International Family Law News & Analysis

Clinton urges Japan to act on child abductions

Like most such stories this oversimplifies a couple things in the interests of reporting the biggest, most relevant truths, which is about as good as news reporting gets. Caveats: It's usually, but not always, the foreign and male parents who are denied contact with their children. And while the Hague Convention would not get children returned if they were abducted before Japan ratifies it, it does provide for regular visitation arrangements even in those cases.

Clinton urges Japan to take action on child abduction issue

Japan Today 12/20/11 - via Kevin Brown of Children First Japan

And here, via Patrick Braden of Global Future, is video of Secretary Clinton's remarks - they don't include a lot of detail on this but she does mention that existing abduction cases, too, need to be remedied. You can skip to that part by hitting play then tracing your mouse along the timing bar and clicking at 6:00.

 

Afghan rape victim jailed for adultery, pardoned & freed by Karzai

via Global Justice Initiative:

Afghan Woman Is Pardoned and Freed After Rape Report Put Her in Prison for Adultery

ABA Journal Dec 14, 2011 - By Debra Cassens Weiss

 

Secret international sperm donor/Alabama politician wants to "be around for these children" in New Zealand

As my old friend Franklin Harris said, "Republicans just can't have normal scandals. Everything's got to be like a screwball comedy plot." I'm not sure if this is a real scandal since he's never been an or elected official, just a former candidate, staffer and appointee, but other than that, it's a good one. The guy's been moonlighting as a freelance sperm donor in New Zealand.

... he had just finished dining with one of the women he impregnated. He said he was unable to have children with his wife ... and that the urge to become a biological father was “a need that I have.”

... "I've been trying to get my wife over here, my family over here ... so I can be around for these children," ... .

Full story on Yahoo! News and a less full version but with more vocabulary learning opportunities titled "Alabama Rethuglican gets NZ lezzies preggers"

Sec. Clinton: ‘Gay Rights Are Human Rights, and Human Rights Are Gay Rights’

Sec. Clinton To UN: ‘Gay Rights Are Human Rights, And Human Rights Are Gay Rights’

Excerpts:

"In reality, gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world ... all races, all faiths; they are doctors and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes, and whether we know it or whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends and our neighbors. ... gay people belong to every society in the world…. Being gay is not a Western invention, it is a human reality.”

 

"Clinton’s address builds on a memorandum President Obama issued earlier today directing all agencies to “promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons. ... the administration is launching a $3 million global equality fund to support the work of civil society organizations working on these issues around the world."

 

Villagers beat, tar & shear divorced couple for exploring reconciliation

Bengladesh: Divorced couple tortured for meeting each other - Daily Star (Dhaka)

 

Va. upholds approval of child relocation to Japan, child compares family to "screaming monkeys"

Fairfax, Va. lawyer Olivier Long's essay on the recent Gudino case, and the opinion itself, provide a fascinating look into how American courts decide custody cases, and review them on appeal. These loud, violent, mentally disturbed parents faced off in court and the father came off looking better. The best of many choice quotations is probably one from one of the children: "whereas she felt like she lived with 18 screaming monkeys at her mother’s house, at father’s 'we are just three screaming monkeys.'”