Associated Press, 14.07.2001
Hunger Strikers Protest German Child Custody Rules By Stephen Graham
BERLIN (AP) - A group of parents from France and South Africa held a rally
Saturday drawing support for their hunger strike to demand Germany give them
greater access to their children caught up in custody battles here. The
protesters' complaints echo those of many foreign parents - including Americans
- estranged from German spouses, who say German courts unfairly favor their own
citizens in custody disputes. The issue has come up in talks between U.S. and German
leaders. Five French citizens and a South African who launched a hunger strike
on Wednesday, held a rally Saturday in Berlin's Alexanderplatz square, planning to hold similar protests
daily. "We're protesting for the right to see our children, for their
right to have both parents," Olivier Karrer
said. Karrer, who lives in France, said a German
court unfairly denied him custody of his son after he and partner separated
three years ago. He says he has been allowed only minimal contact since with
the boy, now 7. About 50 German parents joined the rally. Three German fathers
joined the hunger strikers, who have been drinking only sugared water. Dozens
of estranged parents from the United States and France have complained
in recent years that German justice is stacked against them - even in cases
where children have been illegally taken from their homes in other countrie In particular, delays in bringing custody cases to
court mean that children grow accustomed to Germany. Courts have in
turn cited that as a reason not to award custody to a parent living abroad.
German and U.S. officials set up a working group on trans-Atlantic custody
questions after former President Clinton raised U.S. concerns with Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder in June last year. German officials
insist they cannot interfere with decisions taken by the courts. "The
important thing is that parents in these often tragic cases know the
authorities are doing what they can," said Thomas Weber, a spokesman for
the German Justice Ministry. Hunger striker Michael Hickman, a 48-year-old
environmental consultant from Durban, South Africa, said they hoped
the involvement of German parents in Saturday's protest will help bring more
far-reaching change. "What laws there are, are not even enforced by the
judges," said Hickman who says legal wrangles have denied him regular
access to his two young sons for more than five years.