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e-3412 (Foreign affairs)
E-petition
Initiated by Curtis Smecher from Bamfield, British Columbia
Original language of petition: English
Petition to the Government of Canada
Whereas:
- L, a Canadian citizen, was abducted at age 6 in 2019, to Paraguay by her mother Aida Esquivel Servin and her mother’s boyfriend Justin Meskas;
- Alexis Smecher is her loving father;
- He has not seen his daughter in person since November 2019, or had reasonable contact despite best attempts;
- L’s parenting is shared between her mother and father under a comprehensive 2017 BC Supreme Court parenting agreement;
- Canada and Paraguay are signatories to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which emphasizes resolution within six weeks;
- Since the abduction, L’s father has exhausted all timely legal remedies in Paraguay and Canada and through the Interamerican Court of Human Rights (IACHR);
- Paraguay has not rendered a final decision on the return or protected L’s fundamental rights; and
- It is common for abducting parents to use the change of jurisdiction to deprive their children of home, family and identity, causing lasting damage.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
1- Engage Paraguay to ensure that Paraguay meets its obligations under the Hague Convention and international human rights law;
2- Engage the Interamerican Court of Human Rights and United Nations Special Envoy to resolve Paraguay’s non-compliance;
3- Establish L’s location in Paraguay;
4- Accept ongoing responsibility for bringing L and her mother home should Paraguay’s legal system prove insufficient; and
5- Communicate clearly and regularly the status of these and other available actions to L’s father.
- Open for signature
- May 11, 2021, at 3:09 p.m. (EDT)
- Closed for signature
- June 10, 2021, at 3:09 p.m. (EDT)
- Presented to the House of Commons
-
Randall Garrison
(Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke)
June 21, 2021 (Petition No. 432-01185)
