Opinio Juris

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is an international treaty that governs the return of children from member nations. Significantly, Egypt is not a signatory to the Hague Convention. Consequently, there is no standard legal or diplomatic mechanism for securing [A.S.]'s return should Samer remove her to Egypt. Once [A.S.] is in Egypt, her relationship with her mother would be governed by Islamic law. Islamic law does not recognize a civil divorce granted to a female. After the issuance of this Decree of Dissolution, Sheanin will remain, in the eyes of the Egyptian authorities, the wife of Samer. In Egypt, he will maintain absolute control over her ability to see her child, or even to leave the country once she enters. [A.S.] could not leave the country without his permission until she is 21. Effectively, if Samer follows through on his threats to remove the child to Egypt, all future contact between [A.S.] and her mother will cease. The government of Egypt considers all children born to Egyptian fathers to be citizens of Egypt. Thus, [A.S.] is a dual citizen of the United States and Egypt. [A.S.] may travel on her father's passport, as long as he provides proof that he is her father. She may also travel on the passport of a male relative. (Samer's brother is an Egyptian citizen.) During an unsupervised visit, it would not be difficult to remove [A.S.] to Egypt.

My Sister was abducted almost fourteen yrs ago, she still has not been recovered. If the court system had protected my sister as they are with this child, I would have gotten to know my sister instead of wondering is she alright, is she even alive. (link)

I still live in fear each day, but as my son gets older, little by little it gets better. But the past 4 years have been a nightmare - wondering each week if something would happen. My son's mother is dual American-Russian citizen and she has had a long term relationship with a man from another country. Mine is a case of the non-custodial parent (me) worried that the custodial mother will abduct. I received not a thread of sympathy in my local court. I tried protecting my son's passport, but the court gave it to the mother. Soon after, it expired, and I will not sign for another. But I was notified by the State Department a month ago, that she has fraudulently applied for one for him by lying saying she has sole custody. (link)

Read more ... about Adam Haseeb—in his memory.... He is my son who is now deceased. I blame the abduction—and how the State Department handled this case on his death.... Back in the year 2000 I was not notified that his father had obtained a passport on Adam and then while we were still fighting for custody he abducted four year old Adam to Syria. Hakeem Haseeb (Was a U.S. citizen—converted to ISLAM) and had no relatives in Syria.... Adam Haseeb, R.I.P. (November 9, 1995 - March 10, 2004) (link)

My ex-wife obtained passports for my sons Adam and Jason from Dept.of State in 2001. She had no legal custody, and was already on court-ordered supervised visitations because of child abuse. She received a single week 'unsupervised' in August 2001, and we have not seen my sons since that day. American born, but with a father born in Egypt her mother assisted her to flee there as she had duel citizenship through him. (link)

My child was abducted to Saudi Arabia in 1997 and remains there to this day. Neither the FBI, the State Department, the US Congress, not the Saudi Government have done anything to repatriate my daughter. The abductor, her non-custodial father, had several of the risk factors mentioned in the ABA Manual. Despite the fact that the judge in my case was well aware of the risk factors, he imposed no supervision on my ex-husband. The result has been 10 years of heartache for my family and me, as well as my kidnapped daughter.... Shame on the judicial system that allows this to happen again and again to the most innocen among us! (link)

My ex-wife abducted my children, Takara (then 10) and Manami (then 7), from Vancouver, B.C. to Japan in November 2004. I had sole custody and guardianship of the children by Order of the Supreme Court of British Columbia but, in keeping with Mr. Alford's concerns about children being able to maintain strong relationships with both parents (and their extended families), I decided that it was in Takara and Manami's best interest to visit their grandparents in Japan with their mother. I was wrong. Despite having exhausted all legal avenues within Japan, I have not seen my children for over 2 years.... (link)