The Hague Convention

HAGUE CONFERENCE ON PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW
CONVENTION ON THE CIVIL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION
(Concluded October 25, 1980)

CHAPTER I - SCOPE OF THE CONVENTION

Article 3

The removal or the retention of a child is to be considered wrongful where -
a) it is in breach of rights of custody attributed to a person, an institution or any other body, either jointly or alone, under the law of the State in which the child was habitually resident immediately before the removal or retention; and
b) at the time of removal or retention those rights were actually exercised, either jointly or alone, or would have been so exercised but for the removal or retention.

Article 5

For the purposes of this Convention -
b) "rights of access" shall include the right to take a child for a limited period of time to a place other than the child's habitual residence.

dear walter,

i am a close friend of michael hickman, a south african father of two children who also have been abducted to germany, already five and a half years ago. i don't know whether he contacted you already or not, but please, could you help by refer a link to his homepage www.hickman.co.za so people visiting your site will also hear about michaels tragic story. It should be our all goal to widespread as far all information concerning child abduction! Thanks so much! For my part, I am german citizen, currently living in France and very ashamed of the practices of german justice system concerning child abduction. I will support you and any organisation concerning this issue in any way I can.

Next step will be the hunger strike in Berlin, all of you going keep the spirits up, their is tremendous support, it's for your children!

Sincerely,

Anja Dietrich

Michael Hickman 135 Torquay Avenue, Durban 4052, South Africa
Email: hickman@dbnmail.co.za Tel: +27 31 4662043 Fax: +27 31 4665746 Mobile: +27 82 5729866

11.07.01

Bundeskanzler Gerhard Schröder
Bundeskanzleramt
Dienststelle Berlin
Schlossplatz 1
10178 Berlin
Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Dear Bundeskanzler Schröder,

I would like to bring to your attention the following very disturbing trend, which once again brings us Germans into disrepute World wide.

As part of our campaign to make people aware of the plight of my two children John-Michael and Sebastian Hickman and of nearly 2 million other children who are being denied their basic human rights in Germany I have been sending out press releases to German politicians in Niedersachsen.

In response to these press releases I have had only negative reactions and abuse from the politicians concerned. The worst being this one from a politician at local government level from the city of Wilhelmshaven.

I copy the original emails directly to this letter for your information.

----- Original Message -----
From: Joachim Muench <Jo.Muench@t-online.de>
To: <michael@hickman.co.za>
Sent: 10 July, 2001 20:59
Subject: Re: Mahatma Gandhi: First they ignore you - Then they laugh at you - Then they fight you - Then you win.

 

> KISS MY ASS you fucking michael hickman

Original Message -----
From: Joachim <Jo.Muench@t-online.de>
To: michael hickman <michael@hickman.co.za>
Sent: 10 July, 2001 21:04
Subject: Re: Mahatma Gandhi: First they ignore you - Then they laugh at you - Then they fight you - Then you win.

> You are a fucking silly Idiot......

Such abuse of someone who is technically viewed as a foreigner although of German heritage certainly does not go down well in the outside World.

It is also not in line with your own personal policy on the treatment of foreigners and contributes very much to the dislike of us Germans by so many in the outside World.

I entrust that you will take appropriate steps to rectify the situation
 
Yours respectfully
Michael Hickman