Brazil sets up commission on child abduction
The Permanent Commission on the International Abduction of Children is a joint effort by the country’s Executive and Judiciary powers, aimed at facilitating court rulings for cases in which children are both brought to and taken out of Brazil.
Brazil’s Human Rights Secretariat (“SDH”) of the Presidency of the Republic created on Monday (May 12) the Permanent Commission on the International Abduction of Children, a joint effort by the country’s Executive and Judiciary powers, aimed at facilitating court rulings for cases in which children are both brought to and taken out of Brazil. Today, the number of cases in progress stands at 70.
The initiative aims to make legal procedures faster by bringing the cases under a special regime, adapting legislation for child abduction, preventing further crimes, and engaging members of Brazil’s diplomatic body from its consulates and embassies.
“We’re entering into an important partnership. A joint effort in which the need is made clear through figures. It’s almost two cases every week in which we have to interfere. We need to make procedures faster, so that the child endures as little suffering and harm as possible,” said SDH Minister Ideli Salvatti.
The commission is Brazil’s response to the 1980 Hague Convention, to which Brazil became party in 2000, and a complementary measure to the creation of Brazil’s Central Authority (“Acaf”), stipulated by the convention. It is Acaf’s job to promote the legal cooperation among countries.
According to SDH, in most international child abductions in Brazil victims are brought to the country (86%). The organization further reports that the country has been relatively successful in inspecting the departure of children, as a large number of documents are required.
International child abduction is the act of illegally taking a child from one country to another without the permission of one of his/her parents. It is also deemed illegal to keep a child in a country without the permission of the other parent – for instance, after a period of vacation, even when the first parent has given permission for the child to travel abroad during that period.
One of the most notorious cases of abduction was that of Sean Goldman, whose guardianship was simultaneously disputed in court by his biological father, stepfather, and the relatives of his mother, who died after giving birth to another child. She was the one who took the child to Brazil, which led his father to claim legal guardianship of the boy.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Brazil sets up commission on child abduction
