Guatemala Says Over 60% of Adoption Processes Contained Abnormalities UPDATED

The DOS alert  on April 22, 2011 was telling. It begins with “Special Advisor for Children’s Issues Ambassador Susan Jacobs will visit Guatemala from April 24-25 to accompany Senator Mary Landrieu for meetings on intercountry adoption.” Yes, Ms. Jacobs of DOS was there to accompany Senator Landrieu. She wasn’t there to lead the talks on Children’s Issues. That apparently was Senator Landrieu’s job. Senator Landrieu is the Co-chair for the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute .  Make no mistake-she was there to represent US business interests-re-opening of Guatemala to adoption. This had nothing to do with children’s interests. But let’s back up a bit first and explain some background.

CICIG

CICIG (International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala) was established  by the Government of Guatemala and the United Nations on December 12, 2006. According to their website, “Three different executive branches of the Government, each of them with a different Minister of Foreign Affairs, and two different Congresses and Constitutional Courts, both made up of different members, took part in the political decision, negotiation, signature and ratification of the Agreement creating the Commission..” It “went into effect on 4 September 2007. In 2009, the President of the Republic and the United Nations Secretary General decided, through an exchange of notes, to extend CICIG’s mandate until 4 September 2011. Congress ratified the extension on 16 July 2009.”

“Among its functions, the Commission is mandated to ascertain the existence of illegal security groups and clandestine security organizations; cooperate with the State in dismantling such groups and organizations; promote the investigation, criminal prosecution and punishment of crimes committed by their members; and, finally, recommend to the State the adoption of public policies aimed at eradicating such groups and organizations and preventing their reorganization. In addition to investigating cases contemplated in its mandate, the Commission may act as a complementary prosecutor in these cases and has the authority to initiate criminal and/or disciplinary actions before relevant authorities against public servants who obstruct the Commission’s activities or functions and thus contribute to impunity.

By the nature of the creation Agreement, CICIG is an independent body from the political, organizational and financial standpoint, as its budget is funded entirely through voluntary contributions from the international community.”

“The Commission was installed thanks to the financial support provided by organizations such as FOSI, Soros and the European Union, and the governments of 12 countries: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. With these voluntary contributions and the provision of experienced security and investigation specialists by the governments of Chile, Colombia, France, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Uruguay, the Commission is now incorporated by 156 national and international officials.” You can read more about their dangerous investigations here . Let’s get back to adoption…

So this independent body was tasked with tracking some heinous criminals. And yes, that includes those involved with international adoption.

CICIG’s Report

CICIG released a scathing report called Report on Players Involved in the Illegal Adoption Process in Guatemala since the Entry into Force of the Adoption Law  in December 2010 (the English version became available in April 2011.) You can read the 115-page pdf in English here. By the title, you can guess that it wasn’t a positive report.

Page 7, for instance, says “CICIG analyzed various allegedly criminal facts and identified different proceedings used by illegal networks engaged in trafficking for purposes of irregular adoption. These networks are made up, among others, of snatchers (“jaladoras”) who kidnap or “buy” children from their birth mothers. In some cases, they threaten, coerce or deceive the mothers into giving their children up for adoption. They are associated with notaries who process the adoptions. Children are sometimes kidnapped and given fake identity papers. Women are used to supplant birth mothers through forged identity documents. For this purpose, both notaries and snatchers, who are usually at the core of these networks, rely on doctors, midwives, registrars of vital statistics in different municipalities and DNA laboratories, where the relevant tests are also falsified.

An analysis of adoptions handled during the transition period has also shown that notaries involved in serious irregularities continue to serve as local representatives or facilitators of international adoption agencies, using the methods described above to obtain children who meet certain characteristics.

Another model, known as “child laundering”, consists of presenting to a Court for Children and Adolescents children who were stolen or bought, claiming that they were abandoned, getting the court to declare them abandoned and thus beginning the adoption process without having to forge the child’s or the mother’s documents. This is possible because neither the judges nor PGN order investigations to determine the background or try to locate the allegedly abandoned child’s biological family.

In other cases, judges for children and adolescents would order caregivers, children’s homes and homes that were not accredited to provide shelter and care for children. Their legal representatives would later carry out the adoption process.

In addition to judges involved in child laundering activities or who allow these illegal actions by failing to act (who in some cases have been stripped of immunity through motions for impeachment), the CICIG investigation found that these criminal networks used other actors in State institutions to facilitate illegal adoptions during the transition period.

PGN gave its consent to adoption proceedings that were begun by notaries after the entry into force of the new law, or that were never registered with NAC, or where the documentation clearly showed that changes had been made to give false identities to some of the parties involved, among others.

The verification process included actions to prevent waiver of the mother’s rights or to remedy obvious flaws, such as misrepresentations in the documentation. It found that many PGN and NAC officials who took part in the verification and control process sought to remedy the irregularities, instead of analyzing the defects or offenses that led to the suspected irregularities. In some cases, these administrative control offices even agreed and allowed the adoption of children whose illegal origin was already under investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Public Ministry or Ministry of Justice). There are irregularities in about 60% of the cases handled during the transition period. However, in over 90% of the cases, PGN ruled that the adoption could proceed. “[emphasis Rally]

“In mid-2010, six lawyers of the Solicitor General’s Office and a judge for Children and Adolescents were being investigated by the Office of the Solicitor General.

This leads to the conclusion that serious crimes contemplated in the Guatemalan Penal Code and the Law against Organized Crime: unlawful association, conspiracy, trafficking for the purpose of illegal adoption, child abduction, material misrepresentation, forgery and others, were committed during the transition period.

Despite these control weaknesses, judicial, PGN and NAC officials found problems in several cases during the transition period. These cases (approximately 300) were pending as of April 2010. CICIG found that serious flaws in these cases should mean that notaries could not finish processing most of them as planned, or even that the adoptions could not be approved.

Obvious irregularities are also inherent to the transition process itself with regard with adoptions that are still pending. At least 40% of these adoptions were commenced after the entry into force of the Adoption Law; under this law, they should be processed in accordance with the rules, terms and principles of the new legislation. On the other hand, more than 20% of pending adoptions are being investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and it is likely that this percentage will increase as review of the cases continues. Finally, in certain cases, the children have been returned to their mothers because they gave up the adoption or there is evidence that they had been coerced.”

Senator Landrieu

Last week, she gave some interviews while in Guatemala that questioned this CICIG report. CICIG issued a challenge to her found here.

“PRESS RELEASE 030

CICIG REQUESTS PUBLIC EXPLANATION FROM SENATOR LANDRIEU (LOUISIANA STATE, U.S.A.) CONCERNING COMMENTS MADE ON REPORT OF ILLEGAL ADOPTIONS IN GUATEMALA.

During her visit to Guatemala, the Senator met with various authorities responsible for child protection and manifested her disagreement with the CICIG´s report on criminal structures involved in illegal adoptions.

Guatemala, 27 April 2011. The Guatemalan media edition of Prensa Libre, dated 26 April 2011 (pages 4 and 5), published a story about the visit of U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu which reads: “Landrieu said she does not share all of CICIG´s findings presented in a report in late 2010, detailing abnormalities in the adoption processes which are still in transition between the previous and the current law.”

The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala publicly requests Senator Landrieu to provide evidence to the Guatemalan society on which she bases her comments to disqualify the content of the “Report on actors involved in the process of illegal adoptions in Guatemala.” She was also invited to explain to the Guatemalan society her position concerning the numerous adoptions of children illegally taken away from their biological parents.

CICIG informs the public opinion that the report is a result of the work of a team of professional experts who analyzed for 18 months over 3,342 notarial notices from the records of the Attorney General’s Office (PGN) related to adoption processes: 1,412 issued by the PGN and the National Council on Adoptions (CNA); 879 requests and protection measure processes from the Youth and Children Courts; and 153 declarations of adoptability issued by the Courts of Children and Adolescents. Furthermore, more than 50 criminal investigations conducted by the Public Ministry (MP) were analyzed in relation to the crime of trafficking in persons for illegal adoption.

From the analysis of the data gathered, it was found that over 60% of the processes for adoption contained abnormalities such as theft and illegal purchase/sale of children, threats and deception to biological mothers, and forgery of documents to carry out “adoption processes” both before and after the entry into force of the Adoption Law (31 December 2007). In many cases there are multiple and clear indications that the illegal procedures were promoted by transnational organized crime who acted along with the participation or acquiescence of state officials. Currently, the Public Ministry investigates more than 325 adoption processes which present serious irregularities.

In its report, the CICIG is able to determine the modus operandi of transnational organized crime networks involved in trafficking of children through illegal adoptions. Since that report, the CICIG was also able to determine that an international adoption in Guatemala, rather than representing a way of procuring a family to an unprotected child, often has become a mechanism for delivering children to those who request and pay, turning such institution into a lucrative form of human trafficking which is an offense under the Penal Code in Guatemala.

Among the many findings stated in the CICIG report, it is established that only 10% of Guatemalan children who were placed for adoption between 2007 and 2010 were in an orphaned or abandoned situation. [emphasis Rally]

Moreover, specific cases were identified in which the representatives and/or facilitators of international adoption agencies in Guatemala were aware of the illicit origin of the children placed for adoption and yet continued illegal processes through altered DNA tests, deception and threats to biological mothers, and the use of forged documents.

CICIG supports that the international adoptions are an option of life for those children who need it. However, given that the pending processes have serious irregularities, CICIG supports the position of PGN, CNA and MP – competent institutions on the issue – and in particular promotes that each adoption process approved individually, as a minimum, should establish the following: (1) lawful origin of the child; (2) ratification of the biological mother´s consent; (3) determination of paternity through DNA testing; and (4) veracity of the identity of the child and the mother.

CICIG reiterates its firm commitment to continue supporting the Guatemalan institutions, including the Attorney General’s Office, the National Council on Adoptions and the Public Ministry, in its fight to eradicate illegal adoptions and to combat impunity. ”

Head-in-the-Sand Reactions to Landrieu’s Visit

Rep. Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann gave the following statement :”Washington, Apr 25 – Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN-06), the Republican Co-Chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, issued the following statement calling on the government of Guatemala to reopen intercountry adoptions:

“Everyone benefits when children can be cared for in permanent loving families. On behalf of Minnesota families waiting for children for whom they’ve prayed, and on behalf of children in Guatemala who have dreamt of the moment when they could settle down with the parents with whom they’ve been corresponding – many for nearly four years – I urge Guatemala’s government to not let adoptions be stagnant for another day.”

Bachmann, a mother of five children and 23 foster children, is acutely aware of the strain on many Minnesotans who are waiting to provide forever families to Guatemalan children. Guatemala closed the door on intercountry adoptions in 2007. Some members of the bipartisan Congressional Coalition on Adoption are in Guatemala interacting with officials. Bachmann was unable to attend, but because of the importance of the issue she sent her Deputy Chief of Staff, Brooke Bialke, to travel with the delegation, which is in Guatemala April 22-27. ”

Center for Adoption Policy (CAP)
“May 3, 2011. Senator Landrieu Speaks Out in Guatemala. Senator Mary Landrieu recently returned from a trip to Gautemala where she spoke out against the delays in pipeline adoptions as well as the current closure of international adoption from that country. The Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre quotes Senator Landrieu as saying: “If someone in the adoption system is doing wrongful things, close the agency and put them behind bars, but in my opinion, adoption processes shouldn’t be closed, because it hurts so many children.” (“Si alguien en el sistema de adopciones está haciendo mal las cosas, se cierra la agencia y se coloca detrás de las rejas, pero en mi opinión no hay que cerrar el proceso de adopciones, porque eso daña mucho a los niños.”) We salute the Senator for speaking on behalf of unparented children. ”

JCICS in Guatemala 2007-2008

Lastly, don’t forget this: During that 2007-2010 timeframe when only 10% of children being referred were abandoned or orphaned according to the CICIG report, 2007 JCICS Meeting Notes indicate that they were”instrumental in having a letter from 203 members of Congress be sent to President Berger, UNICEF in Guatemala & NY. Joint Council is working with DOS to help them understand the proposal and support it along with the Hague Permanent Bureau. It should be officially introduced into Guatemalan Congress next week.”

In JCICS’March 2008 Meeting Notes, their President, Tom DiFilipo ” just returned from a trip with the 2007 caucus co-chairs, who were in place at the time the meeting was scheduled. They included Bruce Mossberg of Bethany Christian Services, Margaret Orr of Small Miracles and Chris Huber of FTIA.”

Update: On June 2, 2011, US Department of State releases their commentary on CICIG report and Susana Luarca’s arrest, and the US case processing update. Text pasted below:
Guatemala DOS Update
“Notice: Guatemala June 2011 Listserv Update

Office of Children’s Issues Meeting with the Consejo Nacional de Adopciones in Washington, DC on April 14, 2011On April 14, 2011, the Office of Children’s Issues (CI) met with: Elizabeth de Larios, President of the Consejo Nacional de Adopciones (CNA); Marilys Barrientos de Estrada, and Fernando de la Cerda of the Guatemalan Embassy in CI’s office in Washington, DC. Ambassador Susan Jacobs, the Director of Children’s Issues, the Adoption Unit Chief, and other CI adoption unit staff represented the CI in the meeting. The U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) Deputy Director of International Operations Division, Wally Bird, attended as well.

Representatives of CI and USCIS expressed the U.S. Government’s (USG) interest in resolving the estimated hundreds of grandfathered adoption cases. We specifically raised concerns regarding cases under CNA processing authority, which have been stagnant since mid-2010. The CNA stated again that cases placed under its authority must be processed in accordance with the December 2007 law, which requires the CNA to seek biological and domestic placement options prior to approving an intercountry adoption. In addition, the CNA also informed us that many of the cases it has reviewed do not meet other procedural and substantive requirements of the new December 2007 law.

CI pointed out that the December 2007 law provided for continued processing of transition cases. Specifically, Article 56 of the December 2007 law states that cases in progress prior to December 31, 2007, and registered by February 1, 2008, may proceed pursuant to processes in place at the time of case initiation (notarial). CI expressed concern that cases that have been under CNA processing for over 3 years are now no longer being treated as transition cases. While we respect the CNA’s right and responsibility to apply Guatemalan law, we urged the CNA to continue to move forward on these cases, in the best interests of the children.

During the meeting CI also provided CNA with a draft letter of assurance that U.S. immigration process is available for CNA cases that meet U.S. grandfathering provisions. We had committed to providing this letter during our meetings in Guatemala in March 2011. CNA President De Larios reviewed and generally agreed with the language of the letter, but requested several additions. Both parties concluded that a single letter could cover the group of cases identified as ready to move forward.

May 5, 2011 meeting with the CNA and current status of the letter of assurance” for cases with the CNAFollowing the April 14, 2011 meeting, the Director of the Office of Children’s Issues finalized a letter of assurance, which incorporated CNA’s previously stated expectations. The Consul General delivered this letter to the CNA on May 5, 2011. However, the CNA responded that it required additional language on four new points. CI is expeditiously working on a revised version of the letter addressing CNA’s new requirements.

The CNA advised that it has identified 9 cases as ready to proceed once they accept the language of the letter. They also indicated that there are 27 total cases with 31 children under CNA processing authority. The CNA repeated its previous statements that not all cases under its authority will be able to proceed to intercountry adoption and that it will notify U.S. citizen prospective adoptive parents with cases that cannot proceed.

Senator Mary Landrieu and Ambassador Susan Jacobs trip to Guatemala April 18-19, 2011Ambassador Susan Jacobs travelled to Guatemala from April 24-27, 2011 to attend meetings with a delegation led by Senator Mary Landrieu of Lousiana. The delegation attended meetings with: Ministerio Publico (MP); the Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala (CICIG); the Procuraduría General de la Nacion (PGN); CNA; Guatemalan President Colom; and members of the Guatemalan Congress. Senator Landrieu expressed her desire for the pending adoption cases to be resolved and children placed with the U.S. families with whom they had been matched.

Working Group updateGuatemalan authorities have advised us that the working group (known as the “mesa tecnica” in Spanish) has continued to meet weekly. The U.S. Embassy continues to communicate with each of the institutions that participate in the working group on a regular basis.

In its April 19 meeting with Senator Landrieu and Ambassador Jacobs, the CNA provided information about cases reviewed by the working group to date. Though not all cases appear to be connected to U.S. grandfathered families, approximately 60 cases involving U.S. citizens have undergone an initial review by the working group since January 2011. The CNA information indicates the following on the cases reviewed by the working group:

• 6 cases were approved to proceed to final adoption processing as notarial cases
• 12 cases are pending additional processing
• 18 cases are pending under the CNA’s protection processing authority
• 13 cases resulted in the child being placed with the biological family
• 6 cases resulted in the child being placed in domestic adoption proceedings
• 2 cases were completed and the child is already in the U.S.
• 3 of the cases did not meet transition requirements.

Important note: The information provided was incomplete, somewhat unclear, and is unconfirmed. We have asked the CNA and the PGN to inform families directly of significant case developments, and have asked that the two agencies provide us with copies of the notices to families, so that we can ensure that families receive this information. To date, the two agencies have not provided us with copies of the notice to families of case specific decisions, but we continue to request it.

Adoption Visas issued by the U.S. Embassy in 2011Since January 1, 2011 the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy has issued 16 IR3 adoption visas for cases which had completed all adoption processing including I-600 approval from USCIS. The numbers of visas issued each month from January 2011 to May 2011 are as follows:

January 2011: 2
February 2011: 3
March 2011: 7
April 2011: 3
May 2011 (as of May 15): 1

Please note that the numbers represent only those cases that have completed ALL Guatemalan processing, including: receiving a final adoption decree; new birth certificate; Guatemalan passport; and for which a complete Form I-600 petition has been filed with and approved by USCIS. Only after all of these steps are completed, USCIS transfers the case file to the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy for visa processing. The above figures represent only the numbers of cases which have completed ALL processing steps with Guatemalan authorities, USCIS- Guatemala, and the Consular Section.

USCIS Status of Remaining Grandfathered CasesAs of April 30, 2011, USCIS Guatemala had 378 active cases. (Note: This total may include cases in which the petitioner has subsequently decided to abandon the case but did not inform USCIS.) Of these cases:

• 339 were pre-approved and pending action by the Government of Guatemala; awaiting final adoption documents
• 21 were pending U.S. petitioner action (i.e. DNA, RFE response, etc.)
• 2 cases were pending USCIS processing
• 2 cases pending other U.S. Government action
• 2 cases were pending Consular Section visa interview

In the month of April 2011, USCIS Guatemala received final Guatemalan adoption documents for 2 cases AND approved 2 Form I-600 petitions.

• If the documents are sufficient, the case is processed quickly and referred to Consular Section for visa appointment.
• If the final documents do not provide sufficient information to establish that the child meets the definition of an orphan under U.S. immigration law, USCIS Guatemala City issues a Request for Evidence (RFE).

USCIS Guatemala received 11 sets of final documents in from January through April, 2011.

Other newsCICIG announced in a press release that lawyer Susana Luarca Saracho was arrested in her residence on May 6, 2010 and charged with illicit association, trafficking in persons for the purpose of illegal adoptions, and use of false documents in connection with her involvement with Asociación Primavera. In addition, the CICIG press release announced that Alma Beatriz Valle Flores de Mejia, also connected with Asociación Primavera, was arrested on April 6 on similar charges. The link (in Spanish) can be found on CICIG’s website at http://www.s21.com.gt/opinion/2011/05/08/adopciones-malas-interpretaciones.”

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