From my archive of press clippings:
FoxNews.Com
Maryland Father Still Hopeful He'll See His Kidnapped Sons Again
Monday, June 16, 2008
By Catherine Donaldson-Evans
This weekend marks the seventh Father's Day since the last time Michael Shannon saw his sons Adam and Jason, let alone celebrated with them.
The boys, now 11 and 7, were kidnapped in August 2001 by their mother and Egyptian grandmother, who fled to Cairo after what was supposed to be a brief unsupervised visit.
They've remained there ever since, despite substantial U.S. criminal and civil court victories for Shannon, who has full custody of both children.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"Shannon's lawyer, Stephen Cullen, is trying to arrange a meeting for father and sons in Cyprus, which is both Muslim and Christian and has signed the Hague Convention treaty designed to prevent the wrongful abduction of children."
"Part of the problem is that no Muslim country, including Egypt, recognizes the Hague treaty.
And Egypt has not honored any of the court decisions handed down in the Shannon case in the United States.
In April, the Maryland Court of Appeals upheld a decision by a trial judge and jury to make interference with custody and visitation, including child abduction, a civil offense in addition to a criminal offense.
Previously, it only fell into the criminal category."
&
"Shannon was awarded $3 million in damages to be paid by his ex-wife, Nermeen Khalifa, 39, and the children's maternal grandmother, Afaf Khalifa, 65."
Showing posts with label IPCA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IPCA. Show all posts
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
IHT - American seeks return of abducted sons
From my archive of press clippings:
International Herald Tribune
American seeks return of abducted sons
Published: June 13, 2008
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland: When the mother of Michael Shannon's two sons abducted them and hustled them out of the country to Egypt, she accomplished two things: turning the boys against their father and guaranteeing he wouldn't stop trying to get them back.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"And he hasn't. He sought recourse with the police, the courts, even the State Department, winning victories small and large along the way.
But what's a father to do when a foreign country refuses to recognize international child custody laws?
When his own government has no leverage to force the children's return or prevent them from being spirited to yet another country?"
A clarification: there's no such thing as international child custody laws, just as Amb. Bolton famously said about the United Nations.
Despite what international lawyers would have you believe, there really isn't any such thing as international law either, although (not unlike the belief in God) even its unbelievers often find it practical to act as if they believe it does.
There is an international convention, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, but just like every other sort of treaty, individual nation-states get to decide whether it's to their own benefit whether or not to sign it and ratify it. Some countries never will, and some that do have trouble with compliance.
"Shannon separated from his wife, Nermeen Khalifa, in January 2000, after nearly four years of marriage.
A Maryland court granted him custody of Adam, and Khalifa was granted custody of Jason.
Shannon had visitation rights with Jason, who was only months old, and was later given custody of him by a Maryland court.
In August 2001, Shannon let both sons go with Khalifa and her mother, Afaf N. Khalifa, to visit a cousin in New York.
But the boys were put on a plane to Egypt and when Shannon went to pick them up at the time they were due back in Maryland, he found an empty apartment."
"Aggressive assistance from Maryland authorities has yielded legal victories and Shannon's attorneys have even worked with international authorities to get the boys back.
But, he says, the State Department hasn't helped much.
He feels he's been met with indifference."
"The boys' maternal grandmother, who is the wife of a wealthy Egyptian businessman, was arrested that year while vacationing in California.
She stood trial in Maryland and was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison for helping to abduct the boys.
She served about three years before being paroled."
"Police have issued a warrant for Shannon's ex-wife, who has dual U.S. and Egyptian citizenship."
"Since 1988, the government has opened files on more than 13,000 cases of international child abduction.
Parents can spend years trying to get them back, often with no luck."
&
"Egypt does not recognize the 1980 Hague Abduction Treaty, which includes about 80 countries that enforce child custody laws in the United States.
No Muslim countries recognize it"
To carry my earlier comments (see above) a little bit further, it's not a matter of Egypt recognizing the Hague Convention, it's a matter of them joining it as a multilateral agreement on how different countries will resolve these disputes and then actually complying with it. Egypt apparently doesn't see that the benefits to their country outweigh the perceived costs.
International Herald Tribune
American seeks return of abducted sons
Published: June 13, 2008
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland: When the mother of Michael Shannon's two sons abducted them and hustled them out of the country to Egypt, she accomplished two things: turning the boys against their father and guaranteeing he wouldn't stop trying to get them back.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"And he hasn't. He sought recourse with the police, the courts, even the State Department, winning victories small and large along the way.
But what's a father to do when a foreign country refuses to recognize international child custody laws?
When his own government has no leverage to force the children's return or prevent them from being spirited to yet another country?"
A clarification: there's no such thing as international child custody laws, just as Amb. Bolton famously said about the United Nations.
Despite what international lawyers would have you believe, there really isn't any such thing as international law either, although (not unlike the belief in God) even its unbelievers often find it practical to act as if they believe it does.
There is an international convention, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, but just like every other sort of treaty, individual nation-states get to decide whether it's to their own benefit whether or not to sign it and ratify it. Some countries never will, and some that do have trouble with compliance.
"Shannon separated from his wife, Nermeen Khalifa, in January 2000, after nearly four years of marriage.
A Maryland court granted him custody of Adam, and Khalifa was granted custody of Jason.
Shannon had visitation rights with Jason, who was only months old, and was later given custody of him by a Maryland court.
In August 2001, Shannon let both sons go with Khalifa and her mother, Afaf N. Khalifa, to visit a cousin in New York.
But the boys were put on a plane to Egypt and when Shannon went to pick them up at the time they were due back in Maryland, he found an empty apartment."
"Aggressive assistance from Maryland authorities has yielded legal victories and Shannon's attorneys have even worked with international authorities to get the boys back.
But, he says, the State Department hasn't helped much.
He feels he's been met with indifference."
"The boys' maternal grandmother, who is the wife of a wealthy Egyptian businessman, was arrested that year while vacationing in California.
She stood trial in Maryland and was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison for helping to abduct the boys.
She served about three years before being paroled."
"Police have issued a warrant for Shannon's ex-wife, who has dual U.S. and Egyptian citizenship."
"Since 1988, the government has opened files on more than 13,000 cases of international child abduction.
Parents can spend years trying to get them back, often with no luck."
&
"Egypt does not recognize the 1980 Hague Abduction Treaty, which includes about 80 countries that enforce child custody laws in the United States.
No Muslim countries recognize it"
To carry my earlier comments (see above) a little bit further, it's not a matter of Egypt recognizing the Hague Convention, it's a matter of them joining it as a multilateral agreement on how different countries will resolve these disputes and then actually complying with it. Egypt apparently doesn't see that the benefits to their country outweigh the perceived costs.
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