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The U.S. State
Department has now issued its 2023 Action Report on International Child
Abduction.
Brazil has by far the worst record of all of the countries in the world of having been declared by the State Department to be noncompliant with the Hague Abduction Convention for each and every year for the past seventeen years.
The State
Department has reported to Congress that within the past year it has taken the
following actions in this regard against Brazil:
·
Department officials, in Washington, DC and across
the U.S. Mission to Brazil, continued to raise concerns with Government of
Brazil officials about Brazil’s repeated demonstration of a pattern of
noncompliance.
·
In August 2022, U.S. and Brazilian high-ranking
officials participated in the 20th Annual U.S.-Brazil Consular and Migration
Dialogue. In conversations with Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the U.S. delegation emphasized the
importance of Brazil’s compliance with the Convention and stressed that Brazil
should use the most expeditious procedures available to resolve cases of
international parental child abduction.
·
In November 2022, the Consular Chief at the U.S.
Embassy in Brasilia met with the Director of the Brazilian Central Authority.
The Director had recently launched a public awareness campaign highlighting the
benefits of the Convention to the Brazilian public.
·
In March 2023, Department officials presented on
the role of central authorities and best practices for Convention
implementation at a conference attended by Brazil’s International Hague Network
Judges, key officials from the Brazilian Foreign and Justice Ministries, and
other judicial and private sector stakeholders. The conference also included
presentations from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, as
well as delegations from Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
·
Additionally, the Consular Chief at the U.S.
Embassy in Brasilia met with the new Director of the Brazilian Central
Authority to underscore the U.S. Mission to Brazil’s support role in assisting
Brazil to meet its Convention obligations.
·
Also in March 2023, the Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State for Overseas Citizens Services and the Special Advisor for
Children’s Issues discussed IPCA and the need for the Brazilian judiciary to
expedite the processing of Convention cases with the Chief Justice of Brazil’s
Superior Court of Justice.
·
In April 2023, the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia’s
Consular Chief discussed the ongoing need for Brazilian-led efforts to expedite
Convention cases with the Chief of Staff of the incoming Chief Justice of
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court.
·
In May 2023, the Office of the Spokesperson
released a media note to announce the release of the 2023 Annual Report on
International Child Abduction and listed Brazil as a country cited for
demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance.
·
Also in May 2023, the Minister Counselor for
Consular Affairs at the U.S. Mission to Brazil delivered a demarche to the
Secretary of Brazilian Communities and Consular and Legal Affairs within the
Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, notifying Brazil that the Department
cited Brazil in the 2023 Annual Report on International Child Abduction for
demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance during 2022. This demarche expressed concern
about Brazil’s persistent failure to comply with its Convention obligations. In
particular, the demarche noted U.S. concerns with delays in Convention cases
within Brazil’s judiciary. The demarche also conveyed concerns with the ongoing
vacancies in the Brazilian Central Authority, which arose in late 2022 and
appeared to cause delays in case processing. The Minister Counselor for
Consular Affairs also met with Brazil’s Special Advisor on International
Affairs for the Minister of Justice and Public Security to discuss demarche
points and emphasize the importance of Convention compliance.
Jeremy D. Morley
has provided expert evidence to courts in several U.S. states on such matters
concerning Brazil.
