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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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!
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 FATHERN.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
David Goldman will be appearing as a guest on the Dr. Phil Show – Monday, December 1st. Check your local listing for show times. http://www.drphil.com/shows/listing/
The segment will be airing at 3:00pm on WCBS Channel 2, in the metro New York area.
Dorrit Harazim published a comprehensive account of the Sean Goldman case in the November edition of the Brazilian magazine Piauí. We also have it up on the Media page in English and Portuguese.
English translation: A Father in a Foreign Land
Portuguese: A Busca do filho
Revista Piauí: http://www.revistapiaui.com.br/edicao_26/artigo_812/A_busca_do_filho.aspx
A variety of Bring Sean Home banners have been made and are available online. To make them very simple to insert, both the BringSeanHome.org link and banner into your web page or Blog the necessary code is included. You do not need to save a copy of the banner to your PC and then upload it to your server. The code will display the banner automatically without using any of your bandwidth. When a viewer clicks on the banner, a new browser window at BringSeanHome.org is opened automatically. Go to: http://bringseanhome.org/banners.html
Here are two examples:
