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The U.S. State Department has now issued its 2023 Action
Report on International Child Abduction.
Honduras has been declared by the State Department to be non-compliant with the Hague Abduction Convention.
The State Department has reported to
Congress that within the past year it has taken the following actions in this
regard against Honduras:
·
Department officials in Washington, DC, and at
the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa continued to raise concerns about Honduras’s
demonstration of a pattern of non-compliance with Government of Honduras
officials.
·
In October 2022, Department officials worked
closely with the Honduran Central Authority to help organize a judicial
training focused on child abductions in Honduras, which included judges,
attorneys, central authority participants, and other stakeholders. The
Department presented on the role of the U.S. Central Authority. Other experts
highlighted the need for expediency in processing Hague cases.
·
In October 2022, Department officials met with
the Director of the Honduran Central Authority to discuss concerns about
Honduras’s implementation of the Convention. The Department also recognized the
Honduran Central Authority’s efforts, including hiring a designated team to
handle abductions, and hosting a judicial training.
·
In April 2023, Department officials met with
Embassy of Honduras representatives in Washington, DC, and discussed concerns
with Honduras’s Convention compliance. The Department emphasized the Honduran
Central Authority’s delays in processing cases as an area of concern.
·
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 Honduras as a country cited for
demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance.
·
In May 2023, U.S. Embassy Tegucigalpa officials
delivered a demarche to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating the Department
cited Honduras in the 2023 Annual Report on International Child Abduction for
demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance during 2022.
Jeremy D.
Morley has provided expert evidence to courts in several U.S. states on such
matters concerning Honduras.
