HC is an option it's often the slowest, most costly and least effective one.  Unfortunately Liam's abductors are Italian citizens entitled to all the bloat that a HC case entails except, in this case, it's an actual international custody case since Italy denied the HC case almost immediately on the grounds that Italy had jurisdiction to determine custody due to them doing just that several years prior.

[forthelost]

China, and many countries, have no qualms about revoking a visa and deporting someone who has abducted a child from another country.

That may be so, but I know one case where a woman with no connections to China took her kid there two years ago, and they refuse to do anything about it.

[SageDad]

That may be so, but I know one case where a woman with no connections to China took her kid there two years ago, and they refuse to do anything about it.

My instincts tell me China either can't find her or has never been asked to do anything by consular officials and US diplomats.  Most countries don't look kindly on foreigners committing crimes and hiding within their borders, particularly when it can cause them diplomatic problems.  It wouldn't be the first time officials with the US Embassy actively supported a mother abducting children by refusing to support a father fighting for their child.  OCI and the USDOJ have a range of tools they can use to help parents.  Each of them is empowered to act as judge and jury and "use their judgement" ("prosecutorial discretion" in the case of USDOJ) about what actions are appropriate for each parent leaving plenty of room for personal biases, prejudices and opinions to dictate which parents actually get any help.  A propensity for US diplomats in foreign service to care more about making their host country happy than assisting American citizens doesn't help there either.  I know of cases where officials from the US Embassy have been in consistent contact with judges who hear hague cases.  I also know of cases, like my own, where they can't be bothered to express any interest whatsoever.  Most judges in Mexico don't give a rats arse what low-level diplomats from the US Embassy think anyway so, in practice, it makes little difference if they express an interest in one case vs another except to emphasize how little the US government is willing to do to help the average "left behind parent."