Day 119 to 137 Amsterdam - On the Road - to Justice

Well, the past three weeks have been extraordinary. It all commenced with an anonymous email on 6th September 2010 when I stopped at a small town called Weiler zum Stein, which is about 35km east of Stuttgart (Germany). I was cycling from Nurnberg to Stuttgart to meet with another parent whose children were also abducted about 10 years ago. From Stuttgart I’d planned to cycle south to Austria & Switzerland before cycling further south to take advantage of the warmer climate to keep cycling as the weather cooled in the northern part of Europe.

Austria & Switzerland were on my list of possibilities for where Andrew might be as were several other countries. This list was based on criteria that had been developed during the planning stages of the ‘On the Road’ bicycle component of the ‘Global Search for Andrew Campaign’. Instead, I suddenly found myself on a train heading 500 km north to Amsterdam in The Netherlands!

It’s ironic that Amsterdam was a city I’d cycled through a couple of months previously – partly because it matched the criteria used to plan the journey, & partly because of its proximity to Den Haag, which is the headquarters of the United Nations Permanent Bureau of The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Convention) to whom I had delivered a letter on behalf of the parents of IPCA victims around the world.

There was something about Amsterdam that caught my attention during my first visit. I decided when I left that if no information had come to light about Andrew by the time I’d got to the southern parts of Europe I would return to make more detailed enquiries & to seek more media attention in The Netherlands generally.

Andrew is now safe & secure. He is very pleased to be seeing me again & the psychologists are quite happy with how quickly he is re-establishing the bond with me that had been weakened (but not broken) for such a long time.

Despite all the efforts by what now appears to be many people to transform Andrew into someone he isn’t, he resisted them all. When he was told his name was Timothy he said “No! My name is Andrew”. When he was told by these people his family name was Welsh he rejected their efforts by saying “No! My name is Thompson”. This is an amazing feat of resistance from a young child whose entire identity & former life were being systematically erased by adults who were in positions of extreme power & influence over him.

International media attention is now focusing on how a woman with no criminal record; no previous criminal activity, & no previous connections to underworld figures or extremist groups could remain in hiding with such a young child for such a long time. I’ve also formally & publicly called on law enforcement agencies to carry out investigations into recent claims in The Australian newspaper that people & organisations in Australia & several other countries were actively involved in keeping Andrew hidden & were knowingly subjecting him to on-going emotional & psychological abuse.

If these claims are found to be true, I expect these people (who are nothing more than child abusers themselves if the claims are in fact true) & the organisations they are involved with to be held to account & brought to justice for the roles they’ve played in systematically abusing a very young child & for their gross violations of his international human rights. I’m aware of at least one person who is now trying to get as far away from this situation as possible but I suspect it’s already too late for that. I hope it’s too late for all the others as well.

Although I can’t help feeling a need for some retribution against these people & organisations for the harm they’ve caused to Andrew & to the many other people who know & love him, my primary focus now is on Andrew. It’s the job of law enforcement professionals & the criminal justice system to focus on the criminal aspects of his abduction & disappearance.

Andrew & I have seen each other twice since he was located by Amsterdam Police & a third visit is scheduled for this week. Both visits were very positive. Andrew was pleased to see me. Like all kids, he wants his dad in his life. Andrew is now being counselled about his ordeal by professional child psychologists & is being taken through a carefully-planned & well-managed process of reunification with me.

The frequency & length of our visits will increase as the psychologists see fit given the extraordinary circumstances Andrew had been placed in for such a long time. Andrew now needs time & support to readjust to a ‘normal’ environment – or at least as normal as it can be given the situation he’d been forced into over the past 2 ½ years.

Andrew also visited his mother last week. I am pleased that the psychologists are making sure Andrew maintains the best possible relationship with her under the current circumstances – albeit under strict supervision in a secure environment.

Four separate legal processes are now underway & each of them is running concurrently:

1) The Australian Government has made a formal application to The Netherlands Government for Andrew’s mother to be extradited to Australia. I know very little about where this process is up to or about what her options are.

2) Various Court Orders issued by the Family Court of Australia need to be given legal effect in The Netherlands. I understand this process has commenced but it could take several weeks to be completed.

3) Cross-border Mediation (CBM). This is designed to find a way for Andrew’s mother & me to reach agreement on certain issues. I understand this process can begin quite quickly if both parties agree. If an agreement can be reached between us it is possible that Andrew could be returned to Australia within a few weeks.

4) If CBM is unsuccessful, court action will commence within The Netherlands to have Andrew returned to Australia under the provisions of The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This could take several weeks or more.

Each of these processes moves at a different pace so it is difficult to know when Andrew will be returned to Australia. However, I have told the authorities I will remain in The Netherlands until this happens.

Ever since learning on 7th May 2008 that Andrew had been unlawfully abducted from Australia on 24th April 2008 in contravention of the Family Law Act, I have been working towards having him found & returned to Australia in the least traumatic way possible. It is very unfortunate for everyone that it has come to the point where it is now. Andrew did not deserve this & it need not have ended in this way.

During that time I have also been working towards having the legal action that I initiated in Australia resumed as quickly as possible so that Andrew’s long-term parenting arrangements can be decided on & so that the allegations that have been made against me can be fully investigated & adjudicated on by a properly-constituted court in the country in which the allegations were made. That country is Australia.

A hastily-convened Kangaroo Court that places itself above the laws of the land; ignores & violates international human rights; carries out its ‘hearings, trials, & sentencing’ behind closed doors in whatever countries it likes; takes whatever ‘evidence’ it decides to use to the exclusion of everything else; denies any opportunity for scrutiny or cross-examination of that ‘evidence’ by other affected parties, & publicly rejects the legitimacy of a well-established legal system & a properly constituted court is not the correct forum to decide on Andrew’s long-term welfare or on the veracity of serious allegations made against his father.

It has been a long & hard road but I am now several steps closer to having these & many other issues resolved for Andrew & myself than I was 2 ½ years ago. Andrew deserves nothing less.

Ken & Andrew THOMPSON
Amsterdam. The Netherlands

Amsterdam cycling: 300 km