Home  

Busy with Bombay high court case, Pune home denies care to child

Busy with Bombay high court case, Pune home denies care to child
Published: Tuesday, Sep 21, 2010, 0:10 IST
Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

Pune’s contentious adoption home Preet Mandir has challenged the revocation of its licence before the Bombay high court.
However, while the decision for the adoption centre may go either way, a one-year-old girl with special needs is being denied parental care as her adoption cannot be processed.
The girl, who has been matched with an overseas citizen of India couple (name withheld), is one among 17 children from Preet Mandir whose case the Central Adoption Resources Authority (Cara) was asked to process in January.
The couple has been waiting to adopt her and take her home to South Africa. Shirin Merchant, the couple’s advocate, said, “The girl suffers from a major hearing problem. The couple had wanted to take her to South Africa and give her the necessary treatment. If she is not given the medical attention soon she may even lose her ability to hear.”
While the Cara had moved for the grant of a no-objection certificate on January 30, Preet Mandir’s licence was revoked on May 20.
Counsel for the Cara told the court on Monday that after the revocation, the transfer of the children from Preet Mandir to other institutions had been stayed by another bench of the court.
Merchant said, “Now we either have to wait for court orders in the case of transferring children or file a separate application for
our case.”


Pakistani marauders abducting women and children

Pakistani marauders abducting women and children

It is a growing phenomenon, observed by local charitable and non-governmental organizations in Pakistan. Among the flood refugees there are a rising number of cases of abductions and disappearances of women and children by human traffickers. The alert, already launched in recent weeks by Christian charitable groups is now, through great effort, seeing concrete facts, testimonies, and figures.

According to data from the National Disaster Management Authority, circulated by the NGO "Roshni Missing Children Helpline, 400 cases of missing children have been recorded in the last month. The volunteers of Roshni Missing Children Helpline, an NGO based in Karachi, visited several refugee camps in Karachi, Thatta, Dadu, and Sukkur, conducting a specific investigation on child trafficking. They noted 23 cases of missing children, between 5 and 17 years of age.

"We continue to collect stories from organizations involved on the ground. But the government and international agencies of the United Nations do not want to seriously consider this. Only local NGOs are working on it, because they receive complaints of desperate families affected by it," says Tahira Abdullah Fides, a Muslim human rights activist involved in various national organizations. "There are no official figures because the institutions do not deal with it, so it is impossible to make an adequate estimate," he notes. Therefore, as reported to Fides, many local NGOs are being organized to collect data and stories, especially in the inland areas of Sindh and Punjab.

One report noted that a large refugee family, composed of several smaller families, took refuge in a camp in the area of Muzaffargarh, in Punjab. Some men brought food to the refugees and all were fed. They then fell into a deep sleep, because the food was drugged. In the morning, they realized that all the girls in the family, between 14 and 18 years had disappeared. "These are criminal gangs that enter the tent areas. In these cases, probably, the girls are forced into prostitution," notes Tahira Abdullah.

For children, however, their fate is the network of organized beggars, domestic labor, forced labor, trafficking of drugs or organ transplantation, volunteers say. Haider Yaqub, Pakistani Director of the NGO Plan International, committed to the protection of minors, said "We know, having worked after disasters like the tsunami or the earthquake in Kashmir, that traffickers seek to benefit from situations of displacement and misery. Currently, we operate in three districts of Sindh and three in southern Punjab, and we have not found serious cases of child abduction, but only cases of missing children whom we strive to reunite with their family. However, I fear that the phenomenon is growing. We are conducting a research to collect data and cases.

The Asian Human Rights Commission, urging Pakistani institutions to take appropriate action, said: "In this flood disaster, there is a lack of planning, coordination, and concrete measures to help women and children avoid violence, including that of human traffickers."

Source: FIDES

Italian official claims link between homosexual adoption and human trafficking

Italian official claims link between homosexual adoption and human trafficking

Rome, Italy, Sep 21, 2010 / 02:58 pm (CNA).- The Secretary of State for Family Policy in Italy, Carlo Giovanardi, stated in an interview this week that he believes there is a connection between adoption by same-sex couples and the increase in the human trafficking of minors.

In the interview with political analyst Klaus Davi, Giovanardi noted that “where the adoption by gay couples is allowed, such as in the U.S. and Brazil,” the countries have exploded with the “buying and selling of children.”

“It is something that at least this government will never accept and I want to denounce it from here.”

“To impose two parents of the same sex on a child is to subject that child to psychological violence,” Giovanardi continued. “A child has the right to grow up” in an environment where “a paternal and maternal figure complement each other and guarantee the child balanced development,” he added.

Crisi dell’adozione internazionale (3), Roma: le idoneità diminuiscono del 74%

Data: 21-09-10

Crisi dell’adozione internazionale (3), Roma: le idoneità diminuiscono del 74%

Continua il servizio di approfondimento di “Ai.Bi. News” dedicato alla crisi delle adozioni internazionali e al crollo dei decreti di idoneità emessi dai Tribunali per i Minorenni alle aspiranti coppie adottive.

La realtà di Roma rappresenta uno dei casi più significativi: nel 2007 erano stati 630 i decreti emessi dal Tribunale per i Minorenni della capitale, 545 quelli rilasciati nel 2008 e 165 del 2009.

Un crollo ancora più preoccupante rispetto a quello che si è avuto a Bologna e Firenze. Nel capoluogo emiliano si è registrato un sensibile calo delle idoneità, (da 400 a 229 decreti in 4 anni), anche dalla Toscana è arrivata una secca battuta di arresto (dal 2006 al 2009 siamo passati da 616 decreti di idoneità concessi nel 2006 ad appena 341 nel 2009).

Sulla questione abbiamo interpellato Melita Cavallopresidente del Tribunale per i Minorenni di Roma e già presidente della Commissione per le Adozioni Internazionali (CAI).

“E’ vero, c’è stato un calo nei decreti emessi dai Tribunali per i Minorenni però a mio avviso il problema più grave a cui dobbiamo far fronte oggi è un altro: molte autorità straniere vedono l’adozione internazionale come un canale per dare una famiglia a bambini in età avanzata e con problemi di salute molto gravi. Nel mio Tribunale ho dovuto gestire storie di fallimenti adottivi dolorose per i figli, che una volta arrivati in Italia sono stati abbandonati dalla loro famiglia adottiva, e altrettanto gravi per le coppie, che non hanno saputo gestire l’accoglienza di adolescenti di 13 anni o con problemi di salute irreversibili.

Non possiamo chiudere gli occhi di fronte a questa realtà, ma dobbiamo impegnarci, Tribunali per i Minorenni, enti autorizzati e Commissione per le Adozioni internazionali (CAI) per tutelare sia i bambini che le famiglie.” ha concluso Cavallo


Of international crisis (3), Rome: the eligibility decreases by 74% 
Continues the service that "Ai.Bi. News "devoted to the crisis of international adoptions and the collapse of the eligibility decrees issued by the Juvenile Courts to prospective adoptive couples. 

The reality of Rome is one of the most significant cases, in 2007 were 630 decrees issued by the Juvenile Court in the capital, 545 certificates issued in 2008 and 165 in 2009. 

A collapse even more disturbing than what we had in Bologna and Florence. In the capital of Emilia has been a marked decline in decrees (from 400 to 229 orders in four years), also from Tuscany came a sharp setback (from 2006 to 2009 we went from 616 decrees granted in 2006 to just fit 341 in 2009). 

 On this question we asked Melita Cavallo, chairman of the Juvenile Court of Rome and former Chairman of the Commission for International Adoptions (CAI). 

'It is true, there was a decrease in the decrees issued by the Juvenile Courts, however, I think the biggest problem that we face today is another: many foreign authorities see international adoption as a channel to give a family with children older and very serious health problems. In my court I had to deal with painful stories of failures for adoptive children, who once arrived in Italy were abandoned by their adoptive family,this is also serious for couples who have not been able to manage the hosting of 13 year old adolescents or with irreversible health problems. 

We can not close our eyes to this reality, but we must strive, Juvenile Courts, authorized institutions and the Commission for International Adoptions (CAI) to protect both children and families. "Cavallo concluded.

Baby left at hospital in first use of child abandonment program

Baby left at hospital in first use of child abandonment program

Dr. Geoffrey Cundiff, head of obstetrics and gyneocology at St Paul's Hospital with the  "Angel's Crib" where mothers can abandon their babies anonymously, in Vancouver

Nick Procaylo/Postmedia News

Dr. Geoffrey Cundiff, head of obstetrics and gyneocology at St Paul's Hospital with the "Angel's Crib" where mothers can abandon their babies anonymously, in Vancouver

Tom Blackwell, National Post · Monday, Sept. 20, 2010

Someone opened a door at Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Hospital, slipped a two-day-old baby into the bassinet on the other side and promptly walked out of the newborn’s life. Thirty seconds later, an alarm sounded inside, alerting emergency department staff to the new arrival, and giving the reluctant mother or father time to leave undetected and anonymously.

In doing so, he or she became the inaugural user of the first program in Canada that encourages parents to safely abandon unwanted children.

The safe-haven concept, lauded for protecting the most vulnerable and now under consideration in Alberta, has opened a debate on whether the program can really save babies in the most desperate circumstances.

St. Paul’s officials say the incident in mid-July — kept under wraps until now — has underlined for them the human value of the “Angel’s Cradle” project.

The baby would “without a doubt” have met a grimmer fate if not for the drop-off site, argues Dr. Geoffrey Cundiff, who supervises the project.

“It was somebody without means who ... could not keep the baby,” said Dr. Cundiff, head of obstetrics and gynecology for Providence Health, which oversees St. Paul’s. “It was most likely an immigrant who didn’t have other options, and didn’t know what the alternatives were.”

To protect the baby patient’s confidentiality and the anonymity of the parents, the hospital will not disclose its sex or other identifying information.

The child was in good health and left with a note that briefly described when he or she was born, its ethnic origin and family history, Dr. Cundiff said. After an overnight stay, the newborn was handed over to B.C.’s Ministry of Children and Family Development.

Christine Ash, a ministry spokeswoman, said she could not comment specifically on the case. But she said that in such circumstances the ministry would generally publish an ad saying it had taken in an abandoned baby, allowing parents to make a claim, then look for an adoptive family if none do. During the baby’s first six months with that family, the birth parents could still come forward and take custody, if they could prove parentage with DNA tests, Ms. Ash said.

“At least the child is being abandoned in a safe manner, rather than in what could be a terrible manner,” she said of the St. Paul’s program.

Under the project, police have agreed that parents who drop babies at the St. Paul’s site would not be prosecuted. The concept was seen as an answer to sporadic horror stories of infants being discarded in public places or even killed by desperate parents.

Representatives of Covenant Health, a Catholic organization like Providence, which manages several hospitals and other health facilities in Alberta, have inquired about the Vancouver program and are planning to visit the hospital to find out more, said Dr. Cundiff. Covenant officials could not be reached for comment.

Ms. Ash said baby abandonments are rare in B.C., with an average of about one child a year ending up in the care of the province’s child-welfare authorities.

The safe-haven idea has become widespread in the United States, where most states have instituted “Baby Moses” laws that allow parents to deposit babies at hospitals and other designated locations without repercussion. Those jurisdictions argue that any infant left at a safe-haven site is a potential life saved.

Not all experts agree. In a 2003 report, the New York-based Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute noted that the scant, mostly anecdotal, evidence available suggested the number of dangerous abandonments does not drop after legislation is introduced.

And in the seven years since that report was published, the limited evidence indicates “these laws are even more counterproductive than we’d expected,” Adam Pertman, the institute’s executive director, said yesterday.

The problem is that mothers who kill or discard their newborns in a dangerous way are unstable and panicked, not cogently thinking people who would seek out a safe-haven drop-off, said Mr. Pertman.

Those who do use the sites are likely women who would otherwise contact an adoption agency but have now been convinced to take an easier way out, he said. With counselling at an agency, they might even have decided to keep the baby; they would at least be ensuring that adoptive parents had access to the infant’s family medical background, something not possible with legal abandonment.

“Everybody thinks they have found an answer,” said Mr. Pertman. “It feels good, it’s intuitive, we can clap our hands and say ‘We’ve solved that one and move on.’ The problem is, we haven’t solved it.”

National Post



Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Baby+left+hospital+first+child+abandonment+program/3553030/story.html#ixzz109wJuSM5

Snag in Nepali Adoptions to U.S.

Snag in Nepali Adoptions to U.S.

Tupelo, Miss.

Twelve Mississippi couples are caught in an international adoption web that has prevented them from bringing Nepali children to the U.S.

Posted: 7:53 PM Sep 20, 2010

Reporter: Jessica Dealy

Bulgaria to investigate hundreds of children deaths in orphanages

Bulgaria to investigate hundreds of children deaths in orphanages
Mon, Sep 20 2010 16:01 CET byThe Sofia Echo staff 1199 Views 12 Comments 1 of 1
The plight of Bulgaria's disabled children was highlighted by a BBC documentary on the Mogilino children home in 2007.


Bulgaria's Prosecutor's Office was investigating 166 cases of deaths in children homes over the past decade following a joint probe by prosecutors and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee that uncovered 238 deaths over the period, Prosecutor-General Boris Velchev said on September 20.

"In these cases there is enough to suspect criminal negligence to avoid the deaths. The pre-trial investigations now being started are against unknown perpetrators," Velchev said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily.

Charges to be pressed could include negligent manslaughter, bodily harm, sexual harassment, mismanagement and corruption, he said. The check showed that several homes for disabled children tied the children down, which is a form of abuse, and found instances in which medication was used to control the children instead as therapy.

Although the sweeping investigation would not solve the problem, it could improve prevention, Velchev said.

"What we can do is dispense retribution and strengthen prevention. We've uncovered troubling things. I cannot imagine that in 10 years, 238 citizens from the most vulnerable part of the society have passed away in this way," Velchev said.

Margarita Ilieva, head of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee legal programme, said: "These children died not of their disabilities, but of things that no one should experience. We are talking about facilities with drastically poor hygiene; 31 of the children died of hunger."

"We do not need retribution and someone going to jail. We need prevention," she said.

Martyrium statt Familienidylle

Ein Ehepaar aus Fürstenfeldbruck steht wegen Misshandlung von Schutzbefohlenen vor Gericht. Die missbrauchten Mädchen haben unter Tränen ausgesagt.

Martyrium statt Familienidylle

20.09.2010, 18:03 2010-09-20 18:03:35

Im Prozess gegen ein Ehepaar aus dem Landkreis, das sich derzeit wegen der Misshandlung von Schutzbefohlenen vor dem Amtsgericht in Fürstenfeldbruck verantworten muss, haben am Freitag erneut die beiden mittlerweile erwachsenen Adoptivtöchter als Zeuginnen ausgesagt. Beim Betrachten von Bildern aus mehreren Fotoalben, die nach Ansicht der Verteidiger des Ehepaares ein idyllisches Familienleben dokumentieren sollten, brachen die beiden 22 und 24 Jahre alten Frauenmehrmals in Tränen aus.

An die meisten Aufnahmen könne sie sich nicht mehr erinnern, sagte die jüngere der beiden Schwestern, die Anfang der neunziger Jahre im Alter von fünf und sechs Jahren aus der Ukraine zu ihren Adoptiveltern nach Deutschland gekommen waren und dort ihren Aussagen zufolge ein Martyrium an Gewalt und Erniedrigung erlebten. So mussten die Mädchen häufig Haus- und Strafarbeiten erledigen, wurden immer wieder mit Schlägen traktiert und mit dem Kopf in eiskaltes Wasser getaucht, bis sie Todesangst hatten. "Sie haben uns alles genommen", sagte die 24-Jährige über ihre Adoptiveltern, denen erst 1999 das Sorgerecht für die Mädchen entzogen wurde.

Erst Jahre später entschlossen sich die beiden jungen Frauen, denen es sichtlich immer noch schwer fällt, die Geschehnisse aus ihrer Kindheit aufzuarbeiten, zu einer Anzeige gegen ihre 65 und 58 Jahre alten Adoptiveltern, die im bisherigen Prozessverlauf beharrlich zu den Vorwürfen geschwiegen haben.

In einer weiteren Verhandlung am Amtsgericht, Termin ist der 4.Oktober, wird die sachverständige Psychologin ihr Gutachten vorlegen und erläutern. Für den Tag darauf sind die Plädoyers vorgesehen. Möglicherweise könnte es dann auch noch zu einem Urteil kommen.


Edwardsville couple accuses adoption agency of conspiracy

Edwardsville couple accuses adoption agency of conspiracy 
9/17/2010 9:10 AM By Andrea Dearden 

An Edwardsville couple is suing a local adoption agency for more than $850,000, claiming the company's employees conspired against them.

Patrick and Stacey Stufflebeam filed the lawsuit against Lifelink International Adoption Services Sept. 7 in Madison County Circuit Court. Also named in the suit are three social workers employed by the adoption agency, Carol Kramer, Patricia Radley and Ann Wieczorek.

The Stufflebeams say they first went to Lifelink in 2008 to discuss the possibility of an international adoption. The couple says they were advised they were best suited for a China program and told it would take no more than two years to have a child placed in their home.

A year later, the Stufflebeams say they again met with Lifelink representative Carol Kramer and were told it would be at least two more years until a child from China could be placed in the couple's home.

Knowing they wanted to adopt a child sooner, the Stufflebeams say they asked to be moved to Lifelink's Korea adoption program. They say Kramer told them that change would cost the couple several hundred more dollars.

The Stufflebeams say, in January, they were told the fees they had already paid toward the China adoption program would be transferred to the Korea program. Knowing that, the Stufflebeams claim they paid the agency an additional $400 for a home study with the expectation of moving the adoption process forward.

One day after being told Lifelink would waive additional fees, the Stufflebeams say they received a call from Kramer to inform them the agency would not continue processing the couple's adoption application until they paid $6,400.

The Stufflebeams argue the demand for more money made the adoption financially impossible and caused them severe and extreme emotional distress. Kramer's conduct was "extreme and outrageous and beyond all possible bounds of decency," the lawsuit reads.

The Stufflebeams accuse Lifelink International, Kramer, fellow social worker Ann Wieczorek and supervisor Patricia Radley, of intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. They accuse the defendants of conspiracy, claiming the women worked together to force the couple to pay multiple program fees.

The Stufflebeams also accuse the social workers of malpractice for making false statements and the adoption agency of breach of contract. The couple seeks a minimum of $850,000 in damages.

Patrick Stufflebeam is an attorney and is representing himself and his wife in this case. Attorney Jeffrey S. Hebrank is also representing the couple.

Madison County Circuit Court Case No. 10-L-926


 

Eight of 16 CJIs were 'corrupt': Ex-law minister

Eight of 16 CJIs were 'corrupt': Ex-law minister
Sakaal Times
Thursday, September 16, 2010 AT 08:48 PM (IST)
NEW DELHI: Former union law minister Shanti Bhushan Thursday told the Supreme Court that eight out of the 16 former chief justices of India (CJIs) were "definitely corrupt".
 
Shanti Bhushan said this in an affidavit filed Thursday. He said that six out of the 16 CJIs were "definitely honest". About two CJIs "a definite opinion cannot be expressed whether they were honest or corrupt", he said.
 
The senior counsel gave details of the identity of the "definitely corrupt", "definitely honest" and two other judges in a sealed cover for the perusal of judges hearing a contempt petition against his son and advocate, Prashant Bhushan. Shanti Bhushan has signed the list.
 
The former minister said that since he was saying so publicly he should be made to face contempt of court proceedings and impleaded in the case in which Prashant Bhushan too was facing contempt proceedings.
 
Prashant Bhushan is facing contempt proceedings for saying that Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia committed a judicial impropriety by being on the forest bench that heard Sterlite Industries matter.
 
He said this in an interview and at that time Chief Justice Kapadia was a senior judge in the apex court.
 
In his affidavit, Shanti Bhushan said that he should be "suitably punished for this contempt".
 
The former law minister said that he would consider it as an honour to spend some time in jail for making an effort to get the people of India an "honest and clean judiciary".
 
The senior counsel said that since the question arising in this case affects the judiciary as a whole, the petition "needs to be decided by the entire court and not merely by three judges handpicked by a chief justice".
 
Sixteen CJI in the past that Shanti Bhushan has mentioned in his affidavit are Justice Rangnath Mishra, Justice K.N. Singh, Justice M.H. Kania, Justice L.M. Sharma, Justice M.N. Venkatachalliah, Justice A.M. Ahmadi, Justice J.S. Verma, Justice M.M. Punchhi, Justice A.S. Anand, Justice S.P. Bharucha, Justice B.N. Kirpal, Justice G.B. Pathak, Justice Rajendra Babu, Justice R.C. Lahoti, Justice V.N. Khare and Justice Y.K. Sabharwal.
 
Shanti Bhushan in his affidavit said that two former CJIs had personally told him that their immediate predecessors and immediate successors were corrupt judges. He said that the names of those four CJIs were included in the list of eight "corrupt" CJIs.
The senior counsel said that there was a time when it was "almost impossible even to think that a judge of a high court or the Supreme Court could be corrupt".
 
Things have changed drastically during the last two to three decades which witnessed corruption growing in the Indian judiciary. So much so that even a sitting chief justice of India had to openly admit that 20 percent of judges could be corrupt, Shanti Bhushan said in his affidavit.
 
Shanti Bhushan in his affidavit referred to Gujarat High Court Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhyay's remark that "in our judiciary, anybody can be bought".
 
He said despite Chief Justice Mukhopadhyay's perception, there are a large of number of honest judges in the country.
 
However, he said that honest judges too were becoming the victim of this public perception since no institution was taking steps to deal with corruption in judiciary.
Related News
Comments
On 9/17/2010 12:23 AM neelagokhale said:
Update
On 9/17/2010 12:21 AM neelagokhale said:
Update
On 9/17/2010 12:16 AM Neela Gokhale said:
Very Good News
On 9/17/2010 12:15 AM R.Vemkat Ramani said:
I am surprised to read this News. God Bless Indian Judicial System.