Sage Bermudez Abduction Case

[ananddad]

One of the judges on a panel at the conference denied a Hague return in one of my lawyers other cases (and had his decision overturned on appeal) and my lawyer heckled him with questions until he refused to answer more.

That is funny. Bet you would have loved to be present at the conference to heckle the Judge yourself:D

[SageDad]

That is funny. Bet you would have loved to be present at the conference to heckle the Judge yourself:D

lol.. yeah.  

There's a reason the State Dept will never send any of its representatives to an event that is attended by LBP's.  They want to claim their working hard to support LBP's without having any of us call BS on their claims.  Every so often they have conferences on improving the Hague Convention and its compliance but State blocks parents from being able to attend or won't attend themselves.

What amazes me is that when a country as non-compliant as Mexico has an international conference on the Hague Convention attended by US diplomats along with representatives from several other Latin American nations (I'm unaware if Brazil was there) it doesn't make a single newspaper here in the US (it made several Mexican papers and my lawyer was aware of it).  The abduction of children to Mexico and their respective non-compliance with the HC is truly an issue that remains completely under the radar.

[sue]

When do you expect a ruling?

[SageDad]

When do you expect a ruling?

Possibly on the 23rd in one appeal and hopefully before December in the other.  Once December comes they will basically shut down for the holidays.

[Lexi]

No, actually the court may very well remove all the manifestations that DIF made in my case. I just talked to my lawyer again who is now back home from traveling to court and it wasn't the State of GTO's DIF office that filed the response but rather the small city branch my wife lives in who responded. The way an "amparo" (constitutional appeal) works is that third parties are given a chance to disagree and respond to the list of grievances made by the person who filed the appeal (in this case my wife). My wife listed DIF as a 3rd party and they have responded and basically just went down the list of my wife's grievances saying they concurred with all of them which invalidates them as a 3rd party since they are not disagreeing with anything. Even if their response is not explicitly removed though it doesn't really add anything to the case but it does illustrate the difficulty in winning these cases in Mexico. All fathers fighting in Mexico (and some mothers) find that all local authorities and agencies are lined up against them when they go to try and get their children, and I mean actively against them -- without knowing any of the the history or being witnesses to anything. This is in shárp contrast to the total lack of support provided by the State Dept to the parent that is trying to get their kids back. The OCI pretends to be non-partial but their unwillingness to do anything actually actively helps the abductor who is guaranteed extensive support against the American petitioner who must stand alone. I consider myself fortunate to at least have a good understanding of the Spanish language and the ability to pay my attorneys. Lacking either one of those things would make an extremely difficult situation nearly impossible.

Carlos:
Is the bias against fathers because of Mexico being a more traditional country (i.e. cultural differences)? I'm asking because I'm inclined to think that factors in with Brazil and Japan as well. If so, then why the bias against LBP mothers or is there an anti-American component to it too (like there probably is with the other two countries)?
 
Also, I was wondering if any LBPs that you know of have tried bringing the OCI's lack of support to the media's attention or would most LBPs be concerned about antagonizing them? And in asking, I realize there are hurdles to generating media attention for these issues.

[ananddad]

I am sure Carlos will repond. Here are my 2 cents....
 

Is the bias against fathers because of Mexico being a more traditional country (i.e. cultural differences)? I'm asking because I'm inclined to think that factors in with Brazil and Japan as well.

Everytime I say this, I get shouted down...but I will say it again. Bias against fathers is pretty much universal. A father is guilty until he can prove his innocence. I faced it during my own dissolution process. Talk to any man who went through divorce proceedings in US and they will say the same thing. This bias is not limited to Courts. Public, media and Law enforcement have the same bias. Though I am not certain it is still the case, I think Middle East is the one exception where father is considered to be the guardian of children and hence favoured in child custody matters.
 

Carlos:
If so, then why the bias against LBP mothers or is there an anti-American component to it too (like there probably is with the other two countries)?

This can't be ruled out. A lot of third world countries like to thumb their noses at US. Given how little the US Govt (DoS and OCI) cares about these children, the other countries know they can get away with throwing  US Court orders in garbage and apply their own law and interprete it favour the abductor. Just look at Japan...they need US to defend their nation, they need US to sell their cars and electronics and an American father is in jail awaiting trial.
 

Also, I was wondering if any LBPs that you know of have tried bringing the OCI's lack of support to the media's attention or would most LBPs be concerned about antagonizing them? And in asking, I realize there are hurdles to generating media attention for these issues.

I don't think any LBP cares about antagonizing the OCI. It is not like they can help you when you play nice with them. They are incompetent, period. You must have noticed by now that simply getting the story of an abduction has been very difficult for most of the LBPs. When they run a story, they hardly have enough time to get into the issue of OCI's effectiveness.

[sue]

I agree, the bias is very universal.  I remember when my daughter was in 2nd grade and a couple were divorcing, the mother was doing this same thing.  I happened to know her and knew she was the unfit one, but it was very hard on the father and I moved before the outcome.  And this was in a very wealthy part of San Diego County.....this happens everywhere.

[dmdaven2]

Carlos:
Is the bias against fathers because of Mexico being a more traditional country (i.e. cultural differences)? I'm asking because I'm inclined to think that factors in with Brazil and Japan as well. If so, then why the bias against LBP mothers or is there an anti-American component to it too (like there probably is with the other two countries)?
 
Also, I was wondering if any LBPs that you know of have tried bringing the OCI's lack of support to the media's attention or would most LBPs be concerned about antagonizing them? And in asking, I realize there are hurdles to generating media attention for these issues.

 
Hell no...I plan to fully exploit the worthlessness of the OCI...being silent only allows them to continue screwing other/future LBP over. They know they are worthless...but their excuse is there is nothing more they can do, it's policy.
 
And really, that's true...the fundamental issue is that the OCI shouldn't be in charge of Hague proceedings in the first place...yea they don't support LBP much, but that's the purpose, they want Diplomacy not our children back...and to get that they subliminally attempt to make the LBP accept their loss and leave the other country alone. :nixweiss: (thats my opinion at least)

[Lexi]

I am sure Carlos will repond. Here are my 2 cents....
 
Everytime I say this, I get shouted down...but I will say it again. Bias against fathers is pretty much universal. A father is guilty until he can prove his innocence. I faced it during my own dissolution process. Talk to any man who went through divorce proceedings in US and they will say the same thing. This bias is not limited to Courts. Public, media and Law enforcement have the same bias. Though I am not certain it is still the case, I think Middle East is the one exception where father is considered to be the guardian of children and hence favoured in child custody matters.

I agree, the bias is very universal. I remember when my daughter was in 2nd grade and a couple were divorcing, the mother was doing this same thing. I happened to know her and knew she was the unfit one, but it was very hard on the father and I moved before the outcome. And this was in a very wealthy part of San Diego County.....this happens everywhere.

I tend to agree with both of you that the bias is widespread, but just to qualify my point further, I feel it is likely more culturally entrenched and prevalent in traditional countries like Brazil, Japan, and Mexico. In other words, if fathers are already swimming upstream in these situations in the US, they have to do that even more in these countries. On a brighter note, there are some progressive thinkers and Judges Pinto and Nogueira in Brazil are examples of that.

[Lexi]

I am sure Carlos will repond. Here are my 2 cents....
 
I don't think any LBP cares about antagonizing the OCI. It is not like they can help you when you play nice with them. They are incompetent, period. You must have noticed by now that simply getting the story of an abduction has been very difficult for most of the LBPs. When they run a story, they hardly have enough time to get into the issue of OCI's effectiveness.

Hell no...I plan to fully exploit the worthlessness of the OCI...being silent only allows them to continue screwing other/future LBP over. They know they are worthless...but their excuse is there is nothing more they can do, it's policy.
 
And really, that's true...the fundamental issue is that the OCI shouldn't be in charge of Hague proceedings in the first place...yea they don't support LBP much, but that's the purpose, they want Diplomacy not our children back...and to get that they subliminally attempt to make the LBP accept their loss and leave the other country alone. :nixweiss: (thats my opinion at least)

Ok, from what both of you are saying, they're SO incompetent that they can't compromise your situation (e.g. drag their heels) any further even if you publicly complain about them. That's good in a small, twisted way because at least you're not impeded from exposing them. Of course it would be better if they were just effective in the first place instead of bumbling and conflicted!
 

You must have noticed by now that simply getting the story of an abduction has been very difficult for most of the LBPs. When they run a story, they hardly have enough time to get into the issue of OCI's effectiveness.

Yup, I've noticed - they perceive these Hague cases as custody fights i.e. messy, personal situations. Just to clarify, that's exactly why I was asking if any LBP has tried to position their pitch differently, by highlighting OCI incompetence in all of these cases, i.e. the media is supposed to be exposing government incompetence even if they're leery about interfering in individual, personal matters. Guess "supposed to be" is the operative phrase. Again, on a more positive note, they've covered 5 cases recently (David's, Savoie, El-Goharry, McCarty and the one yesterday from Japan) so maybe they're finally catching on.

[SageDad]

I just got the following email from my caseworker at the NCMEC.  Has anyone seen "Ivestigation Discovery"?

Mr. Bermudez,
 
I just wanted to let you know that Sage’s case has been selected to be featured in a Public Service Announcement with the show “Investigation Discovery”. I believe the announcement is made at the end of the show. He will be featured between 12/13 and 12/26/2009. Let me know if you have any questions.
 
http://investigation.discovery.com/
http://investigation.discovery.com/resources/ncmec/missing-children-photos/photos.html

[Herb Wife]

That sounds promising~ : )

[dmdaven2]

I just got the following email from my caseworker at the NCMEC. Has anyone seen "Ivestigation Discovery"?
 
Mr. Bermudez,
 
I just wanted to let you know that Sage’s case has been selected to be featured in a Public Service Announcement with the show “Investigation Discovery”. I believe the announcement is made at the end of the show. He will be featured between 12/13 and 12/26/2009. Let me know if you have any questions.
 
http://investigation.discovery.com/
http://investigation.discovery.com/resources/ncmec/missing-children-photos/photos.html

 
Niiiiiice...:clapping:

[JamesJosephs]

That's great news Carlos.  Hopefully, the additional exposure helps create futher awareness regarding Mexico's non-compliance with the Hague treaty, and specifically, helps move your case along towards resolution.  And by resolution, I mean the return of Sage to the U.S., not the State Depts definition of resolution.