The U.S. State Department has
just issued its 2017 Annual Report on International Parental Child Abduction
under the International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act (ICAPRA). The
following is the Country Summary and related information from the eleventh
country listed as “Noncompliant” in the report, Peru:
Country Summary:
The United States and Peru have been partners under the Hague Abduction
Convention since 2007. In 2016, Peru demonstrated a pattern of noncompliance.
Specifically, the judicial authorities in Peru persistently failed to implement
and abide by the provisions of the Hague Abduction Convention. As a result of
this failure, 28 percent of requests for the return of abducted children under
the Convention have remained unresolved for more than 12 months. On average
these cases have been unresolved for 27 months. Peru has been cited as
non-compliant since 2014.
Central Authority:
The Peruvian Central Authority gave the United States regular updates on all
open cases, and conducted a bi-monthly conference call with the U.S. Central
Authority. While the relationship with the Peruvian Central Authority is strong
and productive, the United States is concerned that Peru is unable to resolve
cases in a timely manner, and urges the Peruvian authorities to take
appropriate steps to address this situation.
Voluntary Resolution:
The Convention states that central authorities “shall take all appropriate
measures to secure the voluntary return of the child or to bring about an
amicable resolution of the issues.” In 2016, four abduction cases were resolved
through voluntary means. The Peruvian Central Authority began all cases with an
appeal for the parties to resolve cases voluntarily.
Location: In some
cases, the competent authorities delayed taking appropriate steps to help
locate a child after a Convention application was filed. The average time to
locate a child was 39 days. The location efforts of the Peruvian Central
Authority generally improved throughout 2016.
Judicial Authorities:
The Peruvian judicial authorities demonstrated a pattern of noncompliance with
the Convention through serious delays in deciding Convention cases. Convention
cases were not heard expeditiously but instead waited with all other civil
cases for hearings. Cases are generally pending with the judiciary for almost
three years. In addition, there was a strike in the judicial system in 2016
which further slowed the scheduling of hearings.
Enforcement: The
United States is not aware of any abduction cases in which a judicial order
relating to international parental child abduction needed to be enforced by the
Peruvian authorities.
Access: In 2016,
the U.S. Central Authority had one open access case under the Convention in
Peru. This case was opened in 2016. By December 31, 2016, this case remained
open. No cases were pending with the Peruvian authorities for more than 12
months.
Department
Recommendations: The Department will intensify engagement with the Peruvian
authorities to address significant issues of concern and expand public
diplomacy activities related to the resolution of cases. The Department will
also encourage training with judicial and administrative authorities on the
effective handling of international parental child abduction cases. The
Department also recommends an emphasis on preventing abductions.