On 2005-07-30 02:50:00, Nihilanthic wrote:
"Barbe - is the embassy required to do so if requested? Is it required to notify 18 year olds in TB of this?
AFAIK, they dont :
: "I predict, Sir, that you will die either by hanging or of some vile disease."
"That all depends, sir, upon whether I embrace your principles or your mistress."
--Disraeli to Gladstone
"
Hi Niles,
I am not sure what the US Embassy is doing or not doing in Jamaica. I know in Samoa, it took a lot of effort by myself and others (including 2 trips to the South Pacific that I made in 1999) to convince the charge d'affairs to step up the number of visits to the behavior mod camps and conduct welfare checks of American expatriates notifying them of their rights.
http://www.starbulletin.com/1999/09/29/ ... .html#jumpPrinted below is some information you and others might find useful. This is the revised fact sheet, the original one mentioned in the article above was first published and put online in May 1999. It was very similar, except for the emphasis on the age at which a child may apply for a passport without their parents permission (14 years old).
Has I been in Jamaica when these teens ran, I would have made sure they were interviewed by the US Embassy and made aware of their rights as US Citizens (14 years and older) living abroad.
Does anyone know if these boys were allowed to talk to the US Embassy?
As a sidenote, I would like to emphasize that if a teen is COURT ORDERED to stay at TB but is 18 years or older, he/she has the right to return to the US and contest the court order. This was told to me by the Charge d'affair from the US Embassy in Samoa. ADULTS can not be institutionalized without due-process.
FACT SHEET: BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION FACILITIES
In almost every region of the world, there are facilities for the treatment of minor children with drug/alcohol and/or discipline problems. These private and state-owned overseas treatment centers can often be characterized as "Behavior Modification Facilities." Parents/guardians enroll their minor children in these facilities in the hope they will improve their problematic behavior.
Some facilities request parents/guardians to sign a contract for their minor child''s treatment authorizing its staff to act as their agents. These contracts purport to give staff very broad authority to take any actions deemed necessary, in the staff''s judgment, for the health, welfare and progress in the child''s program. The facilities can be located in relatively remote areas, restrict the minor child''s contact with the outside world, and employ a system of graduated levels of earned privileges and punishments to stimulate behavior change. The minor child''s communication privileges may also be limited.
The Department of State has no authority to regulate these entities, whether they are private or state-owned, and does not maintain information about their corporate or legal structures or their relationships to each other or to organizations in the United States. The host country where the facility is located is solely responsible for compliance with any local safety, health, sanitation, and educational laws and regulations, including all licensing requirements of the staff in that country. These standards may not be strictly enforced or meet the standards of similar facilities in the United States. The Department of State has, at various times, received complaints about nutrition, housing, education, health issues, and methods of punishment used at some facilities.
Prior to enrolling their minor children in such overseas "Behavior Modification Facilities," the Department of State strongly recommends parents/guardians visit the facility and thoroughly inform themselves about both the facility and the host country''s rules governing it and its employees. The Department of State also encourages parents/guardians and facility administrators to ensure that all U.S. citizen enrollees are registered with the nearest U.S. Embassy/Consulate in case emergency consular services are needed.
U.S. consular officials are not qualified to determine whether the programs offered by the facilities are of therapeutic benefit to the enrollees. When aware of such facilities, U.S. consular officials conduct periodic facility visits, sometimes accompanied by host country officials, to monitor the general welfare of the U.S. citizen enrollees.
Inquiries into the welfare and whereabouts of U.S. citizen enrollees may be initiated by contacting the closest U.S. Embassy/Consulate in the host country or the Department of State''s Overseas Citizens Services (OCS) office at the below telephone number. Also, parents may contact the closest U.S. Embassy/Consulate in the host country to inquire about the facility or speak to the Department of State''s Bureau of Consular Affairs'' OCS Specialist for that country (Tel.: 202-647-5226 or, for after hours emergencies, 202-647-5225).
The Federal Privacy Act protects U.S. citizens, including minor children, from the unauthorized disclosure of information that the U.S. Government has collected and maintained about them unless the U.S. citizen has consented in writing to the release of the information or one of the Privacy Act''s "conditions of disclosure" permits the U.S. Government to release the otherwise protected information.
While parents/guardians may at times act in loco parentis for their minor children and obtain information that is otherwise protected by the Privacy Act, it must also be noted that minor children''s explicit wishes must be respected. Thus, a U.S. consular officer who has been advised by a minor child that s/he does not want any information released to an inquiring parent/guardian should honor those wishes absent the presence of circumstances affecting the health or safety of the minor child (i.e., one of the "conditions of disclosure"). Parents/guardians should be aware that U.S. citizens 14 years of age and older have the right to apply for a passport without their parents''/guardian''s permission. In extreme emergency situations, they may also request repatriation assistance from the U.S. Government without parental consent.
January 2004
Barbe
TAUSA
