Subject: EP Resolution: On the illegal trafficking of babies coming from Guatemala
From: Jyothi Kanics (jkanics@igc.org)
Date: Thu Jun 03 1999 - 10:13:42 EDT
http://www.covenanthouse.org/who/who_pre/who_pre_parliament.htm
January 1999
Full text of EP Resolution at end of email.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT COMES DOWN HARD ON
GUATEMALA OVER THE ILLEGAL TRAFFICKING OF
BABIES.
.....The resolution, voted upon last Friday,
paints a
damning picture of the international adoption
process in
Guatemala, stating that "in Guatemala over 2,000
international adoptions were carried out by a small
group of lawyers at an average cost of US$ 15,000-
20,000," in 1997 alone. In total the parliament
approved eight recommendations which acknowledged
the importance of legal international adoptions,
but
which criticized the State of Guatemala for
failing to
ratify the Hague Convention on Inter-Country
Adoption; failing to strengthen its
international adoption
laws and failing to put into effect the Juvenile
and
Adolescent Code which Guatemala must do in order to
meet its obligations under the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child of which it is a signatory.
....."Now the 15 countries that form the European
Union, Guatemala's second largest trading partner,
have unanimously stated their concern over
continuing
illegal adoptions in Guatemala. I hope that with
this
clear signal of anxiety, the Guatemalan Congress
will
finally assume its responsibility of passing a
strong
adoptions law and also the Juvenile Code. To do
anything less is to dangerously ignore the fact
that the
world is watching what is happening," commented
Bruce Harris Regional Director of Casa Alianza. The
agency, which has its regional headquarters in San
Jose, Costa Rica, along with its sister
organization -
New York based Covenant House - is the largest
provider of care to homeless and abandoned children
in the Americas.
.....In addition, amongst other recommendations,
the
European Parliament "calls on the Guatemalan
government and Member States to prosecute those
involved in the illegal trafficking of babies
and children,"
and requests the State of Guatemala "guarantee the
safety of those people" working to stop the illegal
trafficking of babies who are "subject to
threats and
intimidation."
.....In Guatemala the number of international
adoptions
have almost doubled in the last 12 months, a
situation
which the European Parliament states could become
worse given recent political and natural events.
"Whereas in the last few years, due to the internal
conflict and the recent disaster caused by
hurricane
Mitch, the number of orphaned and abandoned minors
and of people willing to give their children up for
adoption for economic reasons has increased,"
states
the resolution. The European Parliament
highlighted this
growth by contrasting it with Guatemala's poor
legal
infrastructure and ability to combat the
problem, "the
current Guatemalan penal code does not typify the
trafficking of children as a crime and ..the
theft of
children merely carries a one year suspended
sentence"
it added.
.....The Parliament also drew attention to the
defamation case against British born Bruce
Harris and
in a rare move named him in person and called on
the
European Commission and Member states to
investigate his case. Harris was accused of
defamation
by lawyer Susana Maria Luarca Saracho de Umaħa,
whose husband Ricardo Umaħa is a magistrate and
former president of the Guatemalan Supreme Court,
after he and the Attorney General alleged Mrs.
Umaħa
had been involved in the trafficking of
influence within
the country's international adoption process. Casa
Alianza and the Attorney General's office
presented 15
criminal accusations against
Guatemalan lawyers for
illegalities in the international
adoptions they have handled
The British Minister of State
for Latin America Mr. Tony
Lloyd MP also spoke out
recently over the case of
Bruce Harris stating that the
British government "continues
to express concern over
Harris' personal safety" and
that the court case against him,
"conforms to the human rights
standards to which Guatemala
is committed under its
domestic law and its international obligations."
.....Defamation in Guatemala is a criminal
offence rather
than a civil offence as in international law,
and 'truth' is
no defense in the eyes of Guatemalan law, again in
contrast to international law. Harris faces a 5
year jail
term if convicted.
.....For more information please contact Casa
Alianza
on at 506 253 5439 or media@casa-alianza.org. For
more background information on the illegal
trafficking
of babies within Guatemala and the defamation case
against Bruce Harris please visit our Web page at
http://www.casa-alianza.org/EN/human-rights/illegal
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION
FULL TEXT
European Parliament
13th January 1999
On the illegal trafficking of babies coming from
Guatemala
- having regard to the Universal Declaration of
Human
Rights,
- having regard to the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989,
- having regard to the Hague Convention on
Protection
of Children and Co-operation in Respect of
Inter-Country Adoption of 29 May 1993,
- having regard to its resolution of 12 December
1996
on improving the law and co-operation between
Member States on the adoption of minors (OJ
C.20,20.1.1997, p176)
A. Whereas international adoptions when carried out
with proper procedures and guaranties for the
baby or
child often offers him/her an opportunity for
better
living conditions and whereas international
adoption is
also an important form of international
co-operation;
B. Whereas it is a matter of priority not to
penalize
international adoption as such but to provide this
process with transparent and balanced rules;
C. Whereas the UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child only recognizes inter-country adoption as an
alternative if the child can not be cared for in
a suitable
manner in his home country and that the Convention
states that all parties should take all appropriate
measures to ensure that inter-country adoption does
not result in improper financial gain;
D. Whereas in the last few years, due to the
internal
conflict and the recent disaster caused by
hurricane
Mitch, the number of orphaned and abandoned minors
and of people willing to give their children up for
adoption for economic reasons has increased;
E. Whereas in 1997 in Guatemala over 2,000
international adoptions were carried out by a small
group of lawyers at an average cost of US$
15,000-20,000;
F. Whereas international adoptions in Guatemala
have
almost doubled in the last 12 months;
G. Concerned by reports that illegal methods of
adoption are still common practice in Guatemala;
H. Whereas the current Guatemalan penal code does
not typify the trafficking of children as a
crime and
whereas the theft of children merely carries a
one year
suspended sentence;
I. Whereas Children's rights NGO's and those
working
on the item of illegal adoption of babies in
Guatemala
have been subject to acts of threats and
intimidation;
1. Recognizes the important role played by legal
international adoptions;
2. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to
bring sustained pressure to bear on the Guatemalan
government to promote national adoptions, to
ratify the
Hague Convention on Inter- Country Adoption, to
strengthen its international adoption laws and
to put
into effect the Juvenile and Adolescent Code
which will
reflect the Guatemalan obligations under the UN
Convention of the Rights of the Child;
3. Calls on the Guatemalan government and the
Member States to prosecute those involved in the
illegal trafficking of babies and children;
4. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to
provide financial assistance to the programs of the
Guatemalan Attorney General's Office aimed at
ensuring that the adoption procedures comply
with all
the national and international legal provisions;
5. Calls on the Member States to ensure that only
public bodies or organizations accredited by the
state
which are non-profit making are permitted to act as
intermediaries in adoption procedures;
6. Is seriously worried by the fact that those
working to
prevent the illegal trafficking of children a
subject to
threats and intimidation and calls on the
Guatemalan
government to guarantee the safety of those
people;
7. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to
especially investigate the case of the Latin
American
programs for Covenant House (Casa Alianza), British
born Bruce Harris, who has had charges of
defamation
placed against him after speaking out on the
international adoption process in Guatemala;
8. Instructs its President to forward this
resolution to
the European Commission, the EU Member States, the
government and congress of Guatemala, the United
Nations and UNICEF.
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