The United Nations

On Friday, September 14th, 2012 I had the great privilege on behalf of the I CARE Foundation to extensively speak at and participate in the U.S. Department of State's sponsored 'International Visitor Leadership Program' held at the United States Mission to the United Nations in conjunction with the United Nations to discuss the work and research the not-for-profit I CARE  Foundation has been conducting in the area of international parental child abduction prevention (IPCA).



U.S. Department of State

Unquestionably, the initiative by the U.S. Department of State to connect global government leaders with non-government organizations such as the I CARE Foundation to discuss the challenges and potential solutions of IPCA demonstrates a pro-active, solution oriented approach to combating child abduction and trafficking by private and public sector leaders.    

As the Founding Director of the I CARE Foundation, it is with deep pride to continue to see the I CARE Foundation recognized by our global leaders as a preeminent organization actively at the battle-front against the pandemic of international child abduction.  On a personal note, my participation in the International Visitor Leadership Program was deeply satisfying.  You see, six years ago, when I first found myself Chasing The Cyclone of international child abduction, I had made a promise to make a difference so other families would not have to race into the nightmare of abduction.  

Peter Thomas Senese

I am equally committed to that promise today as I was when I first made it six years ago. Along the way, we have created more than a few miracles. 



The I CARE Foundation



The I CARE Foundation's ongoing ground-breaking, critical research in the area of international parental child abduction has shed light onto many areas and issues associated with international child kidnapping.  Our legislative and policy modification initiatives have had a sizable positive impact on preventing abduciton.  Our dedication to assisting children of abduction has led to the rescue and reunification of many internationally abducted children while also successfully preventing the abduction of many other children.  And our public outreach to educate society, particularly potential targeted parents, has led to the prevention of numerous child kidnappings. Our commitment to build a national and global attorney network of highly qualified lawyers dedicated to assisting at-risk children of kidnapping continues to be highly received by the legal community, and perhaps most of all, our ability to make a difference for others continues to expand and reflect our deep commitment to helping others. 

International Visitor Leadership Program

The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) is the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program.  Launched in 1940, the IVLP is a professional exchange program that seeks to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other nations through carefully designed short-term visits to the U.S. for current and emerging foreign leaders.  These visits reflect the International Visitors’ professional interests and 

support the foreign policy goals of the United States. 

International visitors are selected and nominated annually by American Foreign Service Officers at U.S. Embassies around the world. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs funds and administers the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).

  

During our specific conference, discussion took place that evolved around the simple question 'How can we as a global society help stop the pandemic of international parental child abduction?' 

A few things stood out immediately.  This included:

1. Unquestionable realization that IPCA is a severe form of child abuse; and,

2. The vast majority of abductions are well schemed plans against a targeted parent; and,

3. Targeted children and parents of abduction face severe hardship; ,and, 

4. Abducting parents utilize the existing legal system to draw out court proceedings; and, 

5. The longer a court proceeding takes, the more difficult it is for a child to be returned; and, 

6. Litigation must focus on narrow focus of jurisdiction established by the Hague Convention; and,

7. IPCA is growing worldwide at an alarming rate; and,

8. IPCA causes severe emotional and financial devastation to all connected to it; and,

9. The economic cost of IPCA on the global market over the next decade will be many tens of billions of dollars.

10. New research and studies similiar to the I CARE Foundation's work must continue, and, utilizing the research findings to initiative new laws and government policies are critical to protecting children.

Chris Morris, Eugene Pothy & Peter Thomas Senese

As our conference unfolded, it was with awe that I listened to my friends Christopher Morris and Bryan Mooney, both parents who had children internationally abducted under the rules of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, discuss the severe challenges they have each faced respectively over the past two and three years trying to reunite with their children. 

As I listened to each of these dedicated, loving parents discuss portions of their cases (which I am very familiar with), I could not help but wonder if their children will ever really know how much their fathers love them.  It is my hope that these children of abduction do, because the love Chris and Bryan have for their children has led them to do whatever possible to reunite with their children. 

                                               Dedicated Parent Bryan Mooney and His Children

Both Chris and Bryan's stories of well-schemed child abduction by their childrens' other parent re-enforced the notion that it was necessary for judges to expedite international child abduction cases, and settle the issue of which country has the right of jurisdiction of a child.  

Chris and Bryan's point was made very clear when it was shared that collectively, they have spent over U.S. $300,000.00 between the two of them thus far trying to bring their abducted children home, and their protracted litigation is far from over. 

Critically, Chris and Bryan's conveyance that the spirit of the Hague Convention to be expedited was made to all. 

Eugene Pothy Reuniting With His Son After 9 Years

I was also very happy to hear my dear friend Eugene Pothy, who miraculously was reunited with his abducted child taken to the Ivory Coast and illegally detained for nearly 9 years, speak about the mental and spiritual hardship of abduction of children. Eugene's points of view reinforced Chris and Bryan's point of view that IPCA litigation must be expedited by the courts.

Fortunately, our conference was the right forum to share our view. And the message was heard.

Another very important issue that was discussed revolved around abduction prevention.  Specifically, it became clear that certain countries, for example, Turkey, have the ability of preventing abductions from occurring (736 total IPCA cases under the Hague over the past 10 years) by citizens who possess a right of Turkish citizenship because Turkish judges have the ability of preventing a high-risk child abducting parent from departing the country by all means of departure.  

In contrast, the United States only has the ability to stop a high-risk child abductor from departing the country if that individual is not a U.S. citizen. Thus, individuals who possess duel citizenship in the U.S. and who are determined to be high-risk parental child abductors have limited security screen to prevent them from illegally removing their child from the country.

As some of you may know, members of the I CARE Foundation's board of directors, including Carolyn Vlk and myself worked very hard to have the Department of State disseminate the Department of Homeland Securities' 'Prevent Departure Program' as a tool to be used to help prevent abduction. However, the problem with the Prevent Departure Program is that it only applies to non-U.S. citizens. Thus, the I CARE Foundation's efforts to modify the Prevent Departure Program to include a secure screening list for high-risk child abductors possessing a right of U.S. citizenship appear to be critical to protecting children.

Another I CARE Foundation measure that was discussed and warmly embraced was our initiatives to require all individuals entering into or departing the United States, regardless if they travel by land, sea, or air, to present a current and valid passport.

Overall, the day was very meaningful as a great deal of information was exchanged that inevitably will help protect defenseless children.  It was indeed a great privilege to have been asked by the United States Department of State to participate in such a highly esteemed program to a humbling experience to know that the I CARE Foundation's work is respected around the world.

There is no question that it was yet another day of progress to protect children from abduction.

As for the International Visitor Leadership Program, the IVLP has a luminary list of esteemed participants include:

Afghanistan: President Hamid Karzai (1987)
 Austria: President Heinz Fischer (1964)
 Belgium: Prime Minister Yves Leterme (2002)
 Bhutan: Prime Minister Lyonpo Jigme Yoser Thinley (1987)
 Brazil: President Dilma Rousseff (1992)
 Croatia: President Ivo Josipović (2002)
 Croatia: Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic (1996)
 Czech Republic: Prime Minister Petr Nečas (1994 and 1999)
 Denmark: Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (1989)
 Dominica: President Nicholas Joseph Orville Liverpool (1985)
 Finland: President Sauli Niinistö (1992)
 Finland: Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen (2003)
 France: Prime Minister François Fillon (1984)
 France: President Nicolas Sarkozy (1985)
 Georgia: President Mikheil Saakashvili (1997 and 1999)
 Germany: President Joachim Gauck (1993)
 Grenada: Prime Minister Tillman Thomas (1986)
 Guinea: President Alpha Condé (1962)
 India: President Pratibha Devisingh Patil (1968)
 Ireland: Prime Minister Enda Kenny (1989)
 Kenya: President Mwai Kibaki (1961 and 1999)
 Lithuania: President Dalia Grybauskaitė (1994)
 Macedonia: Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski (2000)
 Malawi: President Joyce Banda (1989)
 Malta: Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi (1990)
 Mauritius: President Anerood Jugnauth (1981)
 Mauritius: Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam (1986)
 Mexico: President Felipe De Jesús Calderón Hinojosa (1992)
 Moldova: President Nicolae Timofti (2005)
 Montenegro: Prime Minister Igor Lukšić (1999)
 Mozambique: President Armando Emílio Guebuza (1987)
 Namibia: Prime Minister Nahas Gideon Angula (1996)
 Norway: Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg (1988)
 Poland: President Bronisław Komorowski (2006)
 Poland: Prime Minister Donald Franciszek Tusk (1993)
 Portugal: President Aníbal Cavaco Silva (1978)
 Slovakia: Prime Minister Robert Fico (1990)
 Slovenia: Prime Minister Borut Pahor (1991)
 Sri Lanka: President Mahinda Rajapakse (1989)
 St. Kitts and Nevis: Prime Minister Denzil Llewellyn Douglas (1990)
 St. Lucia: Prime Minister Stephenson King (1985)
 Sweden: Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt (2002)
 Taiwan: President Ma Ying-Jeou (1971 and 2003)
 Togo: President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé (2001)
 Trinidad and Tobago: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar (1998)
 Trinidad and Tobago: President George Maxwell Richards (1986)
 Turkey: President Abdullah Gül (1995)
 Zimbabwe: Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (1989)
 Macedonia: President Gjorge Ivanov (1999)

In leaving the United States Mission to the United Nations, I left reaffirming once again my commitment to helping defenseless children of abduction and their targeted parents.

CLUELESS IN AMERICA: The Truth About Child Abduction Statistics In The United States (and elsewhere): They Make No Sense!

This article is based upon an exerpt published in Carolyn Vlk and Peter Senese's landmark research report on international parental child abduction rates in the United States titled 'Crisis In America: International Parental Child Abduction Today'. As the report demonstrates, international parental child abduction is an incredibly misunderstood and miscalculated phenomenon that will continue to rapidly spread due to global migratory populations and cross-cultural marriages. Alarmingly, the data that is often used and cited as U.S. government researched statistics is utterly and remarkably flawed, and has no place to be included in any discussion concerning either domestic or international child abduction. This excerpt provided below demonstrates the significance of the problem at hand. Clearly, without proper research and accurate statistics, targeted children and targeted parents of child abduction will continue to be at heavy risk

It is believed that United States children-citizens are being criminally abducted, illegally removed overseas, and wrongfully detained in foreign countries in shocking and seemingly advancing and unprecedented numbers. This despite U.S. court orders prohibiting their removal and/or demanding for their immediate return.


Remarkably, the necessary data required to accurately measure the total number of international parental child abductions (IPCA) does not exist due to the inability to measure what is believed to be a large number of ‘unreported’ cases, which is discussed in this report later on. Therefore due to the inability to measure ‘unreported’ cases, much of what has been previously reported in government and reputable organizations’ studies or statements should be considered as speculation due in part to the inability to measure ‘unreported’ cases, as well as forecasted numbers derived from immeasurable and highly questionable determining methodologies. The only measurable statistics are the number of cases reported to law enforcement and to The Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues (OCI).


QUESTIONABLE DATA AND PREVIOUS RESEARCH

The content of this report includes statistics from the two most current published annual reports which are dated April 2009 and April 2010 and titled Report on Compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs, Janice L Jacobs reports that during fiscal year 2009, the Office of Children's Issues experienced a significant increase in the number of reported international kidnapping cases. The 2010 report indicates that we can anticipate the current trends previously seen with respect to the increase in international parental child abductions to continue. In fact, the number of International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) cases has nearly doubled since the fiscal year 2006 from 64 to 1,135.


Carolyn Ann Vlk, the writer of Florida's Child Abduction Prevention Act, explains, "In response to a mandate of the 1984 Missing Children Act, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJPD) publishes periodic studies titled the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART). The NISMART publications are meant to identify the numbers of children who are reported missing and the number of children recovered in a particular year. These bulletins consist of comprehensive studies with an emphasis on examining trends in the incidence of missing children."


The NISMART I study (utilizing data from 1988 and published in 1990) reported that there were an estimated 354,100 family abductions annually. In order to derive data for that study in regards to the number of children that are victims of a family abduction each year a household telephone survey was conducted. The survey included a total of 10,367 interviews with adult caretakers. The Population Estimates Program of the Population Division U.S. Census Bureau estimated the U.S. population at 244,498,982 in 1988. To clarify, a sampling of telephone interviews from 0.0000413% of the U.S. population was utilized to provide the statistical data that is widely accepted as being an accurate accounting of the numbers of annual family abductions.


The NISMART - 2 study, which utilized data from 1999 and was published in 2002, reported that there were 203,900 family abductions annually. This study also utilized a household telephone survey and completed interviews with 16,111 adult caretakers. Additionally, this study surveyed 5,015 youth ages 10-18 who lived in the sample households. During the study year the estimated U.S. population was 272,690,813, thus reflecting completed interviews of 0.000059% of the U.S. adult population. Once again, a small fraction of the U.S. population was interviewed as the only method of determining the annual numbers of family abductions. Critically, and troublesome is the fact that the NISMART studies did not derive any of the data relating to family abductions from law enforcement or other governmental agencies. Data was entirely compiled from random computer-assisted telephone interviewing methodology. Neither study conducted a second survey.


According to the NISMART - 2 study that used data from 1999, only 28% of the 203,900 estimated abductions by family members or 56,500 abductions were reported by law enforcement. This illustrates a great reluctance by individuals to come forward and report their cases.


Now consider that an assortment of generally accepted reports or statements from leading authorities including The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). On April 22, 2002 NCMEC stated in a press release the following, “In an effort to educate the public and to provide more services to victims, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has released a new publication entitled Family Abduction: Prevention and Response and has recently formed a group for adults who were victims of family abduction as children. A commonly misunderstood and complex issue, best estimates indicate that there are 354,000 domestic and 16,000 international family abductions per year.”


We are unable to ascertain where NCMEC determined their 16,000 international child abductions per year. What we do know is that according to the Department of State, in several of their published statements, that there were approximately 16,000 international parental child abductions over a two-decade long period. What these inconsistencies demonstrate is a lack of data. Unknown is whether the NCMEC statement included an estimate of ‘unreported’ cases or perhaps was an error as the same ‘16,000’ yearly number is identical to the Department of State’s ’16,000’ two decade number.

Peter Thomas Senese is the author of the upcoming book titled ‘Chasing The Cyclone’ which critics have praised as an extraordinary story on international parental child abduction, love, and parenting. He stated, “Criminal parental cross-border abduction appears to be increasing in the United States and abroad at significant rates despite the fact that there is not enough accurate data required to establish growth trends in cross-border abductions. The rise of abduction in our country as well as that seen in other nations indicates that we have a global pandemic on our hands. And as more children from different nations are stolen and not returned, including our own children, citizens will inevitably voice their growing anger over the fact that their nation’s children-citizens have been abducted. The stealing of children across international borders can, and very well will inevitably create grave challenges for all nations who sit at the world’s political and economic tables."


The report 'CRISIS IN AMERICA: International Parental Child Abduction Today' researched and published by Peter Senese and Carolyn Vlk unequivocally demonstrates that new, carefully constructed research initiated by our government is immediately needed, and that the number of international parental child abductions is increasing despite efforts to stop this terrible act directed at our children-citizens.

As Senese and Vlk's report indicate, the data used and ALWAYS cited by those involved in child abduction issues are completely flawed. One of the greatest concerns that the authors express in their report is the extraordinary increases of population growth due to migratory population movement. Additionally, there are increased concerns related to abdution due to multicultural marriages or partnerships. What is clear is this: as often as we cite various statistics, some of which are indeed measuarble such as the number of reported cases to the Department of State's Office Of Children's Issues, the fact is we really do not know how many abductions are occurring because of the anticipated large number of unreported cases that exist. And as for the NISMART and NISMART II studies, the methods and technics of these surveys are highly questionabl.