WikiLeaks runs first confidential cable wire from Romania on adoption cases

Publication date: 1 December 2010

WikiLeaks runs first confidential cable wire from Romania on adoption cases

FEATURED | ROMANIA-INSIDER.COM | DECEMBER 1, 2010 AT 1:09 PM

WikiLeaks has published the first confidential document sent from the US Embassy in Bucharest to the US. The document, sent in 2006 by the then US Ambassador to Bucharest Nicholas Taubman refers to adoption cases. “On April 5, Embassy received by mail a letter from Theodora Bertzi, Secretary of State for the Government of Romania,s (GOR) Romanian Office for Adoptions (ROA), dated March 29 and including the final report of the GOR Working Group established in June 2005 to audit pending petitions by foreign families to adopt Romanian orphans and abandoned children,” writes the document. “‘The report shows that none of the 1,092 children identified in the pending petitions will be available for inter-country adoption, ostensibly for the following reasons,” the document goes on, further mentioning the reasons.

The Working Group had been expected to issue its report by the end of March, and Bertzi had announced publicly in December 2005 that none of the cases would be approved for inter-country adoption. However, the utterly non-transparent process of the Working Group and the opaque quality of the report suggest some of the children may in fact remain in non-permanent situations in which their welfare is not being adequately protected. Post believes we should continue to press the GOR to open up the Working Group’s “conclusions” for a transparent, objective international review and to establish a legal framework that would allow inter-country adoption for appropriate pending cases. We will provide Department with our updated recommendations soon,” ends the message.

Secret messages between the US Embassy in Romania and the US state were included in the 250,000 messages sent by American diplomats and recently revealed on WikiLeaks. The US Embassy in Bucharest sent around 775 secret messages to US, according to WikiLeaks. However, the US Embassy to Bucharest has recently said in a statement that by its very nature, field reporting to Washington is candid and often raw information, preliminary and often incomplete, not an expression of policy, and nor does it always shape final policy decisions.

WikiLeaks is a not-for-profit media organization, a project of the Sunshine Press, founded by Julian Assange. “Our goal is to bring important news and information to the public. We provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists (our electronic drop box). One of our most important activities is to publish original source material alongside our news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth,” writes the company.

editor@romania-insider.com

Countries: Romania