Office of Children's Issues
Encyclopedia
The Office of Children's Issues is an agency of the Bureau of Consular Affairs
, which in turn is part of the US Department of State. The Office of Children’s Issues was created in 1994 under the leadership of Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs
Mary Ryan
and that of her successor Maura Harty
. The Office of Children's Issues develops and coordinates policies and programs related to international child abduction
. In this respect, it is the US Central Authority
under the terms of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
and the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption
.
With respect to international adoptions, the agency coordinates policy and provides potential parents with information on international adoption. It does not intervene on behalf of individuals in foreign courts because, as it claims, adoption is an issue of judicial sovereignty within the country where the child resides. However, it is able to offer general information and help with regard to the adoption process in over 60 countries.
with respect to the Hague Abduction Convention, the Office is responsible for taking action in cases involving international child abduction
. The Office also provides information in response to inquiries about international child abduction, visitation rights and abduction prevention techniques. Like other Central Authorities around the world, it's responsible for working closely with other agencies and Central Authorities to ensure the speedy return of children under the Hague Convention.
The Office of Children's Issues and the broader US State Department has received sustained criticism by parents of children abducted to and from the US and the lawyers who represent them for failing to treat international child abduction as a human rights
issue rather than a diplomatic irritant, and taking a non-partisan, impartial role rather than effectively advocating for victimized parents and abducted children.
, U.S. courts, law enforcement authorities, family law attorneys or the general public about the gross noncompliance of foreign countries in adhering to the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, Congress enacted an annual reporting requirement obligating the State Department to publish a detailed annual report on the reliability and effectiveness of the Convention in protecting and securing the return of abducted American children in foreign countries. It was hoped that the law would make available a unique and vitally important source of information to parents, courts, governments and attorneys worldwide.
The Compliance Reports have been issued for each year since 1999 with years 2002 and 2003 combined in a single report.
, the mother of daughters abducted to Saudi Arabia
, characterized her interactions with the State Department and Office of Children's Issues as demonstrating “indifference bordering on hostility,” Dismissing the Office as “merely another data collecting, do-nothing, play-dead-at-the-wheel section of the federal government." Maureen Dabbagh, mother of a daughter abducted to Syria
, used the Freedom of Information Act to acquire her OCI files and was shocked by “page after page of slanderous, insulting comments made about me and comments trivializing my case.”
In 2003, Joel Mowbray, the journalist credited with exposing the still running "Visa Express
" program of the US State Department long after it allowed the entry of at least 15 of the 18 hijackers of 9/11 wrote the book "Dangerous Diplomacy" on the role and culture of the US State Department. Mowbray's second chapter in "Dangerous Diplomacy", titled "Cold Shoulder: State's Smallest Victim's", is dedicated to an analysis of the assistance provided to American parents left in the wake of an international child abduction. It describes State's overriding desire to appease foreign governments and maintain "good relations" as having a conflict of interest between their responsibility to internationally abducted children as the designated United States Central Authority under the Hague Convention. This inherent conflict of interest between the two roles is magnified by what the book defines as the "culture of state", a culture characterized by extreme moral relativism, valuing process over substance and misplaced priorities that reward failures by promotions or high paying jobs "consulting" for the foreign government of the country that they'd previously been paid to advocate America's interests in.
A 2009 US Department of Justice press release reported nine US State Department employees, including at least one Citizens Services Specialist in the Office of Children's Issues, admitted to illegally accessing the passport applications of celebrities and viewing extensive personal information in their applications in violation of the Privacy Act of 1974
. The same act that is extensively cited to deny victim parents access to information on their internationally abducted children.
Bureau of Consular Affairs
The Bureau of Consular Affairs is a bureau of the United States Department of State within that department's management office. The mission of the Bureau is to administer laws, formulate regulations and implement policies relating to the broad range of consular services and immigration. , the...
, which in turn is part of the US Department of State. The Office of Children’s Issues was created in 1994 under the leadership of Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs
Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs
The Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Consular Affairs within the United States Department of State. The Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs reports to the Under Secretary of State for Management...
Mary Ryan
Mary A. Ryan
Mary A. Ryan is a retired United States career diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Swaziland from 1988 to 1990 and as Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs from 1993 to 2002.-Biography:...
and that of her successor Maura Harty
Maura Harty
Maura Ann Harty was United States Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs, from November 21, 2002 to February 29, 2008. She was a career member of the senior Foreign Service. She currently serves as the President and CEO of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Make a Wish Foundation.Harty is...
. The Office of Children's Issues develops and coordinates policies and programs related to international child abduction
International child abduction
The term international child abduction is generally synonymous with international parental kidnapping, child snatching, and child stealing. However, the more precise legal usage of international child abduction originates in private international law and refers to the illegal removal of children...
. In this respect, it is the US Central Authority
Central Authority
A Central Authority is an agency or organization that is designated to play a key facilitating role in the implementation and operation of an international treaty in private international law....
under the terms of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, or Hague Abduction Convention is a multilateral treaty developed by the Hague Conference on Private International Law that provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally abducted from one member nation to...
and the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption
Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption
The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption is an international convention dealing with international adoption, child laundering, and child trafficking...
.
With respect to international adoptions, the agency coordinates policy and provides potential parents with information on international adoption. It does not intervene on behalf of individuals in foreign courts because, as it claims, adoption is an issue of judicial sovereignty within the country where the child resides. However, it is able to offer general information and help with regard to the adoption process in over 60 countries.
International child abduction
In its role as the United States' Central AuthorityCentral Authority
A Central Authority is an agency or organization that is designated to play a key facilitating role in the implementation and operation of an international treaty in private international law....
with respect to the Hague Abduction Convention, the Office is responsible for taking action in cases involving international child abduction
International child abduction
The term international child abduction is generally synonymous with international parental kidnapping, child snatching, and child stealing. However, the more precise legal usage of international child abduction originates in private international law and refers to the illegal removal of children...
. The Office also provides information in response to inquiries about international child abduction, visitation rights and abduction prevention techniques. Like other Central Authorities around the world, it's responsible for working closely with other agencies and Central Authorities to ensure the speedy return of children under the Hague Convention.
The Office of Children's Issues and the broader US State Department has received sustained criticism by parents of children abducted to and from the US and the lawyers who represent them for failing to treat international child abduction as a human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
issue rather than a diplomatic irritant, and taking a non-partisan, impartial role rather than effectively advocating for victimized parents and abducted children.
Compliance Reports
In recognition of the fact that the US State Department would not voluntarily inform CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, U.S. courts, law enforcement authorities, family law attorneys or the general public about the gross noncompliance of foreign countries in adhering to the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, Congress enacted an annual reporting requirement obligating the State Department to publish a detailed annual report on the reliability and effectiveness of the Convention in protecting and securing the return of abducted American children in foreign countries. It was hoped that the law would make available a unique and vitally important source of information to parents, courts, governments and attorneys worldwide.
The Compliance Reports have been issued for each year since 1999 with years 2002 and 2003 combined in a single report.
Controversies
In 2002 parents of internationally abducted children characterized the Office of Children's of allowing “clientitis,” or deference to foreign leaders and laws, to trump OCI’s vigilant pursuit of the interests of U.S. citizens. Patricia RoushPatricia Roush
Patricia 'Pat' Roush is an American activist who has pioneered the issue of international child abduction and has been at the forefront of this issue as it relates to Saudi Arabia.-Background:...
, the mother of daughters abducted to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, characterized her interactions with the State Department and Office of Children's Issues as demonstrating “indifference bordering on hostility,” Dismissing the Office as “merely another data collecting, do-nothing, play-dead-at-the-wheel section of the federal government." Maureen Dabbagh, mother of a daughter abducted to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, used the Freedom of Information Act to acquire her OCI files and was shocked by “page after page of slanderous, insulting comments made about me and comments trivializing my case.”
In 2003, Joel Mowbray, the journalist credited with exposing the still running "Visa Express
Visa Express
The Visa Express program was a U.S. State Department program that allowed residents of Saudi Arabia to enter the U.S. without proving their identities. It became controversial when some of the 9/11 hijackers used this program to gain entry into the country, and the program was eventually shut...
" program of the US State Department long after it allowed the entry of at least 15 of the 18 hijackers of 9/11 wrote the book "Dangerous Diplomacy" on the role and culture of the US State Department. Mowbray's second chapter in "Dangerous Diplomacy", titled "Cold Shoulder: State's Smallest Victim's", is dedicated to an analysis of the assistance provided to American parents left in the wake of an international child abduction. It describes State's overriding desire to appease foreign governments and maintain "good relations" as having a conflict of interest between their responsibility to internationally abducted children as the designated United States Central Authority under the Hague Convention. This inherent conflict of interest between the two roles is magnified by what the book defines as the "culture of state", a culture characterized by extreme moral relativism, valuing process over substance and misplaced priorities that reward failures by promotions or high paying jobs "consulting" for the foreign government of the country that they'd previously been paid to advocate America's interests in.
A 2009 US Department of Justice press release reported nine US State Department employees, including at least one Citizens Services Specialist in the Office of Children's Issues, admitted to illegally accessing the passport applications of celebrities and viewing extensive personal information in their applications in violation of the Privacy Act of 1974
Privacy Act of 1974
The Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, Public Law No. 93-579, establishes a Code of Fair Information Practice that governs the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of personally identifiable information about individuals that is maintained in systems of records by federal agencies...
. The same act that is extensively cited to deny victim parents access to information on their internationally abducted children.
See Also
- International child abductionInternational child abductionThe term international child abduction is generally synonymous with international parental kidnapping, child snatching, and child stealing. However, the more precise legal usage of international child abduction originates in private international law and refers to the illegal removal of children...
- International child abduction in the United StatesInternational child abduction in the United StatesAs a result of its high level of immigration and emigration and its status as common source and destination for a large amount of international travel the United States has more incoming and outgoing international child abductions per year than any other country...
- International child abduction in BrazilInternational child abduction in BrazilInternational child abduction in Brazil comprises cases in which the removal of a child by one of the joint holders of custody or non-custodial or contested parents to Brazil in contravention of other laws of other countries and/or the desires of other custody claimaints...
- International child abduction in Japan
- International child abduction in MexicoInternational child abduction in MexicoMexico is amongst the world's most popular sources and destinations for international child abduction while also being widely regarded as having one of the least effective systems of protecting and returning internationally abducted children within its borders....
- Special Advisor for International Children's IssuesSpecial Advisor for International Children's IssuesThe Special Advisor for International Children's Issues is a foreign policy position created by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and announced on July 1, 2010. Susan S...