ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 68px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style5 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2"></td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">Haiti&#39;s Kidnapping</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright Feb. 6, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="style5">W</span>hen a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti Jan. 12, around 20% of its estimated 9.8 million residents were affected, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless around the capital Port-au-Prince.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rescuing 33 children, a group of 10 Baptists from Meridian, Idaho tried to remove the displaced children without official papers to the neighboring Dominican Republic. Caught at the Dominican border by Haitian authorities, the children, raging in age from 2-16, were taken by bus to neighboring Dominican Republic to a new orphanage for relocation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Haitian authorities charged the church group with child kidnapping at a brief court hearing, whisking them off to a local jail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Haitian attorney Edwin Coq said the judge found enough evidence to charge U.S. citizens with child kidnapping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Group leader Laura Silsby admitted she had no legal papers to take the children.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Caught by Haitian authorities at the Dominican border, the 10 U.S. citizens were arrested and taken into custody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Haitian s lead prosecutor told Coq that they were prosecuted because the 10 missionaries were found in possession of the 33 Haitian children without legal papers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While the charges are serious carrying between five-and-15 years in prison, Coq appeared confident that he could get at least nine of the U.S. citizens released.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Group leader Silsby appeared to have orchestrated the alleged  rescue that could have resulted in unlawful relocation of all 33 children to the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I m going to do everything I can to get the nine out, said Coq, unsure whether Haitian authorities would release Silsby to U.S. custody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said he had discussed with the Haitian government removing all 10 U.S. citizens for prosecution.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>From the quake-ravaged village of Callebas just outside the capital Port-au-Prince, several parents admitted that they turned over the children to the Baptist missionaries because they couldn t provide adequate care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>From her jailhouse location, Silsby indicated that distant relatives delivered the children from orphanages inside the devastated quake zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> They are very precious kids that have lost their homes and families and are so deeply in need of, most of all, God s love and compassion, said Silsby, apparently contradicting reports that the children were picked up by the group in Callebas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Issac Adrien, 20, told reporters he met Silsby in Port-au-Prince and that the group met with villager at a soccer field to offer taking their children to an orphanage in neighboring Dominican Republic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> He said Silsby reassured parents they could visit their children in the Dominican Republic.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Corroborating her story, Silsby and her 24-year-old nanny Charisa Coulter, decided last summer to establish an orphanage in the Domincan Republic for Haitian refugees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>She began collecting donations of food, clothing and money from Meridian s Central Valley Baptist Church, registering a nonprofit called New Life Children s Refuge Inc. to her now foreclosed Meridian home, naming it as the charity s headquarters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Once the quake hit Jan. 18, Silsby and Coulter gathered her team, packed 40 plastic bins of donated goods into a U-Haul and traveled to Salt Lake City where they boarded a plane Jan. 22 bound for the Dominican Republic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Despite knowing Silsby s story, the Haitian judge still charged the Baptist group with child kidnapping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Apparently only Silsby knew the group possessed no legal papers to relocate the children from Haiti to the Dominican Republic for extended care.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Haitian pastor Rev. Jean Sainvil, who served as an unpaid consultant, confirmed Silsby s story that the Baptist Group intended to rescue Haitian orphans or children of parents incapable to caring for their needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Sainvil confirmed that the children would be potentially adopted by Dominican families, maintaining contact with Haitian parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Everybody agreed that they knew where the children were going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The parents were told, and we confirmed that they would be allowed to see the children and even take them back if need be, said Sainvil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Sainvil s testimony at least satisfies Silsby s motive but doesn t change the fact that she had no legal papers to relocate the children to the Dominican Republic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Before charging the Baptist group with kidnapping, the court should take into account the extenuating circumstances of the extreme peril posed by Haiti s cataclysmic earthquake.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Given the extenuating circumstances with Haiti s earthquake, authorities should work with the U.S. State Dept. to resolve the situation amicably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Given the massive rescue and relief effort by the U.S., Haiti should show leniency to the 10 Baptist missionaries attempting a humanitarian rescue mission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Haitian Prime Minister Max Bellerive expressed his support for the Baptist missionaries, who he believes engaged in a humanitarian rescue mission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Dominican lawyer Jorge Peullo expressed confidence that at least nine of the missionaries would be released soon, confirming Haitian authorities were readying a charter flight for their return to the U.S.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; Because of</span> Silsby s documented intent to rescue endangered children, Haitian authorities should resolve the matter and allow her to leave with the rest of the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Anything less would insult U.S. rescue and relief efforts.</p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author <i>of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a></i> and <i><a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a></i>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homecobolos> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>