Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06YEREVAN1633
2006-11-21 11:42:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Yerevan
Cable title:  

ARMENIA RATIFIES HAGUE CONVENTION ON INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION

Tags:  CACS PGOV PHUM KTIA KOCI KPAO AM 
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VZCZCXRO4985
PP RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHYE #1633/01 3251142
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211142Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4443
RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT 1373
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001633 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/OCS/CI
DEPT ALSO FOR EUR/CARC, EUR/PPD, ECA
FRANKFURT FOR RSC/RCO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CACS PGOV PHUM KTIA KOCI KPAO AM
SUBJECT: ARMENIA RATIFIES HAGUE CONVENTION ON INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION

REF: 05 YEREVAN 2042

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001633

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/OCS/CI
DEPT ALSO FOR EUR/CARC, EUR/PPD, ECA
FRANKFURT FOR RSC/RCO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CACS PGOV PHUM KTIA KOCI KPAO AM
SUBJECT: ARMENIA RATIFIES HAGUE CONVENTION ON INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION

REF: 05 YEREVAN 2042


1. SUMMARY: On November 14, President Kocharian signed into law the
bill ratifying the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. The
GOAM had worked toward ratification for several years, but relevant
agencies were divided on whether to ratify first and then work on
implementation or implement first and then ratify. UNICEF and other
international organizations had pushed for immediate ratification.
A major turning point in the government's decision came after an
Embassy IVP which sent key staff from the ministries involved to the
U.S. to meet with the U.S. Hague Implementation team, among others.
We believe that, in the absence of typical bureaucratic delays,
Armenia is in a good position to come into compliance quickly
because of recently-passed family legislation that was developed
with eventual Convention ratification in mind. END SUMMARY.



2. The National Assembly had voted for ratification on October 23.
This action was the culmination of several years of debate and
deadlock within the ministries that implement adoption law in
Armenia: principally the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Labor
and Social Issues. The Ministry of Labor and Social Issues had
wanted to have all implementing regulations in place prior to
ratification.


3. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also plays a role in foreign
adoptions. Foreign adoptions account for almost half of all
adoptions in Armenia. According to Armenia's Statistical Service,
in 2005 79 children were adopted, 32 by foreign citizens. American
citizens account for most foreign adoptive parents. Embassy
statistics show that in calendar year 2005, Amcits adopted 35
Armenian children. Canadian, French and Italian citizens also
consistently adopt significant numbers of Armenian children.


4. The GOAM now must conduct a thorough legislative review and
develop an implementation plan and time-table. UNICEF
representatives said they believed the legislative gaps would be
few, based on an overview legal analysis conducted recently. The
GOAM adopted a new Family Law in 2004, with the help of UNICEF, the

adoption provisions of which were aimed at Hague Convention
compliance. The GOAM has been slow to implement these provisions,
however. In the summer of 2005, they put into practice a provision
giving the local court the final say on each adoption. The Ministry
of Justice, which oversees the courts, is still in the process of
developing guidance for judges, and UNICEF stands ready to provide
training for judges as soon as the Ministry of Justice finalizes the
guidance.


5. The major provision of the 2004 Family Law for which implementing
regulations have yet to be written is the registration (or even just
acknowledgement) of adoption facilitators, service providers and
agencies. That issue is still the subject of lively debate among
the government officials involved in adoption policy-making. The
Minister of Justice, who has the most influence on this decision,
has thus far rejected all proposals, claiming he does not want
adoption to become a business. He ignores the fact that in the
current unregulated climate, adoption is big business for
unscrupulous facilitators.


6. Public Affairs Section's ECA American Speaker program brought
adoption attorney Irene Steffas to Armenia for two weeks in November

2005. She met with key personnel from the Ministries of Justice,
Labor and Social Issues, and Foreign Affairs to discuss the U.S.
model and U.S. efforts to implement the Hague Convention. The March
2006 IVP sent many of those same people to the U.S. to meet with the
Hague Convention implementation office in CA/OCS/CI, officials at
BCIS and to visit adoption agencies, social service providers and
adopted children in two different communities. Participants
returned with a much more favorable view of the outcome and
safeguards for international adoption and the benefits of Hague
Convention ratification.


7. Comment: After years of internal debate and periodic U.S.
Embassy nudging, the government's decision to ratify the Hague
Convention on Intercountry Adoption is a significant step forward
but not the last step in the process. As with many other treaties
and conventions, the government's commitment to the adoption
convention can only be judged by implementation. This will be a
long road. Despite the best interests of the children involved,
adoptions by foreign parents -- particularly those who have no
Armenian ancestry -- is generally scorned as a shameful affront to
Armenian patrimony. International adoption is also an opportunity
for Armenia's adoption bureaucracy, the numerous low- and high-level
officials who must approve each step of the weighty process, to
profit from pretty graft. For this reason, implementation will be
an uphill battle in which we will use the Hague Convention as our
benchmark.


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GODFREY