AÂ rally to raise awareness of the Sean Goldman case and Brazil's lack of compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction will be held this Saturday, March 14, in Lafayette Park, directly across from the White House, from 2 to 5 pm.
American David Goldman has been fighting for the return of his American-born son, Sean, ever since June 2004, when the four-year-old boy was abducted by his mother to her native Brazil from their New Jersey home.
Sean's mother tragically passed away this past August, leaving David as the only rightful and biological parent. The Brazilian courts, however, awarded custody of Sean to his mother's new husband, without even notifying David of the mother's death.
David has waged a tireless effort to bring Sean home to the US. Most people – with the exception of some Brazilians – seem to agree that t he retention of Sean in Brazil, which has deprived father and son of their life together, needs to end.
An even louder Brazilian-American chorus is clamoring that the Brazilian government needs to honor its obligations under the Hague Convention and accept its responsibility as a Hague-signatory country and do the right thing by sending Sean home to his father.
Sean, who is now almost 9 years of age, is just one of over 60 American children who are currently being retained in Brazil in the same circumstances.
People are being invited to join the many friends of Bring Sean Home to show support for David and all the other left-behind parents who are victims of international parental child abduction.
"According to the US Department of State's Office of Children's Issues and the US Embassy in Brazil, the United States is working closely with the Brazilian Central Authority to pursue Sean's return under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction," said President Barack Obama.
Echoing the same message, Congressman Chris Smith, from the state of New Jersey, declared: "Not returning custody to Goldman is a violation of an international treaty."
The United States House of Representatives voted on March 11 to approve House Resolution 125 calling on Brazil to fulfill its treaty obligations under the Hague Convention and immediately return Sean Goldman to his father in the United States. The vote was unanimous.
Obama, will be meeting with Brazil's President Lula at the White House, and the Sean Goldman case is slated to be high on the agenda.
Service:
Website: http://www.BringSeanHome.org
