[Continued from HERE.]

Let’s take a look at the main issues that are being raised by the Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC), a coalition of sixty-seven human rights non- governmental organizations (NGOs) surrounding the M Fray. The following is a collection of quotes given mainly by the chairman of the HRCC:

• "The group wants to make sure Malawi's laws ‘are not bent’ for the 48-year-old singer."


• "The laws of Malawi are clear that if one wants to adopt a child one has to stay with the child for at least 18 months for assessment.'"


• "'Our law does not permit foreigners to adopt children from this country. Custody of a child can only be granted to Malawi citizens.'"



SPONSOR

          - Select One -        Main News Testimonials FAQ Resources  123

• "…though neither are such adoptions banned outright."


• "'Over 1,000 Malawian children are being adopted illegally every year and yet the laws say international adoption are not permissible … There is no system to monitor how these adopted children are being treated, wherever they are.'"


• "'Basically what we are asking the court is that we want to be joined as a party to the assessment because we have a lot of legal issues we want to raise.'"


• "'We want to use the Madonna case to make sure that the rights of children in Malawi are effectively protected.'"


• "Mandere [representative of Eye of the Child, a member of HRCC] emphasized that his group is not against Madonna adopting a Malawian child, 'But we are concerned that the correct procedures be followed and that our laws to protect children are not undermined — and our law is very clear that there is no inter-country adoption,' he said."


• "'We have nothing against Madonna. It's nothing to do with her celebrity. Material resources are just one aspect of a child's upbringing. You have to consider the moral wholesomeness and the psychological impact of an adoption,' said Mandere."


• "'The court [in waving the 18-24 month residency criteria] seems to have made a decision based on Madonna's wealth. But being a good parent is not about money, [Mandere said,] it is about caring, having heart, it's about love.'"


• "'We are trying to decide whether Madonna is fit to adopt a 13-month-old boy.'"


• "Dzonzi [chairman of the HRCC] has said his coalition wasn't trying to block the adoption, but wanted to be a party to the process."

There are plenty of good points ... and plenty of confusing contradictions.

1,000 illegal adoptions per year and no one tweaks until a celebrity adopts? They want to “use the Madonna case” but “it’s nothing to do with her celebrity.” They are not against the adoption, but adoptions by foreigners of local children are alleged to be illegal, though “not banned outright.”

Again, not one mention is made of any direct human rights issue involved in this particular case, except that the coalition believes that child-traffickers follow celebrity leads when looking for children to prey upon and will, because of exceptions made for Madonna, descend on Malawi in the future (a concern often stated by Dzonzi, but not included in the above list.)

That may be true, but I would imagine that a trafficker would prefer a place with an extremely low profile, not one on the world map because of the likes of Madonna… but then again, what do I know? I can barely drive in traffic let alone create it with children as the commodity.

[Next blog: “Rule Bending” by any other name would still smell...]