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The U.S. State Department has now issued its 2023 Action
Report on International Child Abduction.
Peru has been declared by the State Department to be non-compliant with the Hague Abduction Convention for the last nine years.
The State Department has reported to
Congress that within the past year it has taken the following actions in this
regard against Peru:
·
The Department frequently raised concerns with
the Government of Peru about Peru’s repeated demonstration of a pattern of
noncompliance. In July 2022, Department officials met with Embassy of Peru
representatives in Washington, DC. The Department raised concerns about
judicial delays, enforcement challenges for court-ordered returns, and the
Peruvian Central Authority’s lack of participation in safe-return planning.
·
In September 2022, Department officials met with
Embassy of Peru representatives in Washington, DC, to emphasize compliance
concerns, safe return planning for a longstanding case, lack of enforcement of
a courtordered return, and opportunities for collaboration.
·
In October 2022, Department officials met with
Embassy of Peru representatives in Washington, DC, to discuss a longstanding
unresolved case and potential collaboration on judicial training for judges
hearing Convention cases in Peru.
·
In November 2022, at the U.S.-European Union
Consular Dialogue, Department officials discussed a multilateral approach to
address shared concerns with Peru’s noncompliance with the Convention.
·
In December 2022, Department officials coordinated
a meeting between the Embassy of Peru and the U.S. Department of Justice to
discuss how the AMBER Alert system for missing and abducted children works in
the United States, and the potential for implementing a similar system in Peru.
·
In February 2023, Department officials met with
Peruvian Central Authority representatives to discuss Convention case
developments.
·
In March 2023, Department officials met with
Embassy of Peru representatives in Washington, DC. Department officials raised
concerns about the lack of enforcement of a court-ordered return and offered to
support future judicial training for judges in Peru.
·
In April 2023, the U.S. Embassy in Lima met with
the Peruvian Hague Network Judge and discussed how Convention cases are
processed in the Peruvian judiciary and the possibility of planning a judicial
training in Peru for judges hearing Convention cases.
·
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 Peru as a country cited for
demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance.
·
Also in May 2023, the Deputy Chief of Mission
and the Consul General at the U.S. Embassy in Lima delivered a demarche to the
Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating the Department cited Peru in the
2023 Annual Report for demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance. The demarche
expressed the Department’s concern regarding Peru’s pattern of noncompliance,
including the Peruvian Central Authority’s lack of effective communication with
the U.S. Central Authority and not adequately participating in safe return
planning related to a court-ordered return of a child to the United States. The
demarche also expressed concerns about judicial delays in Convention cases.
Jeremy D. Morley
has provided expert evidence to courts in several U.S. states on such matters
concerning Peru.
