Russia says it will ban adoptions by American parents unless an agreement to that effect is signed between the sides, Russian Ombudsman for Children’s Rights Pavel Astakhov said commenting upon another case of violence against Russian kids in the US.
In late December, a shocking video appeared on the Internet that featured American woman Jessica Beagley forcing her adopted son to take cold shower and swallow hot sauce.
Later, the boy on the video turned out to be seven-year old Daniil Bukharov from Russia, who was adopted by an American family together with his twin brother Oleg.
Pavel Astakhov said that in compliance with international law, such discipline methods may be classified as child abuse and torture.
Miercuri, Parlamentul European a adoptat o rezolu?ie prin care a transmis statelor europene un mesaj clar de încurajare a adop?iilor, atât na?ionale cât ?i interna?ionale, astfel încât copiii abandona?i s? creasc? în familii, nu în centre.
Rezolu?ia vine ca urmare a unei peti?ii venite din partea italienilor, care cereau în mod explicit deblocarea adop?iilor interna?ionale pentru a putea adopta ?i copii din România. Asta, în condi?iile în care România a interzis, înc? din 2003-2004, înainte de aplicarea legii adop?iei, posibilitatea ca str?inii s? mai înfieze copii români p?r?si?i de p?rin?i.
În timp ce câteva state europene, ca ?i Statele Unite ale Americii, duc un lobby puternic în ultimii ani pentru deblocarea adop?iilor interna?ionale, autorit??ile române sus?in c?, cel pu?in deocamdat?, locul orfanilor români este într-o familie autohton?, aici în România.
Europa încurajeaz? adop?ia în locul centrelor
De altfel, aceast? rezolu?ie nu oblig? în niciun fel România s? dea drumul la adop?iile interna?ionale, ba chiar încurajeaz? adop?ia na?ional?, lasând totu?i la latitudinea fiec?rui stat european s?-?i stabileasc? tipul de adop?ie ales. Scopul este ca micu?ii abandona?i s? ajung? într-o familie, ca s? nu mai stea în centre.
„Aceasta este una dintre nout??ile aduse de rezolu?ie, având în vedere c? pân? acum adop?ia era v?zut? ca ultima solu?ie în cazul copiilor abandona?i ?i nu institu?ionalizarea. Acum raportul s-a schimbat, iar adop?ia, na?ional? sau interna?ional?, în func?ie de legisla?ia fiec?rui stat, este pus? aproape pe acela?i plan cu familia natural?”, sus?ine Bogdan Panait, ?eful Oficiului Român pentru Adop?ii (ORA).
Panait a explicat c? înc? nu se pune problema debloc?rii adop?iilor interna?ionale, acesta fiind punctul de vedere al executivului în acest moment, mai ales c? în România înc? sunt peste o mie de familii atestate care ar vrea s? înfieze copii români, iar num?rul adop?iilor este înc? sc?zut, undeva în jur de 1.000, anul trecut.
O familie pentru copil ?i economie pentru stat
Potrivit oficialului, în România, în sistemul de protec?ie social? se afl? aproape 70.000 de copii, iar „adoptarea a 2.000 de copii anual ar presupune, pe lâng? beneficiile copiilor, ?i o economie de aproximativ 10 milioane de euro la bugetul de stat”.
Ceea ce încearc? acum autorit??ile s? fac?, printr-un proiect de modificare a legii adop?iei, este s? reduc? durata procesului de adop?ie ?i mai ales birocra?ia. În plus, se prevede ?i o relaxare în ceea ce prive?te adop?ia interna?ional?, în ideea c? ?i cet??enii români stabili?i în str?in?tate vor putea înfia un copil român.
Unde crede?i c? ar trebui s? creasc? ace?ti copii abandona?i, într-o familie din România sau în str?in?tate?
Russian children rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov on Saturday elaborated on one more case of abuse of a Russian boy adopted by U.S. parents.
Astakhov said in late December he received a letter from a woman who has seen a TV show in which a certain Jessica Bigley from Anchorage, Alaska, unveiled her methods of upbringing her recalcitrant son, such as pouring cold water over him and mouth washing with hot pepper sauce.
Astakhov said his service has finally identified the boy. It is Daniil Bukharov from Magadan and the actions of his adoptive U.S. mum must be regarded as cruel treatment.
Bigley is due to be tried on the 28th of this month.
Russia is one of the largest sources of adoptions for U.S. families, accounting for about 10 percent of foreign adoptions. The mistreatment of Russian children adopted in the United States has attracted public attention in recent months as a result of a number of highly publicized incidents.
In April, a 7-year-old boy was placed alone on a one-way flight to Moscow by his U.S. adoptive mother with a note claiming he was "psychopathic."
Following the case, Russia threatened to prohibit child adoptions by U.S. citizens until the countries sign an intergovernmental agreement guaranteeing the rights of adopted children.
Russian children rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov on Saturday elaborated on one more case of abuse of a Russian boy adopted by U.S. parents.
Astakhov said in late December he received a letter from a woman who has seen a TV show in which a certain Jessica Bigley from Anchorage, Alaska, unveiled her methods of upbringing her recalcitrant son, such as pouring cold water over him and mouth washing with hot pepper sauce.
Astakhov said his service has finally identified the boy. It is Daniil Bukharov from Magadan and the actions of his adoptive U.S. mum must be regarded as cruel treatment.
Bigley is due to be tried on the 28th of this month.
Russia is one of the largest sources of adoptions for U.S. families, accounting for about 10 percent of foreign adoptions. The mistreatment of Russian children adopted in the United States has attracted public attention in recent months as a result of a number of highly publicized incidents.
In April, a 7-year-old boy was placed alone on a one-way flight to Moscow by his U.S. adoptive mother with a note claiming he was "psychopathic."
Following the case, Russia threatened to prohibit child adoptions by U.S. citizens until the countries sign an intergovernmental agreement guaranteeing the rights of adopted children.
Agudath Israel of America has accused the Rensselaer Department of Social Services of violating state law by working to have two Jewish children (a brother and sister) adopted by non-Jewish couples. Under NewYork State law, social service agencies and the courts are generally required to place children in foster and adoptive homes that share the religious faith of the child. But in the case of two children under the jurisdiction of Rensselaer Social Services, the law is being ignored and plans for their adoption by two non-Jewish couples are underway-even though their mother has requested that her children be kept together and placed in a Jewish home.
Agudath Israel learned of the situation when those close to the children’s mother called the organization for help. “When we get calls about such situations,” explained Agudath Israel General Counsel Mordechai Biser, “we promptly inform the relevant social service agency of the legal requirement to place Jewish children in Jewish homes, and they usually are quick to comply.” “But in this case,” continued the attorney, “the Rensselaer Department of Social Services has rejected our pleas and those of the children’s mother that the law be followed, claiming that it is not ‘practicable’ to place these children in a same-faith home.”
In a letter to the Department, Agudath Israel pointed out that under state law, the only legal justification for not placing a child in a home of the same faith as the child is if there is no available appropriate person of the same religious faith to serve as the child’s foster or adoptive parent. In this case, there are appropriate Jewish couples available who have been approved to serve as adoptive parents and have contacted the Rensselaer Department of Social Services.
“It would indeed be a tragedy,” concluded attorney Biser, “if these young children would be lost to the Jewish people forever due to the illegal actions of this social service agency. Agudath Israel is pursuing the matter and reaching out to the appropriate officials to try to halt the proposed adoptions before it is too late.” The matter is currently before a court, and Agudath Israel plans to submit an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief supporting the mother’s position that the children be placed in Jewish homes.
The telephone number for Rensselaer Social Services Commissioner Randy Hall is 518-833-6005.
Russia’s Children’s Rights Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov is urging an expedient signing of a Russia-US agreement on adoption given the incidence of violent treatment of adopted children.
In the opposite case, Russia would be forced to reconsider introducing a moratorium on US adoption, Astakhov said and stressed that he intends to pursue the introduction of criminal responsibility for culpable parents.
The latest despicable case of violence concerns Daniil and Oleg Bukharov, adopted into an Alaskan family.
Their adopted mother admitted on a TV show to disciplining Daniil by forcing him to hold hot sauce in his mouth and making him take cold showers.
Madonna attending a brick-laying ceremony at the Raising Malawi Girls Academy in Chinkhota in 2010. Photograph: Nick Obank/Barcroft Media
Under a hot sun, boys herd goats in search of green grass. In a nearby plot a couple weed a crop of maize. The ceremony and fanfare that surrounded the visit ofMadonnain 2009 now seems very distant.
It was here in the village of Chinkhota in southernMalawithat the pop superstarbroke groundfor the construction of a prestigious academy for underprivileged girls. Billed as a "gift" to the African country from which she has adopted two children, the $15m (£9.37m) institution was to take in 500 girls and prepare them to be "future women leaders".
Now local elders have accused Madonna of letting them down, and the Malawi government has been forced to admit it does not know what her plans are, after she announced that the academy had been scrapped.
Madonnastatedthat she would instead focus on building secondary schools across the country, rather than one school, but officials in Malawi have been left scratching their heads as to what this will entail. "I want to reach thousands, not hundreds of girls," she said in a statement this month. "I want to do more and I want to do it better."
The news has come as a bombshell to villagers who surrendered their ancestral land to make way for the school. The Malawian government said it had not been consulted and will now summon the 52-year-old singer to explain herself.
"We'd like to know why she has changed," said Peter Mutharika, the education minister. "Yes, we do appreciate that it is her project; she devised it and she knows best how to implement it. But still, as government, we'd be interested to know why there is this change." Mutharika, tipped to be the next president when his brother, Bingu wa Mutharika, ends his final term in 2014, added: "I honestly don't know the number of schools she is going to construct, where she will build and for how long. So until we talk to her, we can't comment much." He said the government will also review the memorandum of understanding it signed with Madonna to "see what it says before we can embrace her new approach".
Malawi is one of the world's poorest nations, with more than half of the population of 12 million living on less than one dollar a day. Some 200 people were removed from Chinkhota village, on the outskirts of the capital, Lilongwe, to make way for the Raising Malawi Girls Academy.
Most of the villagers were born here and thought the land belonged to their ancestors. They threatened to block the project until Madonna dipped into her pockets to compensate them with $500,000 (£312,800). The Malawian government, which has often defended Madonna's charitable work, helped evict the villagers, claiming it was state land meant for development projects.
Chinkhota became a building site – but without a building. Construction of the academy was delayed over a dispute between theRaising Malawicharity and villagers who claimed they were not adequately compensated for land.
The building was due to be completed in December this year. However, the earth-moving machines that had been landscaping the area have disappeared. Villagers feel betrayed and accuse Madonna of breaking her promise. Maxwell Matewere, Malawi's leading children's rights activist, said Madonna should not "dump" the project.
Matewere, director of Eye of the Child, led two unsuccessful attempts to prevent Madonna adopting two children – David, five, and four-year-old Mercy – from Malawi after their mothers died.
He said the pop star was trying to "run away from long-term obligations" and she should go ahead with the academy because "you educate a few to educate others. She must borrow a leaf from others like Oprah [Winfrey] who have done it in South Africa."
Madonna is funding several charities in Malawi, including homes for children with Aids. She has built a multi-purpose community centre 30 miles from Lilongwe which looks after more than 8,000 orphans. "In a country where only 33% of Malawian girls attend secondary school, I realise that the plans we had in place for the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls simply would not serve enough children. My original vision is now on a much bigger scale."
She said she was in the process of implementing several changes and additions to the management of Raising Malawi in the US and Malawi.
Madonna said she had teamed up withTrevor Neilsonand his team at Global Philanthropy Group to "shift the strategies so that we can accomplish our goals with more efficiency as we continue to consult our government partners in Malawi".
She said Raising Malawi was focused on an approach which includes building schools within communities across the country. A pilot school is on the cards that will "address the barriers keeping girls from secondary education".
Neilson said the new community-based approach by Raising Malawi "will provide the opportunity for many more girls to receive a quality education".
Madonna's spokeswoman did not comment today but said she would seek further information from the singer's management.
International Adoptions: Coordinating by the EU of the Rules
It 's the first significant step towards adopting European Adoptions. With the approval of the Resolution on International Adoption by the European Parliament today international adoption enter fully the responsibility of coordination by the 'European Union. This is a significant success of Italian MEPs (Roberta Angelilli, Luigi Berlinguer, Patrizia Toia, Sonia Alfano, Luigi De Magistris, Silvia Costa, Lorenzo Fontana, Oreste Rossi, Claudio Morganti) to whom I extend our thanks and the two Italian organisations Friends of Adoption and Amici dei Bambini.who supported them.
The European Parliament in plenary session today approved, subject to the approval of pricnicpal political groups, the resolution for European coordination of the rules for international adoptions.
The European Parliament has given its green light to a text that relies on a historically new role of European institutions with respect to adoptions of minors and, in general, child protection within the Union.
The adoption at international level, must be encouraged to ensure that children abandoned in institutions the right to family life , the resolution adopted in Parliament supports the need to ensure that children so not live in orphanages for a long time.
The Parliament asked the European Commission to coordinate, at European level, the strategies for the tool of international adoption , in accordance with international conventions, in order to improve information services, the preparation for international adoption, the treatment of application procedures for international adoption and post-adoption services, bearing in mind that all international conventions on the protection of the rights of the child recognize the right of children orphaned or abandoned to have a family and receive protection.
Here is the text of the resolution:
Roberta Angelilli, Edit Bauer, Simon Busuttil on behalf of the PPE
Luigi Berlinguer, Evelyn Regner, Victor Bo?tinaru, Patrizia Toia, Silvia Costa on behalf of the S & D
Cecilia Wikström, Sonia Alfano, Luigi de Magistris, Renate Weber, Diana Wallis on behalf of the ALDE Group
Timothy Kirkhope, Marina Yannakoudakis, Sajjad Karim on behalf of the ECR
Ji?í Maštálka on behalf of the GUE / NGL
Lorenzo Fontana, Oreste Rossi, Claudio Morganti
European Parliament resolution on international adoption in the European Union
The European Parliament,
- Having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 November 1989, and in particular Article 21,
- Having regard to the European Convention on the Adoption of Children, 1967
- Having regard to the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (signed at The Hague May 29, 1993) and the European Convention of 25 January 1996, concerning children's rights (ETS No. 160)
- Having regard to Article 24 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights,
- Having regard to Article 3, paragraphs 3 and 5 of the Treaty on European Union,
- Having regard to its resolution on improving the legislation and cooperation between Member States on the Adoption of Children (A4-0392/1996),
- Having regard to its resolution of January 16, 2008: Towards an EU strategy on children's rights (2007/2093 (INI)
- Having regard to Article 115, paragraph 5 of its Rules
A. Whereas the welfare of every child and to protect the interests of children are aspects of the utmost importance and that protecting children's rights is one of the objectives of the European Union,
B. Whereas in the field of adoption, the responsibility shall be exercised by the Member States applying the relevant procedures in accordance with the maximum protection of the interests of the child,
C. Whereas conventions are in force dealing with child protection and parental responsibility, in particular the European Convention of 1967 on the adoption of children, which aims to harmonize the legislation of Member States in cases where the adoption involves the displacement of child from one country to another, and the Convention of 1993 on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Convention)
D. Whereas the EU Member States are signatories to the Hague Convention
E. Whereas in the Hague Convention has been made considerable progress
F. Whereas the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Hague Convention describing the family as the fundamental group of society, as the natural environment for the growth and welfare of children in most cases and as the primary choice for the custody of children
G. Whereas if it is impossible to entrust children to primary custody of the family, the adoption should a natural secondary choices, and the placement of a child in an institution should be the absolute last option,
H. whereas in Europe the precariousness of childhood, and particularly that of abandoned children in institutions is a serious problem that should be treated very seriously,
I. Whereas the violations of children's rights, violence against them and the trafficking of children for adoption, prostitution, illegal labor, forced marriage el'accattonaggio the street or for any other unlawful purpose, remain a problem in 'EU
J. Whereas it is important to protect the child's right to family life and ensure that children are not forced to live in orphanages for long periods,
K. Whereas the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Charter of Fundamental Rights becomes binding, whereas, under Article 24 of the Charter "children have the right to protection and care necessary for their well-being "and furthermore, that Article 3 of the Treaty of Lisbon provides that the" protection of the rights of the child "falls within the objectives of the Union,
1. Calls to examine the scope for coordination at European level, the strategies for the tool of international adoption, in accordance with international conventions, in order to improve care information services, preparation for international adoption, the treatment procedures Application for international adoption and post-adoption services, bearing in mind that all international conventions on the protection of the rights of the child recognize the right of children orphaned or abandoned and have a family to receive protection;
2. asks the Commission to examine the functioning of national systems at European level;
3. believes that, as far as possible and to fully protect the interests of the child, priority should be given to the adoption of a child in his country of origin or, alternatively, to solutions of family care, such as foster care or facilities reception, or finding a family through international adoption in accordance with national legislation and international conventions, and that the placement in an institution should be used only as a temporary solution;<
JANUARY 18, 2012 BY ROBIN SIZEMORE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF HOPSCOTCH ADOPTIONS, INC LEAVE A COMMENT
Today our foundation partner, Vesta, met with the new Ministry, Mrs. Velina Todorova, and she acknowledged the need for a speedier process for registering waiting children and matching for international adoption. Mrs. Todorova has pledged to work harder in making the process for waiting children faster. Hooray for kids!!!!
Abandoned Russian boy wanted to go home claims U.S. adoptive mother
Agudath Israel of America has accused the Rensselaer Department of Social Services of violating state law by working to have two Jewish children (a brother and sister) adopted by non-Jewish couples. Under New
