The best interests of our children

I have been following the drama of International Parental Child Abduction since I became familiar with the Sean Goldman case back in the fall of 2008. As I have previously mentioned, I was extremely naive and didn't even know if was such a big issue - likely due to the fact that cases are swept under the rug or treated with "secrecy of justice".

Father's day is tomorrow and it's a date Left-Behind Parents know all too painfully well. Especially due to the fact that 75% of the LBPs are men - and, believe me, from what I've seen, the vast majority of these women do not leave the country due to domestic violence.

What about the children? Yes, the children... these innocent creatures that are carried like a suitcase by one of their parents when they decide to do so. They're just pawns in this sick game. They're lied to, alienated, and abused. We're adults, people! Whatever problem we have with our current/former spouses we have to solve without getting the children involved.

As we all know, the instrument to recover children abducted overseas is the Hague Convention on the International Aspects of International Child Abduction. However, not all countries are signatory of the Hague, and others that have signed it "have trouble" enforcing the returns (for the lack of a better word).

That's why Congressman Chris Smith has introduced a bill, HR 1940, The International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act of 2011, so this country can have legislation with teeth to enforce the returns of children abducted abroad. We have to call our representatives and ask them to co-sponsor the bill, and inquire the reason - if any - why they refuse to do so. Some representatives think the US should not jeopardize international relations with other nations because of "some children". I'm pretty sure if these Congressman had their children abducted, they'd be singing a different tune.

For those who think the problem is not as bad as they think, that parents can take off with children when they please, and feel sorry for the abducting families, please take a look at the following:

- Testimony of a formerly abducted child, posted in the Bring Sean Home Foundation Orkut community on June 16, 2011 (click it to enlarge)

Translation:

When I was 3, my father took me away from my American family when we went to Brazil "on vacation". For 16 years, I did not see my mother, sister, aunts, grandmother and grandfather (he passed away in 2002). My father returned to the US but left me in Brazil with my paternal grandparents (who passed when I was already back on the US).

I'll never forgive my father for doing what he did. I came back to my country (US) nine years ago and I don't want to see him or the rest of his family. I'm very traumatized.

People like Bruna and her family do not understand the severity of what they did. I missed 16 years of my life with my family, and I'll never have those years back. My relationship with my family here is not the greatest since we were deprived of being together for so long.

This Grandmother [Sean Goldman's] doesn't have the right to play victim. She's just paying for what she did.

- Blog of a Left-Behind Aunt. She wants to be a voice out there for her brother Carlos and nephew Sage, who was abducted to Mexico. It also provides a perspective on how child abduction plays a devastating effect in not only the LBP and chid(ren)'s lives, but also on the rest of the family

www.justiceforsagebermudez.blogspot.com



On May 24th, I attended a Congressional Hearing on IPCA. The hearing was over 4 hours long and I couldn't stay for the whole thing. The place was so packed some people got turned away. David Goldman spoke as a former LBP and on behalf of the others with children abroad - 2 panels: Hague Countries and Non-Hague Countries.

After his testimony, David read a letter to SOS Clinton signed by 80+ parents. Before he started reading the letter, he asked that other LBPs in the room to stand up. Half the room was up, men and women holding pictures of their children. I didn't know what to do. I was invaded with shock, sadness, anger, desperation... you name it. How can you look at those faces and not do anything, not feel anything? That image will never leave my head. That's why I'll never stop.

My Christmas Gift

WHEELS ARE FINALLY UP!

Congratulations Sean & David Goldman! Father and son, reunited, spending Christmas at the Happiest Place on Earth. What else could I wish for?

Goldman case update

TRF-2 will judge the appeal tomorrow. A panel of 3 judges will decide.

I'm freaking out just a little bit. I'm not concerned about the outcome, I'm pretty sure the judges will rule Sean to return to his Dad. I just want to know whether the ruling will be enforced and the kid will be allowed to go home.

AP story - Ruling Due Wednesday In Brazil-US Custody Dispute

"He has my blood running through his veins"

This past Wednesday I had the privilege to attend a Congressional Hearing on International Child Abduction and it was one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever witnessed. Left-Behind Parents pleading Congress to pass a bill in order to impose sanctions on countries that fail to uphold an international treaty they signed, called The Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. In the case of non-signatory countries, such as Japan, it's a bit more complicated.

There were four LBPs at the hearing: Tom Sylvester, whose daughter Carina was abducted to Austria in 1995 when she was only 13 months old; Navy Commander Paul Toland, whose daughter Erika was abducted to Japan (the only living parent after his ex-wife committed suicide); Patrick Braden, whose daughter Melissa was abducted to Japan; and David Goldman, whose son Sean was abducted to Brazil. I suggest you read all the testimonies. The stories are very hard to read, but those are things that must be told.

After volunteering for many months at the Bring Sean Home Foundation, I had the opportunity to meet the Goldman family. One thing is see them on TV, another is to see their pain up close. I had tears rolling down during David's testimony. Only someone who's a parent can try to understand what those parents go through, but can only have a tiny idea of how much pain they're in.

I'm afraid this case is being pushed to the back burner. Not much has been reported lately. The Brazilian media was at the hearing and recorded interviews, but other than a small note on a couple of newspapers, no other media outlets touched the case.

At this point, we're waiting on the decision of the TRF-2. The iron-clad verdict from June 1st was issued a stay while the courts examine the appeal. The decision could come any day now. Someone said it was to come in September. Well, it has come and gone, as well as October and November. Each day lost is a victory to the abductors, who get to brainwash this child, for it will take much longer to "de-program" Sean once he's back into his father's arms (read the transcript the Wolf Blitzer interview here).

It's interesting the different ways Brazilians react to this case. Some will side with the abducting family, either because they came were abandoned by spouses or father, or because they're unhappy in their marriages and would love to flee with their kids, or because they have a very old-fashioned notion that a man cannot care for a child alone, or because they believe the biased reports that say the child was abandoned. Others will be on the fence, saying the mother is no longer around to give her version of the facts (despite 4 years of court records of her testimony on file that never discredited David for being a loving, dedicated father). And there are the ones that agree that say it was a crime to take the child away but he is now used to the environment and should be left alone, despite the fact that has been proven over and over that the 9-year-old has been brainwashed and the environment where he lives is not healthy. Thankfully the majority of Brazilians I know are outraged by this travesty, the corruption behind-the-scenes, the lies, and the slowness in the judiciary.

The needs of a 9-year-old boy and his natural father are being ignored by a family that is holding him hostage in Brazil.

It's time to make some noise. Write to friends and family about it. Blog about it. Post about it on message boards and forums. If you have a twitter account, please use the tag #bringseanhome when writing about it. Together we can Bring Sean and all the other abducted children Home.

Bring The Boy Back Home

A bit of everything

Well, where do I start? I write posts in my head, daily, then I get home and don't write anything...

I've been working a lot. No news there. Times are hard, the company slashed our overtime. We're not authorized to do it, they won't pay for it. I end up doing it anyway, the work has to get done. I guess management did notice I was going above and beyond the call of duty and gave me a promotion. I was pretty happy about that!

Now hubbs and I are shopping for a new vehicle. His car payments ended in 07, mine in 08, so we did have a few extra bucks every month (which was nice considering there is a recession out there). I'm going to get an appraisal on my car tomorrow to see what we are able to afford.

T is his happy self, as usual. We traveled to WDW/Universal during memorial day week. He had a blast, rode 2 rollercoasters with his Dad (which means he cannot possibly be my son) and the splash mountain. The following week was his Pre-K graduation, the same day we met "his lovey girl who he's going to marry". He has very good taste, I must say.

BTW, he has decided the theme of his birthday parties in 2009, 2010 and 2011, which makes everything so much easier for me. 2009 and 2010 are practically ready. For 2011 I already have a few things - yes, I'm a planner!

I am still volunteering my time at the Bring Sean Home Foundation. Despite favorable court decisions, appeals after appeals have been filed. Add that to a slow judicial system... that really makes me mad. The Federal Judge wrote a brilliant, airtight 82-page sentence on this case (followed by a 2nd ruling concerning parental alienation). I feel really bad for this child, all this abuse. The family wants to cut all contact between him and his legitimate father. It makes me sick to my stomach...

I just realized I didn't write a single movie review this year. We've seen a few. There's also the TV series. LOST is more awesome than ever. I can't believe next season will be the last. Since we have a lot of time to kill before the next season, we've been watching it from inception? Who's we? Well, I attend a LOST roundtable every Friday at my friend's workplace (down the street from me). Well, now I'm also addicted to Fringe. I found the episodes from Season 1 online and I'm almost done. It's like the X Files, many conspiracies, twists and freaky stuff (and cutie Joshua Jackson). Lil Ole Nerdy me loves it.

Just wish I were in San Diego for the Comic-Con.

Collective Blogging - Bring Sean Home

Truly ashamed of being Brazilian right now.



Bruna Bianchi Carneiro Ribeiro and David George Goldman got married and settled in Tinton falls, NJ. They had a child, Sean Richard Goldman, born in 2000. They had a very happy life.

On June 16, 2004, David drove Bruna, her parents and Sean to Newark airport. She was taking Sean to a 2-week vacation in Rio de Janeiro. Once she arrived in Brazil, she called David to tell him their love story was over and if he ever wanted to see Sean again, he'd have to come to Rio and, among many demands, sign off his paternal rights to Sean. It was a huge blow to David, who tried to reason with his wife, to no avail. David then started pursuing the matter legally, based on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which both Brazil and USA are signatory. The Convention says a child must be returned within a 6-week period to the place of habitual residence (NJ) which is the appropriate forum to make a decision on this case. Well, 5 years later, Sean is still in Brazil.

When in Brazil, Bruna got custody of Sean immediately in family court, claiming it was a consensual separation and David authorized Sean's permanence in Brazil (using a travel authorization given by David, something that every child traveling without one parents is required to have). She also got a unilateral divorce from David and married family law attorney Joao Paulo Lins e Silva, from the prominent Lins e Silva family of attorneys. The law office where he works, ironically, is specialized on Hague cases. His father is a scholar on International Child abduction and Parental Alienation.

David was denied the right to see his son, as well as communication via email or telephone. The gifts he mailed were returned, unopened. The judicial battle taking years, mostly due to the slowness of the judiciary.

Last year, in August, Bruna died from complications after giving birth to a daughter by her second husband, Chiara. David thought the case was over, when he found out Bruna's new husband has filed to get custody of Sean and had it granted on the same day (even though the judiciary is really slow, isn't it weird?). David's case got the media attention, being shown on Today Show and Dateline, but the Brazilian family had an injunction in Brazil, saying nothing about the case could be published because the case ran in secrecy of justice. It wasn't until the New York Times published an article about this case in February of this year that the Brazilian newspapers picked it up. The maternal family fired back, with material based on hearsay and making up lies, publicly slandering David, including a letter Bruna's new husband sent, commenting on the couple's alleged intimate life. The family's connections in high society and politics, and a massive PR job changed the coverage of this matter to "poor rich kid who lives with loving relatives is afraid of being taken to the US by a mean American who never pursued his son". Liars!

They also say Sean should not be separated from his baby sister since they are blood relatives... what about his father???? They say it's inhumane to take Sean from his posh life in Brazil... what about taking him from his father 5 years ago???

David's battle gathered many allies, such as SOS Hillary Clinton, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Senators Lautenberg and Menendez, among others. When President Obama asked president Lula about this case, Lula simply said it was in Federal Court and that Brazil has an independent Judiciary.

In February, David saw his son for the first time in years and saw their bond had not been broken.

Finally, on June 1st, 2009, Federal Judge Rafael Pereira Pinto, on a brilliant 82-page sentence, ruled that Sean was to return to the US. The family had 48 hours to present the boy to the American Consulate in Rio de Janeiro. The judge's decision says, among other things, that Sean has been brainwashed by the family into believing his father never tried to get him back, and also Sean said that it didn't matter whether he stayed in Brazil or returned to the US, that the judge would decide. But would only start repeating he wanted to stay after a psychologist sent by the stepfather questioned his response. David flew immediately to get his son.

But 17 hours before the deadline, the Supreme Court issued a stay on the order, when prompted by a political party whose leader is friends of the family (wait a minute, isn't the judiciary independent?) and is questioning the "constitutionality of the Hague convention".

On Wednesday, June 10, the Supreme Court will decide this matter, and we don't know what their decision will be. Let's pray that justice will be done and Sean will be sent home.

I have attended the DC Rally in March, as well as written my congressmen and senators in Brazil and USA. Can you help???

Please visit BringSeanHome for more info and documents.

Bring Sean Home

I'm not sure if you've seen this case on the news. It was covered by the Today Show and a few other media outlets.

This story is breaking my heart.

This man, David Goldman, drove his then wife Bruna, his 4 year old Sean and then in-laws to Newark Airport in 2004. Once Bruna arrived in Brazil, she called him to tell him she was no longer going back with their kid and if he wanted to see his again, he'd have to go to Brazil and sign a bunch of paperwork.

Fast forward 4 years and multiple court hearings, this man is still not allowed to have any contact with his son. Bruna has re-married (she divorced him without his knowledge, WTF?) an attorney from a powerful and wealthy family (ironically, specialized in family law and international child kidnapping cases). On a dark twist, Bruna recently died a few hours after giving birth to a baby girl.

Now, you'd think the Dad would get his son back. Noooooo! The family of the new husband is very influential, and they're pulling all strings possible. They filed a court order so the Brazilian newspapers could not publish anything on it, plus filed a lawsuit for the new husband to replace the dad's name in the birth certificate!!!!

David is in Brazil with a court order for visitation, but the stepfather vanished with the kid just the day before the visitation was supposed to take place.

The Brazilian court system is a joke and this whole thing makes me sick to my stomach.