PHOENIX (AP) — A former Arizona politician must report to prison Thursday to begin serving the first of three sentences for running an illegal adoption scheme that paid pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to come to the U.S. to give up their babies.

Paul Petersen, a Republican who served as Maricopa County assessor for six years and also worked as an adoption attorney, was sentenced to six years after pleading guilty in federal court in Arkansas to conspiring to commit human smuggling.

Petersen, who has acknowledged running the adoption scheme, is awaiting sentencing in state courts in Arizona for fraud convictions and in Utah for human smuggling and other convictions. Sentencing dates have not yet been set for those cases.

Prosecutors have said Petersen illegally paid women from the Pacific island nation to give up their babies in at least 70 adoption cases in Arizona, Utah and Arkansas. Marshall Islands citizens have been prohibited from traveling to the U.S. for adoption purposes since 2003.

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From: MBX Euro-Ombudsman

Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2021 at 20:08

Subject: Complaint 202100127?- Acknowledgement of receipt [CMSEO]:0034754

To: Arun DOHLE

European Ombudsman

---------- Forwarded message ---------

From: ACT

Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2021 at 13:30

Subject: Fwd: reply from ambassador

To:

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Thursday said it would hear next week a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to remove "anomalies" in the grounds of adoption and guardianship and making them uniform for all citizens.

The plea came up for hearing before a bench, comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, which said that the matter be listed next week.

The plea, filed by advocate and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, has sought to declare that the "discriminatory grounds" of adoption and guardianship are violative of Articles 14, 15, 21 of the Constitution and also to frame "uniform guidelines" for adoption and guardianship for all citizens.

Article 14 of the Constitution deals with equality before the law, Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth and Article 21 deals with protection of life and personal liberty.

The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, has alleged that current practice of adoption is blatantly discriminatory as Hindus have a codified law of adoption but Muslims, Christians and Parsis don't.

The Department of Social Welfare has debunked the notion that the application process for child adoption is strict and cumbersome.

This comes on the back of the arrest of some 11 persons in connection with baby harvesting and human trafficking at some health centres in Accra.

The group sold two baby boys for GHS30,000 and GHS28,000 respectively.

The Deputy Director in-charge of Child and Family Welfare at the Department of Social Welfare, Fred Sakyi Boafo explained that “the application form costs GHS70 and after going through the process one will spend on the average GHS1,200 “.

He argued that this process is seamless and “adoption from the start to the end should not be less than three months.”

The embattled chief executive of Oranga Tamariki has stepped down, saying the focus of the story has become about her, rather than the well-being of New Zealand’s most vulnerable children.

Gráinne Moss’s resignation follows growing concern about the uplift of M?ori babies, and the high number of M?ori children in care – they account for 65% of kids in state care though M?ori comprise just 16.5% of the country’s population.

A two-part investigation by the office of the children’s commissioner into Oranga Tamariki released at the end of last year found that M?ori infants were five times more likely to be taken into state custody than non-M?ori, often in traumatic circumstances and including from maternity wards.

Meng Foon, the human rights commissioner, noted that the report highlighted persistent inequities that affect M?ori, including intergenerational harm being done to M?ori children and wh?nau (family), and how this collides with entrenched disadvantage, colonisation and systemic bias.

“Such systemic bias needs to go,” Foon said.

The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned hearing on a petition filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking removal of anomalies in the grounds of adoption and guardianship and making them uniform for all citizens.

The matter was listed before the bench headed by the Chief Justice S.A. Bobde. The Court told the petitioner’s lawyer that a similar matter was dismissed in 2019. The Court asked petitioner to refer to that order and come back next week. Senior Advocate Anjana Prakash appeared for the petitioner. The matter will be considered next week.

The Court has directed to list the matter next week along with record of Writ Petition (Civil) No. 598 of 2019. Justice A.S. Bopanna and Justice V. Ramasubramanian were also part of the bench who passed the order.

The petition has been filed by BJP leader and spokesperson Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who sought directions to declare the grounds of adoption and guardianship under different acts based on different religions per se as discriminatory.

The petitioner has submitted that Several acts such as Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, The Guardians and Wards Act 1890, Hindu Minority and Guardianship act and personal laws of Muslims Christians and Parasis contain different provisions for adoption and guardianship, which are against gender equality, dignity of women and children.

The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned hearing on a petition filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking removal of anomalies in the grounds of adoption and guardianship and making them uniform for all citizens.

The matter was listed before the bench headed by the Chief Justice S.A. Bobde. The Court told the petitioner’s lawyer that a similar matter was dismissed in 2019. The Court asked petitioner to refer to that order and come back next week. Senior Advocate Anjana Prakash appeared for the petitioner. The matter will be considered next week.

The Court has directed to list the matter next week along with record of Writ Petition (Civil) No. 598 of 2019. Justice A.S. Bopanna and Justice V. Ramasubramanian were also part of the bench who passed the order.

The petition has been filed by BJP leader and spokesperson Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who sought directions to declare the grounds of adoption and guardianship under different acts based on different religions per se as discriminatory.

The petitioner has submitted that Several acts such as Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, The Guardians and Wards Act 1890, Hindu Minority and Guardianship act and personal laws of Muslims Christians and Parasis contain different provisions for adoption and guardianship, which are against gender equality, dignity of women and children.

Children’s rights groups in South Korea have condemned comments by President Moon Jae-in suggesting that adoptive parents who do not get along with a child should be able to “change” it for another one.

Mr Moon was responding to a question at a press conference on Monday about the government’s efforts to prevent child abuse in light of the death late last year of a 16-month-old girl, allegedly at the hands of her adoptive parents.

The case has provoked outrage in South Korea, with the adopted mother of Jung-in charged with murder on January 13. The woman, identified only by her family name, Jang, was originally charged with fatal child abuse and neglect in December.

Commenting on the case, Mr Moon said, “Even after adoption, the adoptive parents need to check if the adoption is working out for them. So there should be measures allowing them to cancel the adoption or, if they still want to adopt a child, then they should be able to change the child."

The press conference, which was being broadcast live on national television, triggered an immediate response, with critics saying the president was suggesting that children were “goods” that could be returned for a refund.

PHOENIX -- A former Arizona politician must report to prison Thursday to begin serving the first of three sentences for running an illegal adoption scheme that paid pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to come to the U.S. to give up their babies.

Paul Petersen, a Republican who served as Maricopa County assessor for six years and also worked as an adoption attorney, was sentenced to six years after pleading guilty in federal court in Arkansas to conspiring to commit human smuggling.

Petersen, who has acknowledged running the adoption scheme, is awaiting sentencing in state courts in Arizona for fraud convictions and in Utah for human smuggling and other convictions. Sentencing dates have not yet been set for those cases.

Prosecutors have said Petersen illegally paid women from the Pacific island nation to give up their babies in at least 70 adoption cases in Arizona, Utah and Arkansas. Marshall Islands citizens have been prohibited from traveling to the U.S. for adoption purposes since 2003.

Petersen’s attorney, Kurt Altman, did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.