Individual Abduction Case Updates and H.R. 3240 ~ The International Child Abduction Prevention Act

On 3 May 2010, in Brazilian Abductions, Japanese Abductions, News, US Congress, by Bob D'Amico

  Individual Abduction Case Updates

Several left-behind parents have shared recent updates to their cases — some of them encouraging, some of them disappointing, all deserving of your attention and in need of your support.

When reading the below case updates, please keep in mind the following:

  • These are not custody issues. These cases are abductions under The Hague Convention. It is clear under the terms and spirit of the Convention that the home state of competent jurisdiction determines ALL custodial issues.
  • Bringing an abducted child home does not separate the child from the abducting parent. It is the abducting parent’s choice to live wherever he or she chooses, but again, “The competent court of jurisdiction” meaning the Home State of the child prior to the abduction, which is the habitual residence of the child and under the law, determine ALL custodial issues.
  • To highlight Brazil: It’s unacceptable for a country to return an abducted child only when the abducting parent is deceased. The most recent decisions in the Birotte and Weinstein cases exemplify the systemic problem with Brazil and many non-complying countries; and do not go into other likely underlying factors such as nationalism and gender bias when the abductor is a mother. The initial ruling in the Birotte case, though much too long in the coming, was encouraging as it demonstrated that some judges in Brazil do understand the treaty law; however, as shown by Minister Andrighi’s ruling, there are still high level judges that either do not yet understand or refuse to comply with the treaty law.

CASES IN BRAZIL

BIROTTE (US) (hyperlink bolded text to http://bringseanhome.org/forums/index.php/board,29.0.html) Brazil continued to demonstrate ongoing non-compliance for the Hague Convention on Thursday, April 29, when Minister Nancy Andrighi of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) ruled that Kelvin Birotte, Jr. would stay with his mother, Hilma Caldeira, a former Brazilian Olympian, in Brazil until a final ruling is made on a yet-to-be-filed appeal to the April 14 ruling by the 19th district court in Bellarizante, Brazil, that the boy was to be returned to his father, Kelvin Birotte, Sr., in the United States. Kelvin Sr. was notified of the ruling on Monday, April 19, but before he even boarded the plane to Brazil, he was informed that Interpol was not able to locate Hilma or Kelvin Jr., who has been illegally retained in Brazil since July 2006.

    WHO TO CONTACT

  • Congressman John Culberson – Phone: (202) 225-2571, Fax: (202) 225-4381
  • Congressman Al Green – Phone: (202) 225-7508, Fax: (202) 225-2947
  • Senator John Cornyn – Phone: (202) 224-2934, Fax: (202) 228-2856
  • Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison – Phone: (202) 224-5922, Fax: (202) 224-0776

LARIVEE (Canada) In October 2004, Francois Larivee’s wife abducted their son to Brazil. In February 2007, the Court in Rio ordered the return of Francois’ son to his home in Canada. This ruling was appealed. In October 2007, the Appeals Court (Tribunal Regional Federal da 2a Regiao) confirmed the decision (3-0 in favor of the return). Again, the ruling was appealed. Despite reports suggesting that a ruling was forthcoming last December and again in February of this year, Francois continues to wait for his case to be heard by the STJ (Superior Tribunal de Justicia). Recently, Francois has escalated his efforts to raise awareness to Brazil’s ongoing delays.

    WHO TO CONTACT

  • Prime Minister Stephen Harper – pm@pm.gc.ca
  • Mr. Lawrence Cannon (Minister Foreign Affairs Canada) – cannon.l@parl.gc.ca
  • Johanne Deschamps (Deputy Bloc Quebecois) – jdeschamps@ftq.qc.ca
  • Ministery of Justice (Province of Quebec) – enlevement.enfant@justice.gouv.qc.ca

WEINSTEIN (US) After waiting nearly two years for a ruling on his Hague case, in late February a first-level federal judge ruled against Timothy Weinstein. Like so many other Brazilian judges, the judge in this case demonstrated little understanding of the Hague Convention and proceeded to treat Timothy’s case like a domestic custody battle. In March, Brazil’s Attorney General (AGO) filed an appeal to the first-level ruling and seeking the immediate return of Timothy’s son, Paul, and daughter, Anna, to the United States. Timothy has been fighting for their return since the summer of 2006.

    WHO TO CONTACT

  • Congressman Jason Altmire – Phone: (202) 225-2565, Fax: (202) 226-2274
  • Senator Robert Casey – Phone: (202) 224-6324, Fax: (202) 228-0604
  • Senator Arlen Specter – Phone: (202) 224-4254, Fax: (202) 228-1229

CASES IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

ATHUKORALA (US) In April 2009, then 20-month-old Kali Soleil Athukorala was abducted to the Dominican Republic (DR) by her mother, Sandra Zemialkowski. The DR became a signatory to the Hague Convention in June 2007. In Hague cases, the role of a country’s Central Authority is to represent the child in defense of the child’s right to return to the country of habitual residence. However, the DR’s Central Authority, having been approached by Kali’s mother immediately upon their arrival in the DR, seems to be handling this case as a custody battle instead of a Hague case and has twice flip-flopped in their position of representation for Kali. Dhanika Athukorala, Kali’s father, has been working tirelessly to gain his daughter’s return to the United States. An initial hearing was held in April, with a ruling expected this week.

    WHO TO CONTACT

  • Congressman Richard Neal – Phone: (202) 225-5601, Fax: (202) 225-8112
  • Congressman John Olver – Phone: (202) 225-5335, Fax: (202) 226-1224
  • Senator Scott Brown – Phone: (202) 224-4543, Fax: (202) 228-2546
  • Senator John Kerry – Phone: (202) 224-2742, Fax: (202) 224-8525

CASES IN JAPAN

TOLAND (US) Paul’s daughter, Erika, was abducted in July 2003 by her mother, who subsequently died in October 2007. Since the death of her mother, Erika continues to be held in Japan by her maternal grandmother. Japan is a non-Hague country and has never returned a child to the United States. In March 2010, several left-behind parents with children abducted to Japan joined together and founded Bring Abducted Children Home (www.BACHome.org). For additional information on recent actions relating to Japan abductions, see below.

    WHO TO CONTACT

  • Congressman Jim Moran – Phone: (202) 225-4376, Fax: (202) 225-0017
  • Senator Mark Warner – Phone: (202) 224-2023, Fax: (202) 224-6295
  • Senator Jim Webb – Phone: (202) 224-4024, Fax: (202) 228-6363

CASES IN MEXICO

BERMUDEZ (US) Carlos Bermudez has been fighting for the return of his son, Sage, from Mexico since the summer of 2008. On March 9, 2010, the 8th Federal District Court in the State of Guanajuato Mexico denied the appeals filed against the order ruling that Sage Bermudez be “immediately returned” to his father, upholding the decision of the State Supreme Court. Sage’s mother filed yet another appeal, which is expected to be heard by the second level federal courts within three months of the file date.

    WHO TO CONTACT

  • Congressman David Price – Phone: (202) 225-1784, Fax: (202) 225-2014
  • Senator Richard Burr – Phone: (202) 224-3154, Fax: (202) 228-2981
  • Senator Kay Hagan – Phone: (202) 224-6342, Fax: (202) 228-2563

CASES IN THE UNITED STATES

HINDLE (UK) In the same week that Florida’s state congress and senate voted to pass into law the Child Abduction Prevention Act, Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeal ruled against Karl Hindle. The judge, although acknowledging the fact that Florida is not Emily’s “home state,” cited in the ruling Florida’s Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (“UCCJEA”) and disregarded the United States obligation under the Hague Convention. Karl, who has been fighting for custody of Emily since February 2003, when her American mother brought her to the United States at 11 months of age, plans to appeal this latest ruling in U.S. Federal Court.

    WHO TO CONTACT

  • Senator George LeMieux – Phone: (202) 224-3041, Fax: (202) 228-5171
  • Senator Bill Nelson – Phone: (202) 224-5274, Fax: (202) 228-2183
  • Governor Charlie Crist – Phone: (850) 488-7146, Fax: (850) 487-0801

  H.R. 3240 ~ The International Child Abduction Prevention Act

We are strongly encouraged by the growing support for this important resolution, which was introduced to the House in July 2009. In addition to the above endorsement, 18 representatives have signed up as co-sponsors of H.R. 3240 in this year alone. That’s a 42% increase from last year and brings us to a total of 42 co-sponsors!

Our work continues to raise awareness and solicit support for H.R. 3240, which calls for the establishment within the Department of State an Office on International Child Abductions and the appointment of an Ambassador at Large, who shall be a principal adviser to the President and the Secretary of State and would be authorized to represent the United States in matters and cases relevant to international child abduction and refusals of rights to access. If passed, H.R. 3240 would provide various tools and mechanisms designed to allow the State Department to better advocate for left-behind parents and their abducted children, and to encourage cooperation from countries continuously demonstrating a pattern of non-cooperation.

Full text of HR 3240 The International Child Abduction Prevention Act.

To learn more about how you can help us in these efforts, we invite you to visit this link, http://bringseanhome.org/forums/index.php/board,39.0.html in the BSH Main Foundation Forum.

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Sean, David and Barry Goldman, Three Generations of Fishermen

On 25 April 2010, in Goldman Case, by Bob D'Amico

Captains David and Barry Goldman had a great day with Sean on the Atlantic ocean, off the New Jersey coast fishing for Striped Bass. In this video Sean catches a “Nice Bass” of about 15 pounds. As you will see and hear he was having fun with his father and grandfather.

Here is a still picture of Sean’s two fish.

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Abduction bill needs help from lawmakers – Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen “too busy”

On 25 March 2010, in Editorials, Goldman Case, by Bob D'Amico

Abduction bill needs help from lawmakers

March 17, 2010

If you followed the international abduction story of David Goldman and his son, Sean, you know that they are reunited. The success of the Goldman story has renewed the fight to bring more than 2,800 internationally abducted American children home, including more than 60 children illegally retained in Brazil.

Last July, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-Hamilton, introduced H.R. 3240, the International Child Abduction Act of 2009. It would provide tools to help bring these children home by opening the door for sanctions against countries that do not comply or that ignore the Hague Convention, perhaps accelerating the return of internationally kidnapped children.

The bill would establish an ambassador at large to serve as principal adviser to the president and secretary of state regarding matters of international child abduction. H.R. 3240 would require specific actions by the president in response to any country designated as having a pattern of noncooperation in returning abducted American children, including economic sanctions if necessary.

H.R. 3240 is waiting for co-sponsors before going to the floor for debate and passage. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-Morristown, has yet to co-sponsor H.R. 3240. Please call (202-225-5034) and write him to ask that he co-sponsor and support H.R. 3240 to bring our children home.

As of March, he has been unable to meet with and/or has yet to respond to multiple constituents, myself included, some of whom requested to meet with him in October of 2009 about this very issue. His scheduler in Morristown has informed multiple people that he is “busy” as the reason no meeting could yet be scheduled.

I and others are deeply saddened that he does not consider us important enough to schedule a short meeting, nor does he find these 2,800 children’s plight important enough to co-sponsor the legislation.

I hope requests from more constituents will help Rep. Frelinghuysen realize that residents of New Jersey value children and that co-sponsoring this legislation is the right thing to do for American children.

REBECCA FELLIN

Somerville

Quantcast

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Chris Smith Named “Best of Jersey”

On 23 March 2010, in Goldman Case, by Bob D'Amico

United States Representative Christopher Smith of NJ’s Congressional 4th District was named as “Best of Jersey 2010″ by participants in New Jersey Monthly magazine’s yearly poll. Smith was the key individual making it possible for Sean Goldman to be returned to the United States after 5-1/2 years.

The original article, “Unsung Hero” is online at NJ Monthly as well as Here on BSHF.

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The U.S. fails children abducted from America

On 19 February 2010, in Editorials, by bobdamico

The U.S. Fails Children Abducted From America
To get a child back

By Bernard Aronson

The Washington Post
Friday, February 19, 2010

For the millions who followed the story of David Goldman’s 5 1/2 -year struggle to retrieve his abducted son, Sean, from Brazil, their Christmas Eve return to the United States was a holiday “miracle.” In fact, extraordinary pressures were required to make Sean Goldman the first — and to date, only — unlawfully abducted American child returned to the United States by Brazil. Measures included unanimous resolutions in the House and Senate, a senatorial hold on the reauthorization of trade privileges for developing nations, hearings by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, two trips to Brazil by a New Jersey congressman, and multiple personal interventions by President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The administration and Congress deserve credit for these efforts. But if that is what it takes to secure the lawful return of one abducted American child, the United States has a serious enforcement problem.

About 2,800 American children have been abducted to other nations. More cases are reported every year as binational marriages become more common in an era of globalization. Few left-behind families can hope to muster the kind of broad-based campaign that eventually persuaded the president of the Brazilian Supreme Tribunal to order Sean Goldman’s return to the United States. Nor should they be expected to.

This issue was supposed to have been resolved by the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abductions, which came into force in 1983 and now has 80 signatories, including Brazil and the United States. Under its terms, a child abducted across international borders by a parent or relative must be returned within six weeks to his or her country of habitual residence, where custody issues can be adjudicated lawfully. It is the international equivalent of the interstate compacts that prevent an unhappy father or mother residing in Maryland from taking his or her children to Nevada and contesting for custody there.

But signatories repeatedly refuse to return abducted American children as required by the treaty, and they suffer no consequences. Other nations, including close allies such as Japan, which harbors 99 abducted American children, have refused even to sign the treaty, let alone cooperate in its implementation.

This is not a new problem. In October 1998, Jesse Helms, then chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, decried “the failure by the United States to initiate vigorously diplomatic and law enforcement tools seeking the return of these children.” Then-Sen. Joe Biden said at the same hearing: “The act of taking a child in violation of a custodial order . . . across international borders is a heinous crime.”

Today, what left-behind parents need are not more declarations of concern but concerted action by Congress and the executive branch to bring their children home. Hopefully, the secretary of state, who raised David Goldman’s case in her first meeting with Brazil’s foreign minister and whose professional career began as an advocate for children, will override any bureaucratic resistance within the State Department and support much-needed reforms.

First, left-behind families need a high-level advocate in the State Department — appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate and reporting directly to the secretary — who will ensure that the issue of abducted children is central to U.S. diplomatic deliberations. Today, this issue barely registers, if it appears at all, in most bilateral discussions. An ambassadorial-rank official should be required to report regularly to Congress about every newly abducted child and the status of pending cases in all members’ districts and states.

Second, Congress should empower the secretary of state to impose a range of diplomatic, economic and trade sanctions on countries that flagrantly and repeatedly refuse to return children abducted from the United States. The sanctions must have teeth and the department must be willing to employ them. If the threat of sanctions were credible, in fact, it is unlikely that they would have to be employed.

Third, in its annual budget requests for foreign assistance, including military aid, the State Department should be required to report to Congress whether each proposed recipient is cooperating in returning abducted American children.

Finally, Congress should expand programs by the international divisions of the American Bar Association to educate judges and lawyers in other nations about the Hague Convention requirements.

The Goldmans and other left-behind families will never regain the years that have been stolen from them. But Congress and the administration have the power to apply real pressure to nations harboring abducted American children today and make it far less likely that other American families will have to endure such a nightmare in the future.

The writer served as assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs from 1989 to 1993. He was an unpaid adviser to David Goldman.

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New Article: The Last Moments of the Sean Goldman Case

On 12 February 2010, in Goldman Case, by Bob D'Amico

English translation of a tremendous new article by Dorrit Harazim of Brazil’s Piaui magazine. It’s not just a well worth the time to read but includes information not previously known outside of Brazil and it’s legal system.

Go to Goldman Case >The Last Moments of the Sean Goldman Case

Also see Nine Days in December “The Christmas Miracle” which recaps the critical days leading up to the repatriation of Sean Goldman.

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Breaking News

On 17 December 2009, in Goldman Case, by Bob D'Amico

BREAKING NEWS – Thursday 17 December 2009
Brazilian Supreme Court justice Marco Aurelius issued a stay order on the return of Sean Goldman until February 2010 when the justice returns from recess. The stay order permits his review a writ of Habeas Corpus filed by Silvana Rebiero, Sean’s maternal grandmother who is not a party to this Hague Treaty case. In his statement to the news media the justice was reported stating that the case should be reviewed in accordance with UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. If that is permitted then the Hague Treaty on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction is effectively repudiated by the Brazilian judiciary.

At this time both David Goldman and U.S. Congressman Christopher Smith remain in Brazil. We also do not know if David will be allowed to visit Sean while he is in the country.

BREAKING NEWS – Wednesday 16 December 2009 @ 19:00 GMT – 2:00 PM EST
The Brazilian Federal Regional Tribunal (TRF-2) today issued a unanimous ruling upholding the return order of Sean Goldman by Friday December 18th. Although it can be expected that the Lins e Silva and Rebiero families will file additional appeals directed at Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Marco Aurelius to stay the return order, David Goldman departed tonight for Brazil, accompanied by United States Congressman Christopher Smith (R-4) of New Jersey.

David stated today: “I’m hopeful, I can’t be optimistic because I’ve gone down there so many times, always under the guise that the rule of law will be followed and Sean will come home to me and his family, and that doesn’t happen.”

Mark DeAngelis, the head of the Bring Sean Home Foundation, stated this afternoon that we will remain “cautiously optimistic” until David and Sean are on an airplane home and “the wheels are up.” The Lins e Silva and Rebeiros have filed +40 delaying appeals since the initial ruling this past June.

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February 9, A day to remember!

On 9 February 2009, in Goldman Case, by LukieD

David Goldman saw his son Sean today for the first time in four and a half years. The visitation was a success. Out of respect for the Brazilian courts who have asked that details remain private, we will defer to the media accounts of the visitation.

Below is a list of media outlets we expect to report on the story tonight and tomorrow and we will have links to the written reports and video as soon as they are available. We also expect the news to be in several Brazilian media outlets tomorrow which is obviously great news. Perhaps the “wall of secrecy” in Brazil is finally crumbling, at least we hope so.

And PLEASE, continue to contact your Congressmen (calls are better than emails) to ask for their support of House Resolution 125. You must say House Resolution 125 by Congressman Chris Smith, NOT HR 125, that is a different item. WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF CALLS TO MAKE. You should also mention to these Congressmen that the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) has publicly endorsed this resolution.

* AP Story: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6648207

* WABC-New York Eyewitness News (Jeff Pegues), story will be on the 11:00 News tonight

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6649902

* Asbury Park Press (Bill Handleman), story will be on the front page tomorrow

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090210/NEWS/90210046

* KYW1060 AM Radio in Philadelphia, Cheryl Ann Elias will have an interview with Congressman Chris Smith and an update on the story tomorrow morning in the early AM slot

* The Today Show, Tue Feb 10, around 7:30am they will have a 2-3 minute update on the case

* The Today Show, Wed Feb 11 at 7:15am will have a live interview with Rep Chris Smith discussing the case.

* The Today Show will have David on as a live guest upon his return from Brazil, perhaps later this week or next

* Greta van Susteren’s GretaWire Blog

NBC – THE TODAY SHOW – TUESDAY FEBRUARY 10TH
Transcript at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29117722/

BREAKING NEWS: A huge Win, a panel of eight judges has just ruled unanimously that the case will be heard in the Federal court in Brazil, NOT in the Rio state court.

EDIT by Bob D’Amico: Read the Dateline NBC producer, Benita Alexander-Noel “Inside Dateline” Blog “1,698 days later, father finally gets to hug son.” I’m not ashamed to admit that I was choked up.

http://insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/02/11/1790785.aspx

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House Resolution 125

On 8 February 2009, in Goldman Case, by LukieD

We need all of your help making sure House Resolution 125, which was introduced last week by Congressman Chris Smith, gets the support it needs in Congress. All House members can co-sponsor it, but the most important co-sponsors are the other reps from New Jersey and the other members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Let’s make sure these people hear from us this week.

Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee are key since Rep. Smith will be asking the chairman and ranking Republican of the committee to waive jurisdiction and expedite the bill to the floor. They are more inclined to do so if there are members of the committee already co-sponsoring the bill.

http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/members.asp

An Excel spreadsheet listing each member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, including telephone, telefax and website URL is available. Download at: http://bringseanhome.org/HCFA_Members.xls

Online listing in HTML format at the web site: Contacting Congress Information on
House Committee on Foreign Affairs

New Jersey members of the House of Representatives

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/newseek.cgi?site=ctc&state=nj

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David goes to Brazil with US Congressman Chris Smith

On 5 February 2009, in Goldman Case, by Bob D'Amico

This all happened very fast and we admit we weren’t planning on announcing it quite yet, BUT, David is on his way to Brazil. SEE BREAKING NEWS SECTION BELOW VIDEO

US Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey’s 4th Congressional District saw the NBC Dateline story on Friday night and contacted David for a meeting. The Congressman promised to do all he could to help. David does not live in the 4th Congressional district but Congressman Smith is well known in New Jersey as a stand up guy who will go the extra mile for people. Congressman Smith will be meeting up with David in Brazil and will be with him every step of the way!

Last summer during the fighting between the Republic of Georgia and Russia, Congressman Smith flew to Tbilisi and traveled on to South Ossetia to arrange safe passage for two very young NJ girls who were trapped while visiting their grandparents. He recruited the assistance of the French Ambassador to make the travel arrangements safely through the Russian Army’s lines. The story is here: N.J. sisters trapped in Georgia reach U.S. Embassy.

Today (Wednesday February 4th) in the House of Representatives, Congressman Smith made a statement for the Congressional record about Sean’s abduction during the House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on “US Policy Toward Latin America in 2009 and Beyond.” The transcript is not available yet but there is a very long video – if you scroll to the 1 hour and 28 minute segment of the video you can see and hear Congressman Smith’s statement – be sure to crank up your volume, the audio is poor. http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/sub_westhem.asp

Jeff Pegues of WABC, New York City was the first major journalist to run David’s story in September, while David was still in Brazil! He reported David’s and Congressman Smith’s trip tonight, meeting David at Newark Airport for a last minute interview. Below is the link to the clip.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=6642135

In the Thursday edition of the Asbury Park Press, Bill Handleman who has written a five part series on this case will have another one about this trip. The link to the article is http://www.app.com/article/20090205/NEWS/90205014.

David is making this trip on the orders of Judge Luis Felipe Salomão, Superior Tribunal de Justiça, who announced a ruling requiring “mediation” between David and João Paulo Lins e Silva. We’re all very hopeful that this trip will mark a turning point in this case and at the very least we are praying that David be permitted to see his son.

And on a separate topic, in spite of claims we hear out of Brazil from “unknown sources”, David was NOT paid one penny by NBC for the Dateline interview.

In the meantime, please keep emailing, writing and calling people who might help.

Our sincerest thanks to Congressman Chris Smith, NBC Dateline, Jeff Pegues of WABC, NBC Today Show, Bill Handleman of the Asbury Park Press and especially You!

BREAKING NEWS

1: Congressman Chris Smith’s House Resolution (H Res 125) is now online in standard HTML format. It is listed on the Media & Documents page. Click on the picture of the Congressman to view his Bio. There is a separate Printer Friendly page if you want to mail a copy to your Congressman. We ask that you to contact your US Representative and tell him or her to join Congressman Smith in supporting the resolution by becoming a Co-sponsor.

2: US Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez issue press release and letter to President Lula of Brazil

LAUTENBERG, MENENDEZ CALL ON BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT TO TAKE ACTION TO RETURN
SEAN GOLDMAN TO FATHER

N.J. Senators Say Son Belongs With Father in United States ; Request Meeting With Brazilian Ambassador to Settle International Custody Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today called on Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to follow international law and assist in the return of Sean Goldman to his father in the United States .  Sean Goldman, who is eight years old, was taken to Brazil by his mother Bruna Goldman in 2004 and kept in Brazil without the consent of the boy’s father – David Goldman.  David Goldman has since waged a legal battle to get his son back.

Under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of the International Abduction of Children, of which both the U.S. and Brazil are signatories, a child who is a habitual resident in one party country, and who has been removed to another party country in violation of the parent’s custodial rights, is to be returned to the country of habitual residence.

Bruna Goldman passed away in 2008.  Sean is currently in Brazil with his stepfather.  In January, Sen. Lautenberg personally met with David Goldman and U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Clifford Sobel in separate meetings about the abduction case.  A copy of the Senators’ letter is attached and pasted below:

Dear President Lula:

We are writing to bring your attention to an international custody dispute involving David Goldman, a United States citizen from New Jersey , and his son, Sean Goldman.  In 2004, Sean, a United States citizen, was taken to Brazil by Mr. Goldman’s late wife, Bruna Goldman, for a two-week vacation.  Once in Brazil , Mrs. Goldman informed Mr. Goldman that she would permanently stay in Brazil with the child without Mr. Goldman’s consent. Since that time, Mr. Goldman has not been permitted to visit with or gain custody of his son, even after Mrs. Goldman’s death in 2008.

For the past four years, Mr. Goldman has been working within Brazilian and U.S. courts, to secure return of his son and assert his parental rights.  On August 26, 2004, two months after the child’s arrival with his Mother in Brazil , the Superior Court of the State of New Jersey issued a ruling ordering that Sean be returned to the United States .  When the child was not returned, Mr. Goldman filed judicial proceedings with the Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro based on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of the International Abduction of Children.  Under the Hague Convention, of which both the U.S. and Brazil are signatories, a child who is a habitual resident in one party country, and who has been removed to another party country in violation of the parent’s custodial rights, is to be returned to the country of habitual residence.

The failure to return Sean to Mr. Goldman appears to be in direct contradiction to the intentions of the Hague Convention.  It is our understanding that Mr. Goldman has been prevented from securing the return of Sean to the United States based upon Article 12 of the Hague Convention, which states that it is within a judge’s discretionary power to refuse return of a child if the application for return is made more than one year after the date of the taking and the child has become settled in the new environment.  However, this application of Article 12 hardly seems fair under these circumstances, and seems inconsistent with the language and purpose of the Treaty.  Mr. Goldman did petition for the return of his child within a year of his being taken to Brazil .  Additionally, it would set a dangerous precedent to deny parental rights based of the length of time for which the parent was denied access to the child and time-consuming judicial proceedings.

Further, with the death of Bruna Goldman, any possible argument of the child having become acclimated in the care of his Mother has dissipated.  Mr. Goldman is Sean’s remaining biological and legal parent.

As we are sure you can appreciate, these four years have been extremely painful for Mr. Goldman.  He has not been permitted to see his son Sean since 2004 – and even when Mr. Goldman traveled to Rio de Janeiro in October 2008 for visitation ordered by the Brazilian court, Sean was hidden from him and those rights were violated.  Many diplomatic efforts have been made to ensure Sean’s return to his father.  The U.S. Embassy in Brazil has repeatedly urged Brazilian authorities to recognize Mr. Goldman’s paternal rights and the international and national laws that favor his case. Furthermore, the Special Secretariat for Human Rights of the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil, the central authority for the Hague Convention in Brazil, has sent a request to the Office of the Attorney General for the return of Sean to the U.S.

Given the strong and friendly relationship between our two countries, we are writing to respectfully ask that you examine this case and take appropriate action to reunite Sean and his father.  We also request a meeting with Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota at his earliest possible convenience. Thank you for your time and consideration.

3: AP BREAKS STORY IN BRAZIL
Alan Clendenning, AP Bureau Chief in Brazil just published an AP wire story that has been picked up everywhere. WTOP New Radio Washington, DC, yahoo news, Chicago Tribune, you name it, it is on the wire.

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1594108

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_brazil_us_custody_battle_1

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-lt-brazil-us-custody-battle,0,274187.story

KEEP CHECKING HERE FOR MORE BREAKING NEWS

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Francois Larivee & David Goldman Story: Toronto National Post

On 27 December 2008, in Goldman Case, by Bob D'Amico

Good article today in Toronto’s National Post reporting the intricacies of pursuing child abduction cases in Brazil.

The revolving doors of Brazil’s justice system have not stopped turning.

The article discusses the cases of Francois Larivee of Montreal, Canada who also has been trying to get his son returned from Brazil for four years and David Goldman.

Brazil’s record on judgments on The Hague cases has been spotty. In addition to the Goldman case, a return to Israel was refused, a return to Norway was partly granted–for summer periods only — and the outcome of another request from the U. S. remains indeterminate.

The article, titled Custody Wars is online at
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=1118097

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News Update December 9th

On 10 December 2008, in Goldman Case, by LukieD

David traveled to Washington D.C. on December 5th for meetings with representatives from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), The Office of Children’s Issues at the U.S. State Department, and a senior official in the Consulate General Office of the Brazilian government. The meetings went well and David was encouraged that more help is on the way. We’re hopeful that the people who can make a difference in this case will take the necessary actions which will lead to Sean coming home soon.

We encourage you to try to make it to one of the rallies being organized this Friday, December 12, in front of any of the Brazilian Consulate General offices around the country, especially New York where we expect a good crowd and will be giving out 200 “Bring Sean Home” t-shirts to supporters.

Update on Legal Case in Brazil: A Terrible Decision

Late last week Judge Luis Felipe Salomão, from the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) issued a stay to the Hague case pending at the 1st level federal court in Rio de Janeiro while he decides who has jurisdiction in the case, the State Court or the Federal Court.  David needs the case to remain at the federal level to have any chance of a proper decision. It has been established precedent that Hague cases are handled at the federal level in Brazil, but Lins e Silva is trying to move the case to the Rio State court, to waste more time and exert his influence.

The filing in front of Judge Salomão was only to determine if the State or Federal court will decide this case. Instead of making a determination on the issue in front of him, Judge Salomão decided to weigh in on the merits of the case and stated that Sean would be exposed to “irreperable damage” if he had contact with David just before the holidays. Based on this, the Judge established that the case should be stayed until he makes his determination on which court should decide the case. Judge Salamão appointed the Federal Judge responsible for urgent matters, but forbid the Federal Court from proceeding with the psychological evaluations, and forbid the Federal Court from allowing visitation now, on the grounds that “such matters are not urgent.” He made this decision 12 hours before Sean was to be evaluated.

Judge Salomão, until last June, 2008, was a Judge from the 2nd Level State Court of Rio de Janeiro. What is most important for David now is having the conflict of jurisdiction issue decided by Judge Salomão before December 19th, the last day of work in STJ before their summer recess. The court will be closed for the holidays and will open again on February 1st. As of now, the records of the conflict of jurisdiction are with the Public Prosecution Service. If the Public Prosecutor sends the records back to Court this week, Judge Salomão needs to decide the conflict of jurisdiction issue immediately. We are not optimistic, however, given the absurdity of this most recent decision.

For more information on how cases are handled in the Brazilian legal system, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Brazil.

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