Romanian Children Denied Loving Homes

Comments from Z: Although I agree with most of what Bell says in this opinion piece, she should have mentioned that she recently hosted a fundraiser for her organization at the Romanian Embassy in D.C. and obviously enjoys a very nice relationship with Ambassador Ducaru and other Embassy staff. I know of innumerable NGO's in Romania who are currently being harrassed by the local and executive Romanian government and do not receive the support that she is receiving - not to mention other the harassment others like Bruce Thomas are continuing to endure for speaking out about the abuse of abandoned children. Additionally, I know of several organizations that also work with street children in Bucharest, as she does, and other major cities, who frequently complain that the Romanian government continues to stonewall and make it next to impossible for them to obtain birth certificates for the street children they work with. This means the children cannot go to school or receive medical care.

May 18, 2006
by Mary Ann Bell

It is the job of a journalist to look under rocks and show the world what the world would rather not see. Starving, disabled children tied to orphanage beds in Romanian institutions is right up there with things we would all rather not see. But as long as even one neglected and abused child exists in conditions like that shown by ABC’s Nightline (in a program that aired on Wednesday, May 10th), it is one too many--and we cannot look away.

Sensational stories boost ratings and sometimes save lives. But if the goal of this exposé was to bring about change for disabled orphans in St. Pantelimon, these journalists should have quenched their thirst a little for scandal and been willing to show the good in Romania today as well as decry the evil.

And the question should have been asked: why did Mental Disability Rights International, the organization that investigated these conditions, wait for months after the facility in Braila had been closed and the children moved into improved conditions before they released their report, only days before the European Union was to issue its decision on membership? As a May 11 article in the Washington Post observed, it was aimed at giving ammunition to people seeking to delay that membership. Why now? Wouldn’t Romania’s efforts to care for its abandoned children be enhanced by participation in the world community? This story was all stick and no carrot.

Clearly Romania must be forthcoming with the investigation they have instituted, admit their responsibility, and finally make changes based solely on the good of the children. But this tragedy has enough guilt to go around. Under pressure from the EU, Romania imposed a moratorium and then a ban on international adoptions. Baroness Emma Nicholson, the EU ‘coach’ for Romania’s accession, equates foreign adoption with child trafficking. She has made it her stated goal in life to end international adoption for Romanian orphans because she believes that children are better off in institutions than homes outside their native culture. Tell that to the children of St. Pantelimon or the 1,100 so-called ‘pipeline’ children of Romania who were in the process of being adopted when the Baroness managed to drop an iron curtain on their only hope for a family.

Bureaucrats in Brussels who had never spent a day in the shoes of a Romanian orphan also pushed the Romanian government to pass flawed laws that put children in the ‘night and fog’ of a loveless foster care system or that reintroduced them back into potentially abusive ‘natural’ families that had abandoned them years before. These ‘enlightened’ laws were meant to appease the EU and win acceptance. That the EU should make such demands is appalling, according to Senator Sam Brownback, but that Romania accepts such orders is equally troubling.
The rest of the truth is that there are concerned people in the Romanian government who are working for change and assisting grassroots organizations like ours that work at the local level rescuing handicapped children. The Child Protection Department in the Romanian city of Arad partners with organizations like ours to ensure better care for the children. The city of Arad donated land for our special education school, appropriately called "Sunshine School," where the sounds of silence and hopelessness have been replaced by the sounds of laughter. These children are not tied to a bed - they walk, or roll in a wheelchair, into a beautiful classroom everyday and receive special education and care that rivals that of the best schools in the U.S. We welcome the cameras to come and see the good that is happening in Romania.

Sunshine School is entirely run and led by dedicated and trained Romanian teachers and administrators who care about abandoned children with disabilities. The school represents what can and is being done when government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), churches, and professionals come together to bring about change.

Romanian Ambassador Sorin Ducaru has used his voice on behalf of the most vulnerable. He has been a friend to American adoptive families, has hosted events, and has fostered cooperation between his government and U.S. NGOs. Mrs. Ducaru is going to lead a citywide Walk-a-Thon in Arad this fall to raise awareness and support for abandoned children with disabilities.

A nine-year old girl in Northern Virginia looked at the horrifying pictures in the Washington Post article with sober interest before she went off to school. Abandoned in Romania as an infant and suffering from cerebral palsy, she knew that could have been her. Instead she received loving care at a recuperative home called Darius House and attended Sunshine School. She then came to the U.S. for surgery and treatment that doesn’t often exist in poverty-stricken Romania. That was two years ago, and the family who loves her and who was moving through the adoption process when the ban was put in place is still waiting for the politicians to do what is right for her and all the other so-called “pipeline” children of Romania.

Emma Nicholson believes this handicapped child should go back to a Romanian institution for disabled children instead of being a beloved daughter of a family who has been trying to adopt her. It is time to stand up to such nonsense. It is time for Romania to lift the ban, to process the pipeline cases, and to hunt down and close any abusive institutions. And it’s time for everyone who was horrified by the sight of those suffering children on Nightline to lend their voices in aid of change.

Mary Ann Bell is the Executive Director of Romanian Christian Enterprises, an NGO working on behalf of abandoned children with special needs in Romania.

"PROBLEMS IN ROMANIA OBSERVED BY MENTAL DISABILITY RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL WHICH EXIST IRRESPECTIVE OF ANY SPECIFIC INSTITUTION." Part III

Numbers 56 and following are from pages 17 through 28.

56. Foster families will not take children even with mild disabilities that are no longer infants because they are "too old" to be placed in foster families (the age range was 3 years to 14 years making it hard to understand how they could be "too old" for placement in foster families). P.17 LEGAL PROBLEMS AND BUREAUCRACY; NOT ENOUGH FAMILIES TO FOSTER OR ADOPT.

57. When asked to define what constitutes a "severe disability" the authorities stated that the criteria were, for example, physical paralysis, inability to eat, not toilet trained. P.17. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ISSUES.

58. Some need specialized services which are not available. The child will be placed in an institution if services are not available in the community to meet his or her needs. P.17. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; POSSIBLE VIOLATION OF ROMANIAN LAW; VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.

59. Children found in institutions were actually younger than reported by the child protection officials. P.17. LYING, DENIAL, INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

60. Many of the children would have little or no disability except for the fact that of what has been caused by institutionalization. P.17. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

61. Despite the existence of psychologists, however, staff said that there were no programs to respond to the problems of self-abuse. P. 18. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

62. There is no program to teach toilet training skills. P.18. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

63. The unwarranted diminished expectations of staff for the children could easily be self-fulfilling. Newly refurbished buildings are likely, with age, to decay and look like the older buildings. But most important, the critical needs of these children are not being met. There are no consistent care-givers in their lives. They are growing up without a family with whom they can form a permanent emotional attachment. P.18. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

64. Group activities are established for the convenience of the staff rather than the needs of the children. P.18. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

65. The children in smaller institutions will likely become more developmentally delayed over time [simply because they are in an institution and not in a permanent family - A]. P.18. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

66. Romania's child protection system has included the establishment of 200 new institutions with 50 children or less. These are considered "smaller" institutions. However, they retain all of the harmful characteristics and results of larger facilities. P.19. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

67. There is a parallel process that explains the APPARENT decline in numbers of large facilities. Patients were re-classified into smaller "administrative units" without actually moving them. This was confirmed by a representative of the National Authority for Persons with Handicap. The same number of patients shared the building. P.1. LYING, DENIAL, INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

68. While smaller institutions may APPEAR to be an improvement, they do not provide the family environment that a child needs and deserves. P.19. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

69. Researchers have documented the damaging consequences of placing children in any institution. In addition to physical dangers, there are cognitive problems, severe emotional and behavioral disorders, a syndrome that mimics autism, sensory integration issues, speech and language delays, and deficiencies in physical growth. P.20. IGNORANCE OF IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

70. Children under the age of four who are in institutions are particularly vulnerable to psychological impairments. The psychological damage caused by institutionalization is likely to last a lifetime. P.20. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

71. The harmful emotional effects of growing up in an institution are linked with the child's need for close emotional attachments to a consistent care-giver. Thus placement even in a small institution may cause the same psychological damage as placement in a large facility. P.20. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ISSUES.

72. Even placement in a small group home can be similarly detrimental if staffing is not consistent and emotional bonds cannot be maintained over time. P.20. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ISSUES.

73. Nothing replaces a family in promoting normal development. We need to permanently end all institutional care for infants and young children. P.20. [Romania is not making much progress here.] IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ISSUES.

74. Dr. Dana Johnson, an expert on institutionalized children and adoption, says, "Putting a child in a long-term institution is an act of abuse." P.20. [Romania consistently violates this well-established principle via the current legislation and practice.] IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ISSUES.

75. Dr. Dana Johnson, an expert on institutionalized children says, "A few days [i.e., less than a week -- A] in an institution should be as long as children are asked to endure." P.21. LEGAL PROBLEM; IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ISSUES.

76. Before we were able to obtain any additional information on the ages and deaths of patients, the director of the facility had us involuntarily escorted out of the institution. P.23. DENIAL, LYING, INTEGRITY ISSUES.

77. A state secretary said, "We do not know why or on which bases people are kept in different institutions." p.23. BUREAUCRACY.

78. Promises have been made to make a plan that includes timetables for reform. The promised deadlines have come and gone. P.23. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; LYING, INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

79. Many times plans include simply re-naming of institutions. p.23. ANTICS WITH SEMANTICS; INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

80. A State Secretary confirmed that there are no plans and no funding to create any community-based services for people now living in institutions. p. 24. LEGAL PROBLEMS; BUREAUCRACY.

81. Despite the array of activities, Tariceanu's memorandum lacked details and did not consititute even the beginnings of a plan for reforming the service system. P.24. THEORY NOT PRACTICE.

82. There is little action to match the words of the Romanian authorities. Ironically, there are numerous plans for reform created by international experts. The problem is not a lack of plans - but the lack of a political will to implement real change. P.25. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; LAW DEFICIENCIES.

83. While admitting that they do not know about conditions in the system, ministry officials deny the existence of the problems they are facing. P.25. DENYING, LYING, INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

84. Promises of reform are NOT credible until authorities admit to the reality before them - tremendous human rights abuses are still taking place. P.26. THEORY NOT PRACTICE.

85. The government of Romania has not taken the precautions necessary to prevent abuse in the future. Abuses are foreseeable until truly INDEPENDENT human rights oversight and independent advocacy systems and methods of verification are established. P.26. INTEGRITY PROBLEMS; LAW DEFICIENCIES.

86. There is no independent mechanism to monitor human rights in institutions, and there are no plans to create such a system. P.26. LAW DEFICIENCIES; INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

87. The Ministry of Health says that new staff is being hired to inform authorities about what is happening in the mental health system. This new personnel will have no obligation to take complaints or represent the views of patients. P.26. LAW DEFICIENCY; INTEGRITY PROBLEM; A CASE OF THE FOX GUARDING THE CHICKEN COOP AND THE THREAT OF LOSING YOUR JOB IF YOU "BLOW THE WHISTLE".

88. These individuals are no trained as human rights investigators and have no ability to act independently of the agency that employs them. P.26. LAW DEFICIENCIES; THREATS OF LOSING JOB;

89. For almost four years, the Ministry of Health did not issue regulations (known in Romania as "norms") that would allow Law 487 to be implemented. P.26. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; LEGAL PROBLEMS.

90. In February 2006, when authorities promised to promulgat regulations to implement Law 487, they said that they would NOT seek any amendments to the law to respond to the limitations identified by the EU expert. P.27. DENIAL; LAW DEFICIENCIES; INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

91. The law establishes no protection against the misuse of physical restraints or seclusion, as required by the ECHR. P.27. LAW DEFICIENCIES; VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.

92. Eventually, new norms were issued banning the use of restraints for more than four hours. But there is no independent mechanism to monitor or enforce these protections. P.27. LAW DEFICIENCIES; INTEGRITY PROBLEM.

93. It has not even been resolved whether these provisions of the norms are binding and there is an underlying lack of legal protection. P.27. LAW DEFICIENCIES.

94. The norms do not limit who may request involuntary admission. P.27. LAW DEFICIENCY.

95. While a person has the right to challenge his or her detention under the Law, it does not provide adequate protection against "non-protesting" patients as required by the recent decision of the European Court in H.L. vs. United Kingdom. P.27. LEGAL DEFICIENCY; VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.

96. When MDRI met with Ministry of Health authorities in February 2006, they said that there were NO plans or resources to review the commitments of thousands of individuals now detained in Romania's institutions. p.27. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; BUREAUCRACY; INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

97. Promises contained in law are far from the realities of the system. P.27. THEORY NOT PRACTICE.

98. Four years after the adoption of Law 487 regarding disabilities, the government has not taken concrete steps to implement the Law. P.28. THEORY NOT PRACTICE.

99. Institutions are essentially custodial facilities where children and adults are detained in almost total inactivity. P.28. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ISSUES.

100. At the present time, institutions are far from having the staff necessary to implement the current law. P.28. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; BUREAUCRACY; LAW DEFICIENCIES.

101. Law 487 [among others - A] does not meet the requirements of the ECHR. P.30. VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.

"PROBLEMS IN ROMANIA OBSERVED BY MENTAL DISABILITY RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL WHICH EXIST IRRESPECTIVE OF ANY SPECIFIC INSTITUTION." Part II

Numbers 20 through 55 come from pages 1 through 16 of the report.

20. As of 2006, the Romanian National Authority on Child Protection statistics state that there remain more than 31,000 children in institutions under their authority. [There are children under state care in other institutions which do not fall directly under the Romanian National Authority for Child Protection. - A] In addition, over 9000 babies are abandoned each year - a rate of abandonment that has not changed over thirty years. At least 700 abandoned children have never left the maternity wards of hospitals. Most maternity wards do not allow new mothers to stay with their infants while they are in the hospital. P.1. LEGAL PROBLEMS; ALSO IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

21. UNICEF concludes from a recent study of child abandonment that the acceptance and perpetuation of such situations constitutes a violation of the law. P.1. VIOLATION OF ROMANIAN LAW; VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.

22. UNICEF concludes from a recent study of child abandonment in Romania that the acceptance and perpetuation of such situations constitutes an acute lack of understanding of the child's developmental needs. P.1. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

23. Once a child is abandoned, government action further increases the likelihood that the child will be institutionalized. P.1. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES; LEGAL PROBLEMS; BUREAUCRACY.

24. According to UNICEF, two-thirds of the children abandoned in maternity wards are transferred at least once to pediatric/recovery wards before any protection measures are taken. P.1. VIOLATION OF ROMANIAN LAW; VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW; IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

25. UNICEF notes that of the total number of abandoned babies, 64% in maternity wards and 30% in pediatric hospitals have no name or identity papers. Without identity papers, children cannot receive community services or even receive basic medical care. P.1. VIOLATION OF ROMANIAN LAW; VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW; BUREAUCRACY.

26. The actual number of institutionalized children may be much higher than officially recognized. P.1. LYING, DENIAL, INTEGRITY PROBLEMS, FOX GUARDING THE CHICKEN HOUSE, ETC.

27. A complex division of responsibilities means that no one authority makes policies or can be held accountable for conditions in the institutions. p.1. LEGAL PROBLEMS; BUREAUCRACY.

28. The array of services described by authorities does not always exist in practice. P.1. THEORY NOT PRACTICE.

29. There is no system in place for holding anyone accountable for the implementation of standards within this system. P.2. LEGAL PROBLEMS; BUREAUCRACY.

30. Out of public view, MDRI found serious human rights violations in the institutions. Our findings are corroborated in reports published by the Center for Legal Resources and by Amnesty International. P.2. LYING, DENIAL, INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

31. MDRI is particularly concerned about the abandoned infants and young children who are at an extremely vulnerable time of development and will bear scars from this treatment over a lifetime. P.2. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

32. Thousands of children face the prospect of a life-time segregated from society in abusive facilities. P.2. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES; VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.

33. Many of the stated reforms in Romania - for which the EU has given much credit - do not protect the basic human rights of children with disabilities. P.2. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES; VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.

34. The EU stated that the new legislation completes the reforms of child protection. P.2. THEORY NOT PRACTICE. LEGISLATION WHICH IS NOT PRACTICED OR ENFORCED BRINGS ABSOLUTELY NO REFORMS WHATSOEVER.

35. This report by MDRI disputes the EU conclusions as a matter of law and practice. P.2. LEGAL PROBLEMS; THEORY NOT PRACTICE.

36. According to UNICEF, hundreds of new institutions for up to 50 children have been build. In a three and a half year period, the number of new institutions increased from 123 in December 2000 to 220 in June 2003. MDRI's findings indicate that these institutions are still dangerous places, leaving children abandoned and leaving children segregated from society. p.2. [ANYONE CAN GO TO COPII.RO AND LOOK UP THE STATISTICS]. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

37. Romanian law says that the placement of the child who has not yet reached the age of 2 years may only be decided with the permission of the extended or substitute family, and it is forbidden to place him or her in a residential service. (Article 60, paragraph 1). P.3. THEORY NOT PRACTICE. ALSO HOSPITALS ARE NOT CONSIDERED INSTITUTIONS OR RESIDENTIAL SERVICES UNDER THE CURRENT LEGISLATION. THUS CHILDREN CAN REMAIN "UNINSTITUTIONALIZED" IN HOSPITALS.

38. MDRI investigators found a disparate pattern of children and babies being incorrectly labeled with "severe disabilities". The phrase apparently can be used whenever it is administratively convenient, and it is often applied to children with little or no disability. P.3. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES; LEGAL PROBLEMS; INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

39. Staff told investigators that the institution housed 62 (59) children from newborn to age two. The youngest was a three-week old infant. Despite being referred to as the nutritional recuperation center, staff informed us that most infants which are ABANDONED in this facility were not placed there for nutritional reasons. P.3. LYING, DENIAL, INTEGRITY PROBLEMS; THEORY NOT PRACTICE.

40. [Despite claims to the contrary] MDRI learned that most of the babies were permanently abandoned and had resided there since birth. According to the nurses, reasons for abandonment included abuse, brain injury, heart disease, poverty and premature birth. None of the children, a nurse reported, had a "sever disability", other than the disabilities they acquired from being institutionalized. P. 3. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES; BUREAUCRACY; LYING, DENIAL, INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

41. Staff said, "Some children are here because their parents do not have enough heating fuel. When it gets cold, we have more babies." P.3. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES; THEORY NOT PRACTICE.

42. Placement in an instution [including hospitals - POH] is dangerous at any age and the risks are particularly great for infants. P.5. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

43. Recent experience reinforces how dangerous orphanage care for infants continues to be even in countries with extensive resources [unlike Romania which has limited resources - A]. P.5. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

44. Care France noted that children are often separated from the maternal assistants at the age of two years and moved to orphanages to create a place for another baby. P.5. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

45. Romanian leaders are aware of the senselessness of the situation in Romania but none of them dare publicly express their opinion for fear of reprisals from Brussels, which would threaten the process of Romania's accession to the European Union. [This is how the Romanians view things - A] p. 5. THREATS, SPITE, KILL THE WITNESS.

46. The law is intended to ensure that infants are placed in foster care. P.6. THEORY NOT PRACTICE. [WHY NOT ADOPTION WHEREVER THAT MAY BE?! - A]

47. Sometimes babies, and especially those with handicaps, are in residential services due to the lack of maternal assistants. P.7. VIOLATION OF ROMANIAN LAW; VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW; IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES. [THIS MIGHT NOT BE SUCH A HUGE PROBLEM IF INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS WERE OPEN! -- A]

48. We interviewed staff who were completely unaware of any of the common behavioral treatments for self-abuse. They did not know that stimulus, attention or activity would help alleviate the self-abuse. P.8. Staff were also unaware of the activities and behavior programs recommended by UNICEF that could help combat problems of self-abuse. p.14. IGNORANCE OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

49. Karen Green McGowan's recommendations for each child had not even been translated into Romanian. P.9. INTEGRITY PROBLEMS [ACTION TAKEN ONLY AFTER MUCH EMBARRASSMENT]; CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS; THEORY NOT PRACTICE.

50. UNICEF reported that "it is the informal policy of the Romanian government NOT (emphasis in original) to count the number of children with disabilities in institutions. p.9. INTEGRITY PROBLEMS, LYING, DENIAL, ETC.

51. There are many dangers inherent in the "reform" in Romania's child protection system that shifts children with disabilities from large to smaller institutions. Physical conditions may be improved, but children are denied the essential qualities of close psychological attachment and social integration that they need for their full and safe development. P.13. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES; LEGAL PROBLEMS; BUREAUCRACY.

52. Children with severe disabilities are not placed in foster care. In the last year some foster care programs have been set up but these are only for children with minor disabilities. P.15. LEGAL PROBLEMS; BUREAUCRACY; IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

53. No maternal assistant has ever applied to take care of kids with sever disabilities. No maternal assistants will ever apply to take such kids. P.15. LEGAL PROBLEMS; BUREAUCRACY; IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS; THEORY NOT PRACTICE.

54. Terminology and labels are used inconsistently and are used for the administrative convenience of staff. P.15. INTEGRITY PROBLEMS; IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

55. The IQ diagnoses are incorrect and demonstrate a lack of knowledge of diagnostic categories. P.16. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

"PROBLEMS IN ROMANIA OBSERVED BY MENTAL DISABILITY RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL WHICH EXIST IRRESPECTIVE OF ANY SPECIFIC INSTITUTION."

My source in Romania - A, has done an indept analysis of the MDRI report. Here are his words followed by his analysis of the report and Romania.

There has been much in the news here in Romania denying the documented allegations in the MDRI report. Below you'll find my analysis of the report with regard to the problems in the child protection system/law and in the adoption system/law.There are major problems here which exist irrespective of any particular institution. Thus to claim, "It's not like that in that place anymore," doesn't "cut the mustard". To keep this first installment short, I've included only the items from the Executive Summary. The most damaging material is yet to come, but this gives you some idea of the breadth and depth of the problems (running the gamut from ignorance to lying).

An analysis of the report "Hidden Suffering: Romania's Segregation and Abuse of Infants and Children with Disabilities", published May 2006 by Mental Disability Rights International

This analysis is intended to demonstrate that there are serious problems in the child protection system in Romania irrespective of any specific institution. It will also demonstrate the serious deficiencies which exist with respect to the current legislation and norms (regulations) regarding child protection and adoption.

The problems will be listed as they occur in the report with the corresponding general principles listed after each problem. Quotation marks will be dispensed with since the information is taken directly from the report.

Numbers 1-19 constitute material only from the executive summary. More to follow.

1. Romania's new law 272 that bans placement of babies in institutions does not protect children with "severe disabilities;" despite this law, MDRI found babies with and without disabilities detained in institutions. p.ii. VIOLATION OF ROMANIAN LAW

2. These children are becoming psychologically and developmentally disabled as a result of this placement. p.ii. IGNORANCE OF OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES

3. Staff informed MDRI investigators that some children, with little or no disability could easily be adopted, but they are stuck in the facility only because they lack identity papers. p. ii. VIOLATION OF ROMANIAN LAW, BUREAUCRACY CREATED BY THE CURRENT CHILD PROTECTION AND ADOPTION LEGISLATION, TOO FEW AVAILABLE ADOPTIVE PARENTS IN ROMANIA, PREJUDICE AGAINST ROMA

4. According to UNICEF statistics for 2005, thousands of babies have no identity papers; officially, they do not exist. p.iii. VIOLATION OF ROMANIAN LAW; BUREAUCRACY

5. While some facilities are newer and cleaner, they are still inappropriate for children and will contribute to increased disability. P.iii. IGNORANCE OF OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES

6. Authorities informed MDRI that many of the children will spend their entire lives in institutions. ADOPTION ISSUE: SOME/ MANY WOULD BE ADOPTED IF INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS WERE OPEN.

7. Thousands of children with disabilities face life-time segregation in extremely abusive and barren institutions. p.iii. IGNORANCE OF OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES. ALSO, ADOPTION ISSUE: SOME/ MANY WOULD BE ADOPTED IF INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS WERE OPEN.

8. Our planning process is like a man who wakes up every morning and says he is going to paint his house. But somehow, he keeps talking and the house never gets painted. (From the GOR) p. iv. THEORY BUT NOT PRACTICE

9. The abusive conditions and lack of care constitute "inhuman and degrading treatment" under article 3 of the ECHR. The dangerous use of physical restraints, the lack of hygiene and the exposure to communicable diseases threaten the right to life under article 2 of the ECHR. P.iv. VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

10. Even children who receive adequate food in clean institutions become disabled. P.iv. IGNORANCE OF OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES

11. The psychological impact of institutionalization may plague a child for a lifetime. Thus, Romania's newer, cleaner, and smaller institutions still constitute a threat to children's right to protection from inhuman and degrading treatment under articles 2 and 3 of the ECHR. P.iv. IGNORANCE OF OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES; ALSO ADOPTION ISSUE: SOME OR MANY OF THESE CHILDREN WOULD ESCAPE THIS IF INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS WERE OPENED.

12. Law 272, which bans institutionalization of all children under the age of two, allows children with so-called "severe" disabilities to be institutionalized. As applied the law is discriminatory. The authorities use the law to write off a broad class of children with disabilities who are in fact capable of living in the community. P.iv. LEGAL AND INTEGRITY PROBLEM. ALSO, ADOPTION ISSUE: SOME OR MANY OF THESE CHILDREN WOULD BE ADOPTED IF INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS WERE OPENED.

13. By leaving children, and especially those with disabilities, behind in "smaller" institutions, Romania's reform vilates a broad array of rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Under the Convention, children "should grow up in a family environment" to ensure their "full development". P.iv. VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW; IGNORANCE OF OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

14. Placement even in a small institution is not the "fullest possible" social integration for children . . . p.v. VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (ART. 23(3) OF U.N. CONVENTION); IGNORANCE OF OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

15. Romania's failure to register children, provide them with an identity, and acknowledge their existence within institutions violates CRC article 7(1) which specifies that "the child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name . . ." p.v. THE CURRENT LEGISLATION VIOLATES THIS PRINCIPLE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW; ALSO, BUREAUCRACY PROBLEMS.

16. Wasting time and funding on new forms of institutional care are no substitute for real families. P.v. IGNORANCE OF OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES; ALSO, ADOPTION ISSUE: INERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS MUST BE OPENED IF ROMANIA REALLY WANTS TO RESOLVE THIS PROBLEM.

17. "This legislation completes the reform of child protection." (From the EU 2005 report on Romania) p.v. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; ALSO, LEGAL PROBLEM (IT'S A LOUSY LAW)

18. There are serious violations of both human rights conventions and funding provided to the Romanian government should be linked to clear and verifiable outcomes. P.v. THEORY NOT PRACTICE

19. A number of our sources took risks in speaking out about abuses they observed. Staff expressed fears that they could be punished for talking to us or allowing us to take photographs. P.vii. THREATS, SPITE, "SHOOT THE WITNESS"

BBC Report - Ambassador Taubman

BBC reported that on Wednesday (May 24 - 2006) the US Ambassador to Bucharest criticized the existing adoption law from many angles. It said that the Ambassador said that Romania cannot afford, for political reasons, to renounce international adoptions, when it faces an increase in the number of abandoned children. Under such conditions, said Taubman, it is not natural for domestic adoptions to be so difficult, or for authorities to provide temporary solutions such as foster care. Likewise, Ambassador Taubman said that the solution of reintegrating a child into his family, if the family can be found, will not always be successful, because in many cases the minors end up back in state care again. Finally, the U.S. Ambassador said that the law hasn't achieved its goal of ending the sale of children abroad.

"It would be naïve to say that national laws or the European Union will end all cases of abuse. Whatever the law might be today, it needs to be changed, because many of the children who have become targets of acts of corruption or who have been sold are those born without identity papers," said the U.S. Ambassador to Bucharest.

The report added that Ambassador Taubman specified that "anything is possible in a country where mothers run away from hospitals and therefore the children they abandon don't immediately receive an identity."

The Director of the Romanian Adoption Office, Theodora Bertzi, acknowledges that sometimes there are problems related to the establishment of the identity of abandoned minors, but those problems are due to ignorance of the law, not to any insufficiency in the law. Mrs. Bertzi rejects the idea that for this reason, children might be sold. "Suspicions, there have been rumors and suspicions, nothing proven," Theodora Bertzi declared, adding: "I cannot believe that such a practice occurs regularly. If there are such attempts, they must be stopped immediately."

The Director of the Romanian Adoption Office confirmed that in Romania, domestic adoptions are much quicker than in the United States, and any slowing of procedure is only due to the fact that people are seeking the very best solutions for children. Finally, Theodora Bertzi insisted that in Romania, children are not forced to reintegrate into their families of origin. She said this in response to Ambassador Taubman's statement that several minors were returned to "alcoholic or drug-addicted" mothers who later sent them back to orphanages.

Social integration of youth leaving child protection centres, regulated by Gov’t

In the coming years 4,500-5,000 young people will leave such centres, which is why their access to housing and jobs must be facilitated, Labour Minister Gheorghe Barbu explained
published in issue 3686 page 5 at 2006-05-25

BUCHAREST – The Government endorsed the National Strategy for inclusion of youth leaving the child protection system, Minister of Labour, Social Solidarity and Family Gheorghe Barbu announced after the Cabinet meeting yesterday. He stated that centres in the child protection system currently host over 6,000 young people over 18. “According to our estimates, in the coming years 4,500-5,000 young people will leave these centres,” Barbu explained. He pointed out that the Strategy endorsed by the Government is intended to ensure access of these youngsters to social protection services, to reduce social marginalisation risks and to stimulate their community integration. The target group of the Strategy is represented by young people exiting the child protection system, youngsters hosted in juvenile detention centres upon turning 18 and homeless youngsters who turn 18. The Strategy will be implemented in 2006-2008 and ensures a global approach on the social problems of these categories.

The normative act lays down a set of measures aimed at the development of youth independent life and social integration skills, at their integration to the labour market as well as at the provision of decent living standards – housing, access to healthcare and education. The goal of such measures is to combat the social exclusion risks with young people who have already experienced the trauma of family disintegration, and to facilitate their integration and active participation in the community life. Facilitation of access to housing and jobs, improvement of the local and central institutional and administrative framework, creation of a financing system for the application of youth social assistance measures, human resources development in the field, preparing the youth, in the formal and non-formal education system, for active social life within the community, are some of the objectives of this Strategy. Resolution of the issue of youth leaving the child protection system is a priority in the 2005-2008 governance programme, the Labour Minister concluded.

US Ambassador wants Romania to acknowledge child protection problems

BUCHAREST – Romania has made remarkable progress in the child protection field, Ambassador of the United States to Bucharest Nicholas Taubman stated yesterday, upon presentation of the ChildNet programme outcomes. The programme, funded by the American Government with USD 15 M and implemented jointly with Romanian authorities for a five-year period, was intended to support the reform in the field of institutionalised child protection. According to Taubman, sixteen years ago, over 170,000 children were living in gloomy orphanages, but the number fell to 28,000 today. In 1990, there were no maternal assistants, whereas today 18,000 children are brought up in such families around the country. Residential care is better today, there are good maternal assistants and there are programmes to help them acquire daily life skills, Nicholas Taubman pointed out, presenting the concrete steps forward made in the field. However, the American official warned that “much is still to be done.” “We have all read in the media recently about the serious problems with some of the institutions where children are kept in deplorable conditions. What happened in Braila, for instance, was a tragedy. I’ve seen the rush into turning this situation into an incendiary material and the rush to look for culprits. Well, I’ve been successful in business and I know I didn’t manage to do this by looking for culprits. I was successful when I admitted I had a problem and when I found solutions to solve it. This is why I’d like to thank Secretary of State Bogdan Panait who stated before cameras that there was a problem and that measures must still be taken to solve it,” the American official emphasized. Taubman referred to the report made public by an American NGO warning two weeks ago that abandoned children with disabilities live in as poor conditions as during the communist rule. Braila was one of the places where the American NGO claimed to have seen children living in horrific conditions. In turn, Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity Gheorghe Barbu, also attending the event, stated that the child protection law in Romania “is recognised by experts in the field world-wide as very good.” The Labour Minister explained that, although “there is no doubt that Romania has made substantial progress, such a law could not have been fully enforced within a year.”

by Ana Maria Nitoi

Romania: Urgent Action Needed for Abandoned Children

A meeting of NGOs concerned about children’s rights in Romania took place yesterday in London to discuss and seek agreement on the principal issues affecting children in Romania, and propose solutions that the European Union and the Romanian government should address.

The grouping of NGOs, which includes among other CRIN members Amici dei Bambini, Children on the Edge and Link Romania, will meet regularly to share information about their work, identify priority areas and lobby the European Parliament and the Romanian government.

Yesterday, among various issues discussed, a prime focal point was their particular concern over the continuing problem of child abandonment in Romania.

In a 2005 report, The Situation of Child Abandonment in Romania UNICEF revealed that over 9,000 children were abandoned each year, a situation which hardly differs from 30 years ago. The same report showed there were approximately 37,000 orphaned or abandoned children in the country today (living in State institutions), an additional 49,000 living in temporary arrangements (such as foster care), and an unknown number of children living on the streets and in maternity and paediatric hospitals.

Abandoned children suffer injustice from birth. Most of them do not have birth certificates, without which they literally do not exist as citizens in the eye of the State. This means that it is extremely difficult for those children to get access to education and free medical care. They also face the prospect of spending many damaging years in State orphanages - which are often understaffed and lack funding - and temporary living arrangements, in a country where child abuse is not considered as a crime by the justice system. The legal system also works against the welfare of children, as it allows birth parents to claim back custody over their abandoned child even while she/he has been placed in a foster family.

Continuous high rates of child abandonment in Romania are caused by pervading and lasting poverty, which needs to be addressed in the long term by the government and the international community at large. In the meantime, the hardships and abuse experienced by abandoned Romanian children could be remedied by additional funding and legal reform.

The group is intending to take further action in the coming weeks. Any action or communication will be posted on the CRIN website.

For more information, contact:

Robin Nydes
Foundation for the Relief of Disabled Orphans
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7937 8060
Email: robin@frodokids.org

Russia moves to restrict foreign adoptions

By Oliver Bullough
Tue May 23, 10:39 AM ET

Moscow will stop foreigners adopting children outside officially registered agencies in a step toward limiting the number of children who leave Russia, a top government official said on Tuesday.

In comments carried by Russian news agencies, Sergei Apatenko, head of the Education Ministry's youth department, said the move would protect vulnerable children from adoption by inappropriate families.

Such a step has long been demanded by nationalist lawmakers shocked by a series of well-publicized murders of Russian children abroad -- mainly in the United States.

Many have demanded a complete ban on foreigners adopting Russians -- although observers say this is prompted more by wounded national pride than by a desire to protect the thousands of children eligible for adoption.

They say it is part of a campaign against foreign interference in the country, which has included restrictions on foreign funding of charities, which officials have accused of having links to foreign spies.

Apatenko said all problems experienced with foreign adoptions had been caused by people organizing adoptions without an official mediator.

"These families probably also appealed to adoption agencies, however they appealed to agencies not accredited in Russia, which did not provide the authorities with information about what conditions the child will experience abroad," he said.

"Our duty is to create conditions so it is easier for Russians to adopt children in our country, and so children left without parents remain in Russia and do not go abroad."

The law should be passed by the end of the year, he said.

The tens of thousands of children available for adoption in Russia often live in poorly funded orphanages. Activists say as many as 2 million other orphans may live without state help.

A Web site set up by the Education Ministry (www.usynovite.ru) allows potential parents to pick the age, sex, and color of eyes and hair in their child. The site had 153,267 children in its database on Tuesday.

Approximately half of the 15,000 children adopted a year go abroad, with activists saying foreigners often take the most vulnerable and damaged children.

But Svetlana Goryacheva, a deputy from the State Duma lower house of parliament who had led the fight against foreign adoptions, said the ministry's move was not enough.

"There is fierce competition between accredited and non-accredited agencies," she told Ekho Moskvy radio, saying the official ones were as much to blame for the 12 murders of Russian children adopted by foreigners listed in recent years.

"The only difference between them is that one has accreditation and the other does not," she said.

Senate Resolution 359 Update

Please see the e-mail below just received from Senator Lugar's senior foreign relations staffer. Please call/e-mail your Senator's and request their support!

"S.Res.359, a resolution concerning the Government of Romania's ban on intercountry adoptions and the welfare of orphaned or abandoned children in Romania was voted out of Committee today.
Passed unanimously by voice vote.
Heads now to the floor.
I would expect that it will voted on by the full Senate at the end of the week."

Livada Orphan Care/ Fundatia LOC

Due to the MDRI report and Bruce Thomas reported crimes, his foundation was suspended. However, read the good news.

Dear Members,

Just a quick note to update you on our progress in Mures county. Our NGO, Fundatia LOC, has been officially reinstated to work in the orphanages and group homes in our county. (They booted us out two weeks ago after the press coverage of the sexual abuse in the Ludus orphanage) Bob Gilchrist from the US Embassy came and met with the local county and city government officials, as well as, with DPC officials. It was awesome to see them squirm for once. Bob was amazing and very, very helpful in getting them to back down from their tirade against us.

Meanwhile, they have "isolated" the leader of the pedophiles by placing him in a group home for LITTLE BOYS! Bob mentioned his concerns to this and is also fighting for the rights of the other kids at Ludus. We went and toured the orphanage and saw the other six accused pedophiles with NO SUPERVISION. We mentioned that the next day after the director and asst. director of DPC went on and on about how there is no more abuse at Ludus and how the accused are being monitored 24/7! We also mentioned the fact that they could not have been too well monitored since while we were on the tour, some of the accused found a way to go outside and "key" or scratch my car down to the metal, all the way around it! Nice. Bob was livid when he saw it. The DPC official and the Ludus director were in shock. It was almost worth it just to see their faces! Meanwhile, the investigation goes on. I will update you all once the trial starts.

Yours Truly,

Bruce Bruce Thomas
Livada Orphan Care/ Fundatia LOC
ROMANIA
www.livada.org

Senate Resolution 359

Please call your Senators and request their support for Senate Resolution 359. Below is a list of co-sponsors. It's crucial that this Resolution be passed unanimously this week. The vote is before Memorial Day.


S.RES.359 [109th]
Title:A resolution concerning the Government of Romania's ban on intercountry adoptions and the welfare of orphaned or abandoned children in Romania.

Sponsor: Sen Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA] (introduced 1/31/2006) Cosponsors: 9

Committees: Senate Foreign Relations Related Bills: H.RES.578

Latest Major Action: 1/31/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

COSPONSORS, ALPHABETICAL [* = original cosponsor]: (Change sort: by date, by party)

Cosponsor Statistics: 9 current (includes 0 original)

Sen Bennett, Robert F. [R-UT] - 3/15/2006
Sen Bunning, Jim [R-KY] - 2/14/2006
Sen Cochran, Thad [R-MS] - 3/13/2006
Sen Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] - 3/8/2006
Sen Craig, Larry E. [R-ID] - 2/2/2006
Sen Dodd, Christopher J. [D-CT] - 2/8/2006
Sen Inhofe, James M. [R-OK] - 2/14/2006
Sen Lincoln, Blanche L. [D-AR] - 3/15/2006
Sen Pryor, Mark L. [D-AR] - 3/7/2006

FLORENCE NICHOLAS AND HYPOCRITICAL ROMANIA

FLORENCE NICHOLAS AND HYPOCRITICAL ROMANIA

May 8, 2006
Jurnalul National
By: Ralu Filip

After 16 years, Romania still isn't disposed to decide for herself the fate of her abandoned children (orphans). She doesn't want to, she doesn't know how, or worse, she uses this serious and delicate problem in order to gain the support of functionaries and parliamentarians in Europe. Although Romania claims to desire the good of the children, she has not made even the smallest effort towards a precise application of a fundamental principle: the superior interest of the child. No one knows what is behind this principle, nor are there written regulations for applying it. With all this, in the name of the best interest of the child, government makes decisions that are both absurd and ill-fated with regard to the future of thousands of children. Florence Nicholas had no way to know these things. No one told her that in Romania aging legends become myths which is the case with international adoptions. Therefore, she didn't know that for 16 years there was periodically unmasked an eternal but unproven trafficking and that foreigners who want to adopt are not pleasing to the press.

Florence Nicolas has wanted to adopt an Romanian child who had been abandoned by his biological parents. She followed the legal procedure which was in force at the time and which also recognized her right to solicit this adoption as well as the right of the child to have a family. She waited for four years and in the end, the child which she wanted, was to be adopted by a Romanian family. The ever vigilant press accused this French actress of pressuring the Justice Department merely because she exercised certain civil rights. This same press breathed easier at the moment in which the Romanian judicial system defeated "the actress Florence Nicolas". Concerning this wonderful Romanian family, not one word was said. Who are they? What do they do? How do they make a living? And in what conditions do they live? Because the press did not furnished this essential information, we are not convinced that the best interests of this child were fulfilled "somewhere" in Prahova county rather than in Paris.

The case of Florence Nicolas is not unique. There are hundreds of families from the U.S. and Europe in this same situation, who submitted their adoption file before and during the moratorium instituted by the former government, that is, before law 273/2004 entered into force, a law which chained these orphans to their inherited land, snatching away the chance for many of them to have parents and to be loved. These files do not technically fall under the new law and as a consequence must be resolved legally. This is why certain international institutions (the Helsinki Commission) as well as some europarliamentarians have requested that the Romanian government to resolve this problem, and they are both correct and moral in these procedures.

How did the blocking of international adoptions change the lives of these abandoned children? Do they live better? Are they enjoying much more affection? From this point of view, not one governmental institution nor the otherwise vigilant press has publicized even one report or at least an investigation. And they are not able to report this because the statistics are still negative. Abandonments remain at the same level. (therefore international adoptions were not the problem, even though Mrs. Nicholson speculated that there were the cause). National adoptions have not grown spectacularly. In exchange, the number of street children, abused children, and children who have disappeared increases. The murder of children increases, as well as the number of children who quit school. As a consequence, how is the Romanian government respecting the best interest of a child without a family? By forcing him via a law to live at any cost in his land of birth? Playing God?

The worst thing is the blindness which the press exhibits when faced with certain extremely grave situations like transforming the subsidies for poor families into foster care and social assistance. It is easier for them to accuse Florence Nicolas than to check up on the conditions in which hundreds of abandoned children live who have been placed in foster care. It is easier to nourish the public with illusions labeling foreigners who wish to adopt Romanian children rather than to ask why social workers or substitute families are interested in adopting only when they risk the certain loss of even a small income. Is no one tormented by even a simple question: does Florence Nicolas love the children more than the families chosen by CPS Prahova in the name of the best interest of the child, and more than the judiciary system of Romania? It is definite that what these children lack more than anything is affection. But Mrs. Nicholson, the press, the government of Romania and the parliament of Romania never think about this--affection.

MEPs highlight Romanian children’s rights abuses

From the Irish News..................

21/05/2006 - 11:23:27

The European Parliament is coming under fire for failing to focus on children’s rights abuses in Romania during accession talks.

A number of MEPs say Romania should have been instructed to improve the plight of the 36,000 institutionalised children as a condition of joining the EU.

A recent report by Mental Disability Rights International revealed many of these children are kept in cages.

Fianna Fáil MEP Brian Crowley says Romania should also be told to lift its 2005 ban on international adoption.

He said: “Obviously it would be better if Romanian parents could adopt Romanian children, but children are being given up by their families without foster care being available for them and without other adoptive parents in Romania for them."

"Some of these children,” he added, “have mental and physical disabilities, who people don’t want to touch.”

Dr. Charles Tannock MEP Email

From a source Z.............Below is an e-mail sent to MEPs by MEP Charles Tannock, who chaired our hearing a few weeks ago. MEP Gibault also sent an e-mail to all of the MEPs requesting they sign Declaration 23. Our European adoptive parent groups have been hard at work sending letters to MEPs from their respective countries requesting they sign this Declaration. There are currently 196 signatures out of the 366 needed to enable this Declaration to go to the EU Parliament. We are praying and working towards a goal of 500 - a number that the Commissioners cannot ignore (nor can Nicholson, Gomes and the Romanian govermnet).

Dear Concerned colleagues,

As a doctor and retired Consultant Psychiatrist I entirely agree with the sentiments of Madame Gibault and believe that a loving home (wherever its located) is always a better solution for an abandoned child than institutional care or even worse which I regrettably know occurs in Romania, of forcing the child back on biological parents who are either incapable or unwilling to bring-up their child, hence their reason for deserting their own child in the first place.

best wishes

Dr. Charles Tannock MEP
London Region
Vice President Human Rights Subcommittee of EP
Deputy Coordinator Foreign Affairs Committee for EPP-ED Group
UK Conservative Foreign Affairs Spokesman

MURDERERS WITH PROFESSIONAL PARENT'S CERTIFICATE

From Adevarul newspaper Friday, May 19, 2006--Front Page

MURDERERS WITH PROFESSIONAL PARENT'S CERTIFICATE

In Buzau, a child died, while another is in a coma because of the negligence of maternal assistants paid by the state of Romania.

Under a picture of the natural mother kissing the child's grave is the remark: "Lenuta, Ionut's natural mother, remembers her child a day after his funeral. Too late."

Ionut, barely a year old, died because of a blow to the head. Adrian is three years old and is in a coma after he fell into an iron pot of boiling water.

The destiny of these two children, both from Buzau, was mutilated and then murdered. It was mutilated by their mothers, who abandoned them after birth, and murdered a few days ago, by "professional" maternal assistants, whom the Romanian state trained, certified, and paid to care for them, to be their parents. The two maternal assistants who practiced their trade of "mamma" for Ionut and for Adrian, are now without certification. Dafina Simona Marin, 32 years old, and Viorica Lilia, 41 years old, both married, each also have in their care another child whom the CPS in Buzau have taken from their families. The prosecutor's office has begun an investigation, but Ionut is in a grave on which two bouquets of flowers were put on Wednesday, and where yesterday, a small green lizard was warming himself in the sun.

Adrian was brought three days ago to the "Grigore Alexandrescu" hospital in the Capital, by helicopter. He is in a coma because of burns on his back, bottom, and legs.

SUSPICIOUS DEATH

Ionut was born last year, April 28, 2005. His mother, Lenuta, 34 years old, has a psychological illness and drugs herself(inhales) with aurolac. She sleeps at train stations. She had another child that she killed with her own hands, suspects those at the CPS. She tied a rubber hose around his neck. Because of this they took Ionut from her and put him in the care of maternal assistant Dafina Simona Marin. "She was a very capable maternal assistant. She received her certification in 2003. She knew the courses. She graduated with high grades. She had, besides Ionut, another little girl whom she wanted to adopt. She sold her apartment to buy a house, where they children could play. It is terrible what happened to Ionut," said Carmen Nutulescu, general director of the Child Protection Services in Buzau. Ionut was taken last Friday to the hospital around 2:00 p.m. He was in a coma, after vomiting all his food that morning. In the evening he died. Since it was considered a suspicious death, an autopsy was done just Monday afternoon. The forensic medics (coroners) determined that the death of the child was because of a fractured skull. They discovered 3 cracks on the right side of the skull. The coroners say that the fracture happened on the day of his death, but the maternal assistant denies that. "He didn't fall that day. He fell earlier, but I didn't realize that he needed to be brought to the hospital. I don't consider myself negligent, but I'm sorry that I didn't know to bring him to the hospital in time," declared the former maternal assistant Dafina Simona Marin through telephone, after she initially refused to speak with reporters from Adevarul newspaper. A lawsuit in her name was opened to establish the conditions of the child's death." A hitting has been excluded, from the medical-legal point of view. It is a blow from a flat, not very hard, object. The maternal assistant told us that the little boy fell out of his crib a day before he died. We will continue the investigation to establish the conditions in which he was hit. At this time, we can't consider the case an infraction (of the law)," the criminal prosecutor Aurelian Iana told us. No matter what the results of the investigation are, director of the CPS in Buzau, Cecilia Manolesco, declared that she will not sign for Dafina Simona Marin to adopt her child or to continue to be a maternal assistant, because she proved negligent.

FUNERAL WITHOUT MAMA

"For the one I raised and I loved," was written on the flowers brought Wednesday by the maternal assistant to the funeral. The woman was white as paste and stood stunned. The godparents also came; a retired family, who had requested the CPS to give them a newborn to baptize. Those from the CPS put a toy next to his little hand. Ionut's natural mother was not at his funeral. The police searched everywhere for her, but she was not found. Yesterday, though, she came to the office of the CPS. She received the news of the death of her son without any expression of emotion. She decided to go to the grave. She lit a candle. She didn't shed even one tear; she smiled.

ANDRE, STARVED AND KEPT IN FILTH

"The child's clothing was filthy from mud, because he went to the bathroom in them and the dust from the ground stuck to them. He was wet, having not been changed for a long time, and his nose was runny and crusty. Even though it was lunch time, he wasn't fed, and the maternal assistant didn't have time for his personal needs," was written in the last report written up by the social worker after a visit to Mrs. Viorica Lilia, maternal assistant for Andrei. She was given a 5% reduction in her salary and after that if she continued the bad treatment of the child, he would be taken from her. Three days before he was to be taken from her, the child fell into an iron pot of boiling water and was scalded. Now he fights for his life. He is in a coma because of burns he suffered to his back, bottom and legs, and kidney failure.

Other Dramas:

May 2002 -- In Iasi, a newborn given to a maternal assistant to care for, drown in his own vomit.

August 2004 -- In Barlad, two sisters were forced to participate in sexual acts with their maternal assistants.

Sept. 2004 -- LaVaslui, a handicapped little girl was starved, beaten, burned and hidden away by her maternal assistant.

Oct. 2004 -- In the Mures county a baby died at the hands of the husband of a maternal assistant.

June 2005 -- In Dolj, a child died because of the negligence of the maternal assistant.

WHAT IS A MATERNAL ASSISTANT?:

A maternal assistant received an average of $275 (minimum of $185 and maximum of around $370) to which is added a monthly allotment for food either in money or groceries, as well as a housing allowance. All expenses incurred by the maternal assistant for the child, are reimbursed by the special county department. A professional maternal assistant is a person who, for a specified period, takes one or more children into their home to care for. Persons who prove capable of fulfilling the responsibility of caring for a child, who through their social behavior, state of health and psychological profile, guarantee the correct fulfillment of their obligations, can be certified as professional maternal assistants. They must have for their utilization a house that meets the needs for food preparation, cleanliness, education and rest of their users, who have followed the professional, formal courses to obtain certification to be a professional maternal assistant. Certification of a professional maternal assistant is valid for a period of 3 years, but can be suspended or withdrawn if it is established they have mistreated the children in their care.

In Romania there are around 14,000 maternal assistants.

EU Still Unsure When Will Integrate Romania To Europe

EU Still Unsure When Will Integrate Romania To Europe
18 Mai 2006
de Maria Toader

The European Commission released Tuesday the Romania's country report sending a clear message: "you are not ready for accession, keep up the pace of reforms, and do not rock the political boat in the meantime."

This was an unexpected expression of staunch support to the government of the National Liberal Party (PNL) leader Calin Popescu Tariceanu, and a certain blow under the belt for the opposite camp, led by President Traian Basescu, formerly chairman of the Democrat Party (PD).

That may explain the calm reaction to the conclusions of the report that the liberal camp had. Tariceanu said this was "the best assessment Romania ever had," while the EU observer and PNL member Adrian Cioroianu said the message the EU Commission sent meant "to calm internal disputes we have and focus our attention at the job at hand."

Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, president of the European Commission in a quick visit Wednesday to Bucharest, was pleased with Tariceanu's calm reaction, who recognized to be real the shortcomings assessed by the report of the bureaucrats in Brussels.

This time the PD ministers were visibly irritated hearing the conclusions of European Parliament debate on the report; both Anca Boagiu, minister for European Integration, and Vasile Blaga, minister of internal affairs, attempted to persuade the media, while maybe attempting to persuade themselves, that the report was a positive one.

EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Olli Rehn, reiterated Barroso's stance regarding the need for political stability or, in short, to do away with any plans for early elections, as envisaged by Basescu.

"Political stability is of the essence. Bulgaria, for instance, lost a long period of time with forming the ruling coalition. This is why the political and parliamentary consensus must be maintained," said Rehn.

This means all Basescu's plans for early elections or at least a government reshuffle are up in the air.

"This report leaves no room for political bickering and destabilization. It asks us to grind our teeth, clutch our fists, and work closer together," said Attila Kelemen, MP with the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, one of the two junior members in the four-party center-right ruling coalition in Romania.

The state of mind of the Bulgarians, also postponed until fall to get a final date for their EU integration, was different. They were happy to have stayed in the race, shoulder-to-shoulder with Romania, in spite of the six red-flags warning them of the progress they still have to make. Bulgaria's day was celebrated at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, with professional dancers, Bulgarian EU observers and journalists alike dancing on the parliament's hall floor.

Baroness Emma Nicholson, former rapporteur for Romania and a staunch critic of Romania's social and child-care system, turned with time into an advocate of Romania's progress in the field. She presented recent pictures of the orphanages for disabled children which contradicted the grim conclusions of a recently released report of an American NGO. At the same time, however, Baroness Nicholson's seems to have mellowed on the issue of international adoptions, which she strongly opposed, stating that now it was time for Romanian authorities to simplify procedures to make these adoptions possible. On pressures from the European Union, Romania changed its adoptions legislation making virtually impossible the international adoptions.

Translated by ANCA PADURARU

Comments concerning EU Hearing Romanian Officials

This is from my source in Romania - A....................

Nicholson's position during debates on Tuesday was also supported byMEP Miguel Angel Martinez. According to Bertzi, Martinez explained that no country should be told how to develop its laws.

OUR COMMENT TO THIS: No one minded Romania being told to make the stupid law in the first place, now that it's been proven inadequate suddenly the U.S. and other countries shouldn't interfere and 'tell them how to develop their laws'!

As for the situation of children with disabilities, Martinez said that such cases happen everywhere in the world. According to the MEP, Romanian children are treated as any other European child and the European Parliament should stop imposing role models for countries. Each country has its own problems it has to deal with, he said.

OUR COMMENTS: What a ridiculous thing to say! Hey, we're just as bad as other countries so leave us all alone, don't worry about human rights as humans in our country don't have any rights. We have enough other problems without having to worry about how people are treated. And I don't really believe I've ever seen pictures of 20 pound teenagers from Germany or even Hungary. What a bunch of stupid statements from stupid 'statesmen'.

Length Of Deprivation In Infants Affects Intellectual Development For Years

Source: Society for Research in Child Development
Posted: May 17, 2006

Length Of Deprivation In Infants Affects Intellectual Development For Years

Following the fall of the Ceauþescu regime in Romania, the world became aware of the dreadful plight of children who had been raised in profound deprivation in institutions. In response, many American and European families adopted these children. When these children left their institutions, most were severely malnourished and severely physically and psychologically delayed.

Now a new study published in the May/June issue of the journal Child Development finds that despite having spent at least seven-and-a-half years in their adoptive homes and having had six years of schooling, the early experiences of profound institutional deprivation continue to exert marked adverse effects on the children's IQ even at age 11.

The researchers, from King's College and the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, New York University and the University of Rochester Medical Center, have followed these children since adoption. Earlier studies found the children showed a remarkable degree of developmental catch-up by age 4 or 6, although a minority of children had persisting deficits. This study was designed to show if this "catch-up" could be maintained at age 11.

The researchers identified four particularly striking findings:

(1) There were no detectable effects on IQ when the deprivation ended before 6 months. This implies that even with profound deprivation, recovery is possible if confined to this infancy period.

(2) For any period of deprivation in ages 6 through 42 months, the children had an IQ deficit of about 15 points. This finding suggests that the deprivation caused some type of change in the brain known as "developmental programming." This occurs when the body (including the brain) adapts to certain experiences that occur during a sensitive growth period when key physical developmental changes are also occurring. Given that this affect did not occur in children under six months, it appears that while it takes a while for developmental programming to occur, once established, the effects tend to endure.

(3) The children whose intellectual functioning was most impaired at 6 years showed some "catch up" between ages 6 and 11. This finding is consistent with what is known about brain plasticity, i.e., that important cognitive and intellectual development continues into adult life and may be influenced by the environment.

(4) Even among the children who suffered the most prolonged institutional deprivation, there was huge individual variation in outcome. Some children suffered badly but others emerged relatively unscathed. This finding supports other research suggesting that genetic factors influence one's susceptibility to environmental hazards – a possibility that will be investigated in further research.

While the overall results show a pattern that involves both continuity and change – one common to all forms of development – the details present substantial challenges to many theoretical assumptions, notes lead researcher Dr. Celia Beckett, of King's College in London. These include the idea that:

Children raised with early deprivation would recover completely if removed to a completely different environment. "This is not the case in this study," said Dr. Beckett, "as there a continuing and persistent effect of deprivation after 7-½ years."

The "catch-up" after removal from the institution would be completed in a short period following adoption. Instead, said Dr. Beckett, "This study shows that the period for catch-up is more extensive than previously thought."

Deprivation beyond six months would not have any additional effect. "Our findings suggest that instead of the effects of deprivation being cumulative, there is a sensitive period of about 12 months during which exposure to deprivation can cause irreversible effects," she said.

"Our findings in this study are encouraging," Dr. Becket said, "since they show that the children who were most impaired at age 6 have continued to progress intellectually. We are currently studying the children at age 15 and it will be interesting to see whether this pattern continues."

Although this study doesn't directly translate to other groups of children because of the degree of deprivation encountered by the Romanian children, Dr. Beckett notes that it suggests that even in the most severe cases of deprivation there are grounds for optimism that children will experience some continuing progress.

Reference: Child Development, Vol. 77, Issue 3. Do the effects of early severe deprivation on cognition persist into early adolescence? Findings from the English and Romanian Adoptees study By Beckett C, Maughan B, Rutter M, Castle J, Colvert E, Groothues C, Kreppner J, Stevens S (King's College, London), O'Connor TG (University of Rochester Medical Center), and Sonuga-Barke EJS (King's College, University of Southampton and New York University). Copyright 2006 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. All rights reserved.

EP hears Romanian officials on child protection system

This hearing was Friday, 5/19/2006 - European Time. It is amazing how great the denial is.

EP hears Romanian officials on child protection system
Alecs Iancu

The ban on inter-country adoptions, reforms of child protective services and the recent report by a U.S. rights group about the inhumane conditions in which children with disabilities live in Romania were the main topics Romanian officials had to address during a hearing in the European Parliament on Tuesday. A report made public last week by Mental Disability Rights International prompted wide controversy, as it showed that children with disabilities were held in mental institutions for adults, where they were submitted to inhumane and cruel treatment, often being kept tied to their beds, in filth and without proper care or nurturing.

The report was refuted by Romanian officials, who claimed information in the document was old and the situation of those children has changed.

Following the report, the European Parliament's former rapporteur for Romania, Emma Nicholson, and MEP Ana Maria Gomes made a visit last week to the facilities mentioned in the report to assess the situation personally.

During Tuesday's hearing in the European Parliament, the two MEPs presented their findings and a series of photographs they took during their visit, said the head of the Romanian Adoption Office, State Secretary Theodora Bertzi.

Both Nicholson and Gomes said the report by the U.S. group included out of date information.

During the hearing, Euro-deputies resumed talks on the ban Romania imposed on inter-country adoptions. Nicholson is an avid supporter of the law, which Romania enforced after the former rapporteur said previous laws were too lenient and helped child trafficking rings. The ban was criticized by several countries, including the U.S. The EP also asked Romania to solve approximately one thousand cases of adoption that were blocked when the ban came into effect.

Nicholson's position during debates on Tuesday was also supported by MEP Miguel Angel Martinez. According to Bertzi, Martinez explained that no country should be told how to develop its laws. As for the situation of children with disabilities, Martinez said that such cases happen everywhere in the world. According to the MEP, Romanian children are treated as any other European child and the European Parliament should stop imposing role models for countries. Each country has its own problems it has to deal with, he said.

Romanian representatives at the debate said Romania is assuming reforms in the child protection system, stated Bertzi.

Notes from Nicholson/Gomes Hearing

Hearing was held 5/17/2006..................one note as you read this - which is worse, photographing a person with their skin falling off, or creating the situation that caused it in the first place??????

The hearing had Baroness Nicholson chairing with MEP Ana Gomes sitting to her left. They also brought 10 Romanian children with them both from an institution and who had previously lived in an institution, who, given that they only speak Romanian, probably understood nothing. They were there to illustrate they were "well looked after and happy". I'm sure they were props for the press conference too. However, it's my understanding that only 5 journalists attended the press conference and that none of them asked questions. There was a filmed interview with Nicholson that appeared on Romanian television. I've yet to see any European press on this hearing. My guess is all of the journalists were Romanian.

There were about 30 people in attendance and 17 of them were witnesses, including the children and Nicholson and Gomes.

None of our MEP allies - to this assistant's knowledge - were in attendance. Certainly if they were they did not speak out and challenge anything that was being said. (MEP Brian Crowley did speak out on our behalf at an EU Accession hearing later that afternoon). I'm going to presume that Cavada, Ries, and Gibault may have sent assistants, but have yet to hear back from them if they did and assistants are not allowed to speak. MEPs attending included Mairead McGuinness (Ireland), Miguel Angel Martinez Martinez (Spain), Simon Couvney (Ireland, he attended for about an hour and then left and said nothing and the spelling of his last name could be wrong). If there were others they were silent and not known to this assistant. There was no mention of the other MEP from Spain who was supposed to be co-chairing this hearing.

Below is a summary of what was said:

3 Romanian doctors, one who was designated in 2004 to investigate inter-country adoptions and make recommendations. He recommended that it be closed. He also said that national adoptions have increased. This is puzzling since their own statistics prove they have not and they are currently complaining about having more families - 1,500 - 2,000 - than there are children to adopt - 853. Those numbers also include children who are being adopted by foreign permanent residents. The "EU delagation" and UNICEF official also claimed that the numbers of abandoned children are wrong and that they cannot fulfill the numbers of Romanians wanting to adopt as "there aren't enough children being born" and that UNICEF is much in favor of restrictive ICA. He also mentioned that ICA would be "child trade" and "exporting and trafficking in children".

Another doctor claimed he went with others to the institutions in the MRDI report and "didn't have the same findings". I know at least one of these institutions was closed and the children moved to group homes, but I also question when he went to the others, when the Romanian government was alerted to these horrific institutions, how long these institutions had to "clean up" and move children, and why they didn't go to the institutions in the ABC television filmed report as they were filming the same horrific conditions in other institutions not included in the report.

NIcholson critcized the statistics and numbers in the MDRI report, and said that the photos taken of these children were in violation of the UNCRC and that it was cruel and inhumane to undress children and take photos of them naked. Of course, she left out the obvious reason as to why it was done - to show the dripping skin off the bones of a 30 pound teenager and the skin that peeled off the child who was unwrapped as the sheet was so tight and had been on for so long!

A doctor also said that a poll was taken in 2004 and that 64% of Romanians were in favor of national adoptions and not inter-country. (This is the first I've ever heard about such a poll and even the Romanian Ambassador to the U.S. has never cited this poll in his arguments.)

An "expert" on ICA (inter-country adoption) from Birmingham University (which should be noted is the same university which gave the Baroness an honorary degree last year at the request of Dr. Kevin Brown, a professor there who is against ICA) presented an ICA report and said that ICA would lead to more trafficked children - "child trade", the same percentage of abandonment occurs in other European countries, and that 38% of ICA agencies were in breach of language on their websites and using photos of abandoned children (I presume she's referring to the UNCRC and Hague Treaty) and that ICA is a last resort. She did say that ICA should be free of charge and that ICA should be used as a last resort.

At no time were the specific pending case issues raised. The assistant also said she - having only the briefest overview of the situation prior to this hearing - "felt uncomfortable listening to these speakers as there were obvious gaps in their logic and they didn't raise any of the issues that are noted in Declaration 23".

Gomes played a video of neglected abandoned mentally retarded children in Bulgaria and noted that Bulgaria's abandoned children were in worse shape than Romania's - who now has "model child welfare legislation" and that the Romanians were well on their way to having stellar conditions and solutions for these children. She then asked why the pro-adoption advocates weren't trying to improve conditions in Bulgaria! It's quite obvious that Gomes and Nicholson were laying the ground work for shutting down ICA in Bulgaria, as they have long promised, and that Moldova, Ukraine, etc. will be next on their "to do" list as Nicholson has alluded to in the press.

Gomes also said she knew of a Swiss family that had paid money to adopt their child (who is one of the pending cases), still hadn't seen the child, and that if they did adopt the child they would sell the child for slavery! And that NGO's who "owned the children" and care for them via private orphanages, group homes, and privately supported foster care, would certainly make money off these abandoned children if ICA reopens in Romania and would take advantage of ICA options.

MEP Martinez noted that the issues of Bulgarian and Romanian abandoned children shouldn't be mixed up as we could show similiar videos of Romanian children. He said that the photos of all the happy, clean, healthy abandoned children illustrated nothing as anyone could take photos of children anywhere and say they were institutionalized and that you would have to take photos of every institutionalized child to be representative of the actual situation. (Nicholson was upset and said hers were "verified"). However he also made the following points:

1) This was all just a case of bad marketing and bad press as he concluded the problem was misrepresented to the public and that pending parents "were being misled in their sorrow that all institutions were awful" and that they didn't truly know the reality of these children.

2) That Romania was being unfairly treated - none of the EU requests (I presume in regards to these children) had been made of other countries that had joined the EU like Spain and that the EU shouldn't require more from Romania. He then went on to detail all of the requirements Spain had to fulfill.

3) That abandoned children should remain in their country of birth

4) Stop talking about the "lobby" (whatever that means)

MEP McGuinness noted the following:

1) The best interest of the child should come first
2) She is being "lobbied" by both sides
3) There should be a general debate in Parliament on inter-country adoption everywhere
4) That we have to look in a "wider spectrum", that progress is being made in Romania re:abandoned children and their care, and that we need to be neither critical or defensive and find the middle ground.

It was said by several in attendance that Romanian should be allowed to deal with their own problems without interference from the international community.

Nicholson noted that Romania is one of the "top 11 countries for human trafficking" and that it will "increase with inter-country adoption". (I know, I know, that's what she said before ICA was banned as a reason for stopping ICA...amazing how she can work the argument both ways)

There was also a Romanian Senator in attendance speaking - (this is phonetic, we're getting their name) - Alene Tudorescu and a Greek MEP (Lamborg ?).

Romania's Orphanages, Continued

New York Times Editorial 5/14/06...............

When Nicolae Ceausescu was Romania's dictator, he outlawed contraception, the better to build the nation. Thousands of unwanted children were left to die in horrific giant orphanages. Once Communism ended, Romania began to dismantle these orphanages. But many children continue to be placed in smaller but still hellish institutions.

According to a report released recently by Mental Disability Rights International, a group based in the United States, Romania is still warehousing disabled children. Those who are providing care, though dedicated, are overwhelmed. At an institution in Timisoara, one nurse and three other staff members were giving round-the-clock care to 65 children. The staff could only keep up with feeding the children and changing diapers. Children did not leave their cribs for years, and sometimes were tied down. They did not cry, because crying did not bring a response. Instead, they sat silently. Investigators also looked at several adult psychiatric facilities that housed children in unspeakable conditions, with teenagers confined to cribs and wearing diapers.

Incredibly, foreign donors like the United States Agency for International Development, and especially the European Union, helped build this system, providing the money for 200 small new orphanages after Communism fell. Romania should have been taking children out of institutions and placing them with adoptive or foster families, with services like special schools and therapy. Parents of disabled children should also have the services they need to be able to care for their children at home.

Today, Romania acknowledges having 31,000 institutionalized children, and the real figure may be higher. A new law bans the placement of babies in institutions unless they are severely disabled. But children are classified as "severely disabled" when their problems are greater than social services can handle, even if their handicaps are minor. There are some good community programs, but they are small and limited.

Romania's prime minister has announced the creation of a task force to evaluate institutions for disabled children. This must be only a first step; it is time for Romania to bury this relic of its Communist past once and for all.

Update and Reactions

This update was provided on 5/12/2006................

Baroness Nicholson and MEP Gomes are holding a hearing in Strasbourg next week. This is no longer a battle but a war. It's quite complicated to explain what is happening in Parliament in regards to Declaration 23 and now the release of the MDRI report, but know that parties are being split and there is much lobbying by Nicholson and Gomes to not sign it and to discredit us as now it's being spinned that we are behind this report. (We should all be flattered that we are thought to have so much power and control.) I am preparing documents for our MEP allies and sending them requested information.

Meanwhile the Romanian government is now harassing Bruce Thomas, an NGO who testified and spoke to the press about the rampant sexual abuse in a local orphanage that the authorities have ignored for years. His collaboration agreement was revoked. This means he and his foundation can no longer work in the 22 state run group homes or 7 orphanages that he does programs in. Our government is currently assisting him.

Yesterday authorities from Bertzi's office arrived at the foster home of Augustina, the child whose photo was used in the invitation. They interrogated them for hours and threatened to remove her from their care. Today I've been told that authorities will be paying a call on Nannette Gonzalez, the NGO who appeared on the Nightline report and testified in Brussels and who also placed Augustina in foster care. As the other NGO involved and the pending parents of Augustina are in the U.S. I presume they won't refuse a knock on the door.

I have contacted ABC and MDRI and have alerted them to both situations. I have also contacted other media....

Please contact your elected officials and inform them of this harrassment of Americans and innocent children for speaking out on the abuses of abandoned children. Nicholson has her hands all over this and now she's found an ally in Gomes. They will stop at nothing.

Future mothers without ID to be photographed in hospital

Bucharest Daily News 5/12/06
Future mothers without ID to be photographed in hospital
Alecs Iancu

Pictures of pregnant women who are admitted to maternity wards will only be taken in the cases of women who do not have identification papers when they come to the hospital, according to the head of the Romanian Adoption Office, state secretary Theodora Bertzi.

The reason is that women without IDs are the ones who usually abandon their children immediately after birth.

"The most cases of abandonment of new-born children in maternity houses involve mothers who come to hospital without any ID and who, in most cases, give a false name to the medical staff," Bertzi explained.

The head of the Adoption Office said that this measure, from the legal point of view, does not represent a violation of human rights, given the fact that abandonment endangers the child's life. The U.N. Convention stipulates that child interest comes before the adult's interests, the state secretary added.

Representatives of the child protection system suggested on Tuesday during a meeting with Bertzi, maternity house managers and representatives of Bucharest child protection departments that pregnant women who come to hospital to give birth without ID be photographed. The measure is designed to help identification of mothers who abandon their children after birth.

Maternity house managers and doctors suggested that babies who are abandoned in the hospital be given a personal numeric code before the parents' identification, to help the medical staff obtain a state discount for the mother and child's hospitalization expenses quicker.

Although the law for child protection provided that children under 18 years old have the right to free medical assistance, expenses for abandoned children are not discounted because the Health Insurance Chamber allocates funds only for Romanian citizens with identification papers and a personal numeric code.