Blatant lies take us to war

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/media/images/78981000/jpg/_78981659_18dbb1cb-9fd6-4299-b0b8-5ba4fd8194c1.jpg Daily Pickings is a blog on issues and events related to the work of the Critical Thinking project and invariably references videos, articles, books and academic papers. Accumulation of these materials adds to the "Critical Thinking reference library". We welcome comments and interaction on Daily Pickings via Comments for which you need to be logged in as a User. Critical Thinking is a collaborative, educational project relying on contributions from diverse sources. Hi Tim, Aleppo was the focus for the fabricated stories of Bashar al Assad using chemical weapons, specifically Sarin, on his own people. Overwhelming evidence, revealed since the alleged attacks three years ago, indicates that the chemical weapons attacks were choreographed and orchestrated by NATO and perpetrated by Syrian rebels. The BBC and other media are co-opted to disseminate the lies. The latest stories of Assad bombing MSF hospitals in Aleppo follows the same pattern: false flag followed by vitriolic propaganda to justify more aggression. A Tale Of Two Hospitals: Potentially Fabricated Bombing Incident VS Open Terrorist Targeting Of Facilities In Aleppo by Brandon Turbeville Doctors Without Borders is fully funded by the very same corporate financier interests behind Wall Street and London’s collective foreign policy, including regime change in Syria and neighboring Iran. It is the NATO backed rebels which have been conducting sporadic but frequent attacks on civilians in Aleppo; in recent days those attacks have escalated. The BBC chose to ignore these attacks while ramping up their anti-Russian rhetoric. Western Media Break Their Silence on Aleppo with Flagrant Lies, Omissions, Obfuscationsby Eva Bartlett In a lengthy April 27 BBC propaganda piece, when it finally got to the issue of Aleppo, the article said nothing about the current situation in Aleppo, and for some reason felt the need to use quotation marks when referring to established terrorist groups Da’esh and the Nusra Front: “Russia, of course, has said it is largely striking at IS and al-Nusra “terrorists”.” Granted, the piece is meant specifically to be anti-Russian propaganda, but yet, not a single mention of the past few days of al-Nusra and other terrorists’ horrific bombardment of Aleppo’s residential areas. Paul Craig Roberts lays the blame for the slide into global war at the US government's door. Somnolent Europe, Russia, and China: Accept US Hegemony or Go to War? The documents show that the European Union was a creature of the CIA. In the United States truth-tellers are persecuted and imprisoned, or they are dismissed as “conspiracy theorists,” “anti-semites,” and “domestic extremists.”  The entire Western World consists of a dystopia far worse than the one described by George Orwell in his famous book, 1984. That Russia and China permit Washington to operate in their media, in their universities, in their financial system, and in “do-good” NGOs that infiltrate every aspect of their societies demonstrates that both governments have no interest in their survival as independent states. They are too scared of being called “authoritarian” by the Western presstitute media to protect their own independence. My prediction is that Russia and China will soon be confronted with an unwelcome decision: accept American hegemony or go to war. As regular readers of Daily Pickings will know, the US empire is merely the current vehicle through which the Structural Elite project their power. We know how to remove Structural Elite power but it is contingent on more people turning off from media, rejecting the lies and thinking for themselves. As Daily Pickings suggested yesterday, impartial thinking is impeded by our reliance on the system; once we recognise how we are controlled, escaping that control becomes easier. -------------------------------- To find out more about the Critical Thinking project go to freecriticalthinking.org If you want to Comment on today's Daily Pickings go to: http://freecriticalthinking.org/daily-pickings Raise awareness of issues ignored by the mainstream media and share information by forwarding this email to a friend, colleague or family member who can subscribe to the Critical Thinking mailing list to receive Daily Pickings: http://www.freecriticalthinking.org/subscribe For the deceit of Al Nusra and the 'White Hats' supported (created?) by Israel and the West see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOeW1k4r0OM It is well known that Israel has supported Al Nusra from the first. "The White Helmets" has their propaganda stamp all over it. It is treated like the sale of any other 'product'. 'White' of course is redolent with sub-conscious imagery that has been used by Hollywood and media types for years. It speaks of purity although it does have overtones of submission and cowardice (white feather) You have done the world (if it sees) a favour by highlighting its terrorist associations and basic hypocrisy as part of the whole ISIS fabrication.

Helicopter Crash Norway (Updated)


A Picture of the crashed aircraft.




Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority: aircraft was a Eurocopter EC225LP, and was operated by CHC Helicopter, owned by US private equity firm First Reserve for Halliburton, the well known American oil company.


(Perhaps I should note I had unusual difficulty posting this item and much of it did not appear)

Strange wording of Press Release

There is something rather strange about the precise wording of the press release issued today by Norway's accident investigation board:

"We are as certain as we can be that a technical error caused the accident. We don't think it was due to human misinterpretations."

"Technical error"? Is not the use of the noun 'error' applicable only to human actions. As the dictionary describes it better than me, "the state or condition of being wrong in conduct or judgement." 

A mechanical failure must surely be a "fault" or "malfunction" but never an "error".

An alternative technical definition is provided as follows: "A measure of the estimated difference between the observed or calculated value of a quantity and its true value."

(See: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=error&rlz=1C1ARAB_enGB463GB464&oq=error&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.2338j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)

Words chosen with care?

In these high profile tragic events, words are chosen with care, even when considerations of translation are taken into account. Everyone knows English is the dominant international language by which statements will be interpreted. The choice of 'error' in preference to 'fault' could therefore hardly be accidental. Is it being used to seed an idea that the suspected causation actually involves human interference or mistakes without stating as much?

The second part of of the statement tends to give credence to this interpretation: "We don't think it was due to human misinterpretations."

"THINK"? Please note this is five days after the 'black box' was retrieved, giving adequate time for it to be analysed in detail plus all the other accompanying servicing and flight records.

We may take the view that although the exact technical cause may take time to establish, with the evidence from flight data and particularly the instrumentation and voice box recorder, it would at least, without prevarication, be possible to rule out piloting error if there was no evidence of it?

Prudent Wariness of High-Profile Accidents

We have learned to be very wary of high profile accidents and incidents, often involving aircraft. There have been quite a lot of them recently. Sometimes the cause is put down to terrorism, sometimes to military action, sometimes to pilot error, sometimes to intentional suicide, sometimes to hijacking, sometimes to weather conditions or mechanical failure. (I could list examples of each but I will spare you)

Unfortunately when international politics and terrorism enters the mix, nothing may be as it seems. The case of Pan Am Flight 103 that crashed over Lockerbie is a case in point, surrounded to this day in intrigue and the suspicion that those blamed and the person convicted was probably either innocent of the charge or working for a different agency altogether. The fate of Gaddafi and others in the know rather confirms the truth of the matter.

We are all now well aware - or should be - that the planes supposedly involved in the 9/11 attacks were not in fact involved, a deception that could only be organised by the American Government itself. No other agency could possibly be involved. The disappearance of MH370 remains a tantalising mystery with an official explanation that remains wholly unconvincing. 

The crash of MH17 has never been properly explained and worse blamed on parties known not to be responsible. The Russian Metrojet Flight 9268 that crashed over Sinai, conveniently blamed on ISIS, leaves many questions unanswered as to who was actually behind it. The Germanwings Flight 9525 that crashed into the Alps was blamed on a suicidal pilot which some think might be a little too easy and convenient an explanation. 

These are just a few examples that teach us to be wary of such events and the official explanations that accompany them. Pure accidents do happen all the time but unfortunately so do malicious events, often covertly by government organisations, out to make a point to the commercial or national interests concerned. It is always worth the context in a little more detail before coming to a balanced judgement. Sometimes the smallest clues - even choice of words - provide the indicators to something else.

Conflicting Photographic Evidence?

"Emergency crews pulled the wrecked fuselage out of the sea on Saturday ahead of an investigation into the cause. Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet reported Friday night that the helicopter's two so-called "black boxes" that record flight data and the pilots' conversations had been recovered." http://www.tjcnewspaper.com/norway-helicopter-crash-13-feared-dead

Here is the accompanying photograph of the still smoulder wreckage we must assume.


http://www.nbcmontana.com/image/view/-/39281470/medRes/3/-/maxh/360/maxw/640/-/11gubl9z/-/Search-and-rescue-Norway-jpg.jpg


https://i0.wp.com/wpcluster.dctdigital.com/energyvoice/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/04/Norway-crash.jpg

Note no tangible evidence of a helicopter remains, including significantly the fairly indestructible engine. Also one must ask why it caused so great an explosion when it was near completion of its round trip to the Gullfaks B platform and presumably was low on fuel? Explanation should also be provided for the evident sources of smoke periphery to the main point of impact and explosion, if so it was. A spokesman for the Norwegian police in the region said the aircraft had been “totally smashed”. I would suggest that the more appropriate description would be 'evaporated', which rather reminds me of the description of another famous crash some fifteen years previous.

Now another photograph of the alleged crash attached to this article from CNN  here http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/29/europe/norway-helicopter-crash/:



http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160429143510-norway-helicopter-crash-flames-large-169.jpg

Please note this in no way accords with the report that the helicopter 'crashed into, and was pulled out from, the sea'! Look also at the apparent widespread nature of the flame and then in comparing this with the former photograph, apparently after the fire was extinguished, try to explain how the nearby house was left so unscathed and there were no civilian casualties. The white walls of the houses are not even smoke stained. There appears to be something very obviously incongruous here.

In passing note also the word 'assets' in the source image. I have referred to this phenomenon before in relation to other recent and well known 'terrorist events'.

Now perhaps even more importantly, compare and contrast with this next image of the alleged crashed aircraft. 

Note the completely different topography and absence of fire damage including to the bushes and small trees, quite incompatible with the above image and with the official version of events! Note also in this photograph the aircraft lies on its side adjacent to a trafficked highway, completely absent from the previous photographs.

There is Youtube video here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy_lHg7roUA) that fails to resolve any of the serious questions raised above. Questions that should be addressed and answered by the appropriate authorities.




http://nrinews24x7.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Norway-helicopter-crash.jpg 

Video here (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/norway-helicopter-crash-claimed-life-7892423) appears to show that immediately before the crash, a complete rotor blade is seen descending quite separately from the aircraft which is nowhere to be seen despite apparently crashing nearby.

First this is strange in and of itself but becomes stranger when compared to the photo of the alleged crashed helicopter with blades intact!

From that same Mirror report are these images:



and



Although the photographic images are somewhat distant and indistinct, my only observation would be is that there is precious little remaining of what was a quite large passenger carrying aircraft and certainly nothing to suggest an indestructible engine. Nor would there appear to be any evidence of bodies or the normal associated arrangements to collect, identify and remove them. Not one stretcher is in evidence yet all the various rescue personnel are at the scene!

These reservations may be explicable. They should be explained.

To Summarise

1.  The official account that the helicopter crashed into, and was recovered from, the sea, is not supported by the photographic evidence which appears to show a huge crash explosion on the rocky coastline.

2.  'Before' and 'after' photographs of this crash site are hard to correlate insofar, despite a huge area covered by fire and smoke, there appears little or no impact to the buildings immediately adjacent. This is hard to explain as is the fact there were apparently no casualties of persons living in or around them.

3.  However these narrative and evidential inconsistencies are as nothing when compared to the third image purporting to be the crashed aircraft, to which there is absolutely no evidence of fire damage to either it, or its immediate vicinity. Indeed the snow cover is neither melted or blackened.

4.  Further in respect of this latter image, neither topography or features fit the earlier coastal ones. The wooded aspect with adjacent travelled highway are distinctly different from the rocky coastal outcrop in the others. 

5.  The two locations and events that purport to be of same incident cannot be, yet no explanation or correction is forth-coming. This can only be regarded as a gigantic mistake and/or highly suspicious.

ADDENDUM: A PRINCE WILLIAM CONNECTION?

It is well known that Prince William is a helicopter pilot. He flies an analogous Eurocopter EC 145 for East Anglian Air Ambulance after several years flying air/sea rescue helicopters with the Royal Navy. 

He is formally employed by Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore Ltd. (previously Bond Air Services) that also provides transport to the North Sea from its Aberdeen bases. (The latter firm was taken over by Badcocks in 2014 in a £920 million deal.) 'Avincis' which in turn is owned by private equity outfit Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Italian group Investindustrial, owned Bond Air Services. Babcock highlighted a number of issues facing Avincis, including the ongoing Air Accident Investigation Branch probe into another fatal helicopter crash at Clutha in Scotland. 

Now here's an interesting twist! We discover that the owners of both the Norwegian helicopter company and the previous owner of the British 'Bond Helicopters', are close American private equity bedfellows, respectively 'First Reserve Corporation' and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (now KKR & Co. L.P.) 'joined at the hip' since 2012. 

"Acteon has built a significant subsea services business in the oil and gas sector.  This latest investment will support the continued delivery of its ambitions and of its goal to define the market in this relatively new and expanding part of the upstream industry.    As part of the transaction, the Houston-based private equity firm White Deer Energy will be investing alongside KKR and management." (See: http://www.firstreserve.com/news-articles/acteon-group-announces-change-in-ownership-first-reserve-corporation-sells-majority-interest-in-acte) 

It would appear as regards North Sea oil and helicopter support, it is financially, one big happy Jewish/American family.

So as respects both Helicopter and Employer, there are clear parallels with Norwegian crash helicopter. There are also very close links between the Royal families of both countries besides a shared interest in oil fields of the North Sea. Are any of these facts significant to the crash? 

It would be very far fetched to suggest the crash, in some way, was intended as a reminder or coded message to the British Government in general and the Royal Family in particular as to the vulnerability of high profile figures. Underhand messages of this sort can never be completely ruled out though, can they? We have witnessed too many of them.

For Prince William's job see: http://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/647079/Prince-William-refuel-helicopter-Cambridge and
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3018429/Prince-William-starts-new-job-training-fly-air-ambulance-missions-paternity-leave-baby-number-two-born-month.html

For the helicopter he flies see:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocopter_EC145

For the acquisition of Bond Air Services by Badcock see:  http://www.scotsman.com/business/companies/babcock-seals-920m-deal-to-buy-bond-chopper-firm-1-3355108

For information on Babcock Mission Critical Services: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babcock_Mission_Critical_Services_Onshore_Ltd.

For the Clutha helicopter crash see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Glasgow_helicopter_crash

For information on Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg_Kravis_Roberts

"KKR & Co. L.P. (formerly known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.) is an American multinational private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts, headquartered in New York City. The firm sponsors and manages private equity investment funds. A pioneer in the leveraged buyout industry, the firm has completed over $400 billion of private equity transactions since its inception.^[2][3] The firm was founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg, Jr., and cousins Henry Kravis and George R. Roberts, all of whom had previously worked together at Bear Stearns, where they completed some of the earliest leveraged buyout transactions."

Background Facts



From Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Tur%C3%B8y_helicopter_crash

"On 29 April 2016 a CHC Helikopter Service Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma  (Airbus Helicopters H225) helicopter, registration LN-OJF, carrying oil workers from the Gullfaks B platform in the North Sea, crashed near Turoy, a Norwegian coastal island 36 kilometres (22 mi) from the city of Bergen. Several witnesses reported initially seeing nothing untoward with the helicopter flying steadily, before the sound suddenly changed and it started to sway. A moment later its main rotor detached and it plummeted to the ground and exploded into flames.^[1][2] All thirteen crew and passengers died in the crash.^[3]"

The helicopter was operated by CHC Helicopter, owned by US private equity firm First Reserve. Four victims on board were employed by Halliburton the oil company. Four including a contractor, were employed by Akers Solutions. All four had worked for its Maintenance, Modifications and Operations (MMO) unit in Norway. The Gullfaks platform is part of the Norwegian 'Statoil' North Sea oil operation. Statoil is 67% Norwegian Government owned, the remainder in the hands of private investors.

Reports here:

http://www.itv.com/news/story/2016-05-03/officials-fatal-norway-helicopter-crash-due-to-technical-error/

http://www.smh.com.au/world/helicopter-crashes-off-norway-with-13-on-board-20160429-goir7l.html#ixzz47FzMyBTw

Information on the Helicopter and manufacturer here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocopter_EC225_Super_Puma
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_Helicopters

Information on the Equity Investment Company here:

http://www.firstreserve.com/portfolio

Information on the helicopter operators here: 

http://www.chc.ca/

TIMING? "May 5, 2016 -- CHC Group (OTC Pink Sheets: HELIQ; the “Company” or “CHC”) today announced that the Company and certain of its wholly-owned subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas to facilitate the restructuring of its balance sheet and fleet, and position the Company for long-term success. The reorganization is expected to strengthen CHC’s financial position by reducing long-term debt and enhancing financial flexibility while allowing the Company to manage and operate its fleet of aircraft."

"An update on the global EC 225 fleet

1. May 3, 2016 -- Following Friday’s tragic accident involving an EC 225, CHC immediately put all EC 225 flights temporarily on hold with the exception of those aircraft dedicated to life-saving search-and-rescue missions.

2. CHC Helicopter confirms EC 225 accident at Flesland, Bergen

   Apr 29, 2016 -- CHC Helicopter Service confirms that there has been an accident involving flight HKS 241 from Gullfaks B with estimated time of arrival at Flesland Airport Bergen at 12.04 pm CET. The aircraft involved in the accident is an Airbus EC 225 helicopter with 2 crew and 11 passengers operated for Statoil."
3. 
   

From Twitter a/c https://twitter.com/ksfessenden  "Karl S. Fessenden ‏@KSFessenden  Apr 3

"A great view of Mt Rainier on my way to the 12th CHC Safety and Quality Summit. #CHCSummit" 

This 'summit' predated Norway crash by only twenty five (25) days.

Information on Statoil here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statoil

Information on Halliburton operation in NoSea here:

https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/north-sea/108284/north-sea-helicopter-crash-halliburton-staff-flight/

Information Akers Solutions here:

https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/north-sea/108280/north-sea-helicopter-crash-aker-solutions-says-three-workers-contractor-killed/

European Parliament makes recommendation on Child Intervention/Adoption Issues

Across Europe, concerns have been raised by parents and others regarding the treatment of children and parents by their respective State organisations and the professionals, that are employed by them. (6) 

In some respects, this is of particularly applies to the UK, insofar as it is unique in its approach to family disputes affecting children. The Family Division of the High Court has notoriously been wrapped in secrecy until fairly recently, preventing news outlets or even parents reporting alleged injustice. It also allows separation and adoption orders against the wishes of the natural parents.  

Journalist Christopher Booker took a leading role in criticising the secrecy and decisions. (1)(2)(3) Even the President of the Court has called for less secrecy and urged reform. (4) Fathers in particular have run a high profile campaign over many years but this does not mean that mothers have not also often felt very aggrieved by decisions of the court. 

Some have felt that Judges were  lacking true empathy and concern for children and parents whilst too much influenced by professional social workers, quite able to falsify evidence to get the decision that they required. 

All of this set against a woeful history of state care of children in institutions, often allowing or facilitating their physical and sexual abuse. There has therefore been an argument that the Family Courts, either intentionally or accidentally, have contributed to the abuse of children, rather than protecting them from it. 

A recent case in Hampstead has again brought the issue into sharp relief and confirmed many of the earlier reservations. (5) In this case the allegations by two children and their subsequent treatment by police, social workers and courts went viral on the internet, with tens of millions world wide, and caused deep concern.

Two social activists who took a prominent role to bring the case to public attention have both been effectively silenced by police prosecutions and court orders, which rather than reassuring the public, has heightened fears that something very dark and worrying is going on. (7) 

Recently the British Government was forced to set up a high-powered inquiry into 'historic' sexual abuse of children, which rather confirms this has been a major problem in the past. (8)(9) It would be naive to think that the issue has gone away. Indeed there are many indicators that suggest it may be much, much worse! (10)

These same individuals, with others, have taken the issue to the European Parliament, resulting in groups of MEP's carrying out investigations in member states including Britain, as a result of which the following document has been prepared and sent to all the EC Institutions as well as Member States calling for reform, standardisation and improvement. 

Whether it has any effect, awaits to be seen.

Thursday, 28 April 2016 - Brussels	Provisional edition
Safeguarding the best interest of the child across the EU on the basis of petitions addressed to the European Parliament

1. Recalls that the large number of petitions received on child-related cases indicates that there is a major problem with the implementation of the Brussels IIa Regulation;

2. Considers that all child protection systems should have transnational and cross-border mechanisms in place which take into account the specificities of cross-borders conflicts;

Child protection and judicial cooperation within the EU

3. Calls on the Member States to put in place monitoring and evaluation systems (with relevant socioeconomic and nationality-disaggregated statistics) within a national coordinating framework on cross-border cases involving children; recommends that the Commission coordinate the transfer of information among the relevant Member State authorities;

4. Calls on the Council to report on the specific actions being implemented by the Member States with a view to bringing about synergies between the 28 national child protection systems;

5. Calls for a clear definition of ‘habitual residence’ in the revised Brussels IIa Regulation;

6. Stresses the obligation of national authorities, set out in the Brussels IIa Regulation, to recognise and enforce judgments delivered in another Member State in child-related cases; calls on the Member States to increase and improve the cooperation of their judiciaries in cases involving a child;

7. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to co-finance and promote the establishment of a platform providing assistance to non-national EU citizens in family proceedings and of a single European helpline for cases of child abduction or abuse, as well as counselling concerning care and adoption proceedings;

8. Calls on the Commission to provide a clear and easily accessible guide with practical information for EU citizens on the institutional arrangements on child protection, with a particular focus on adoption or placement without parental consent and on parents’ rights in different Member States;

Role of social services in child protection

9. Calls on the Member States to take a preventive approach and to ensure appropriate and well-resourced policies to avoid launching care proceedings where possible, by introducing early-warning procedures and monitoring mechanisms and providing adequate support to families as primary caregivers, particularly within vulnerable communities where social exclusion is a risk;

10. Stresses that proper assessment of individual cases in family-related issues should not be hindered by budgetary cuts as a result of austerity measures, in particular where the quality of social services is concerned;

11. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide for specialised training and education for social workers and all other professionals dealing with cross-border cases involving a child;

12. Calls on the relevant authorities of a Member State that intends to send social workers to investigate a case for adoption or placement in another Member State to inform the authorities of that Member State that such an investigation will be conducted;

Childcare-related judicial proceedings

13. Invites the Member States to designate specialised chambers within family courts or cross-border mediation bodies to deal with cross-border child-related cases; stresses that proper monitoring of the post-judgment situation is pivotal, including when contact with parents is involved;

14. Calls on the Member States to systematically implement the provisions of the Vienna Convention of 1963, and to ensure that embassies or consular representations are informed from the start of all childcare proceedings involving their nationals and that they have full access to the relevant documents; suggests that consular authorities should be allowed to attend every stage of the proceedings;

15. Calls on the Member States to guarantee regular visitation rights to parents, except where this could be detrimental to the best interests of the child, and to allow parents to use their mother tongue with their children during the visits;

16. Recommends that the Member States provide parents, from the outset and at every stage of child-related proceedings, with complete and clear information on the proceedings and on the possible consequences thereof; calls on them to inform parents about the rules on legal support and aid, for example by providing them with a list of bilingual specialised lawyers and by offering interpretation facilities, so as to avoid cases where parents give their consent without fully understanding the implications of their commitments; recommends also that adequate support be provided to parents with literacy difficulties;

17. Recommends establishing minimum standards for the hearing of a child in national civil proceedings, in accordance with Article 24 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights;

18. Recommends separate hearings of parents and children before a judge, an expert or a social worker, in order to avoid children being influenced or falling victim to conflicts of loyalty;

19. Recommends that thresholds for the duration of each stage in cross-border childcare proceedings be set, so that members of the child’s extended family have sufficient time to come forward and apply to adopt the child, or parents can address their problems and propose sustainable alternatives before the final decision on adoption is taken; considers that before any permanent solution, such as adoption, is determined, a proper re‑evaluation of the situation of the biological family must be undertaken;

20. Calls on the Member States to give parents suffering from alcohol or drug addiction reasonable time to have a real opportunity to recover before the court takes a final decision on adoption of their child;

21. Calls on the Commission to pay particular attention to the recommendations received on cross-border mediation by all relevant stakeholders at national and European level;

Child placement and adoption

22. States that there is no mechanism within the EU providing for automatic recognition of domestic adoption orders issued in other Member States; calls on the Member States and the Commission to regulate on recognition of domestic adoption, taking into account the best interests of the child and with due respect for the principle of non‑discrimination;

23. Calls on the Member States to encourage non-contracting states to join the 1993 Hague Convention, which would guarantee that all children benefit from the same standards and would help to avoid a parallel system with fewer safeguards; calls on the Member States to avoid heavy bureaucracy in processing the recognition of international adoptions already recognised in another Member State;

24. Emphasises the importance of offering children in any kind of fostering or adoption arrangement the placement that offers the best opportunities to maintain links with the child’s cultural background and to learn and use their mother tongue; asks the Member State authorities involved in childcare proceedings to make all possible efforts to avoid separating siblings;

25. Calls on the Member States to give particular attention and support to parents, and particularly women, who have been victims of domestic violence, either as children or adults, in order to avoid their being victimised again by the automatic removal of custody of their children;

Cross-border parental child abduction

26. Calls on the Commission to publicise the results achieved in the promotion of cross-border cooperation in child abduction cases, which it declared to be a priority in the EU Agenda for the Rights of the Child;

27. Calls on the Council to report on the results achieved in establishing child abduction alert systems with cross-border implications, and to conclude the relevant cooperation agreements dealing with cross-border abduction cases on the basis of the Commission guidelines;

28. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and the parliaments of the Member States.

(1) OJ L 338, 23.12.2003, p. 1.

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Booker

(2) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/12070178/At-Christmas-dont-forget-the-uncaring-side-of-state-care.html

(3) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/12060001/Theres-nothing-to-cheer-when-babies-are-taken-from-mothers.html

(4) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10289280/Judge-calls-for-more-transparency-in-family-courts.html

(5) http://veaterecosan.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=hampstead

(6) http://veaterecosan.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/whenis-state-intervention-in-child.html

(7) https://victims-unite.net/2016/02/27/mojgovuk-victims-mckenziefriends-and-litigantsinperson-unite-consultation-re-courts-approach-to-lay-legal-help-and-advocacy/

(8) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33442588

(9) https://www.iicsa.org.uk/

(10) http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/organized-crime-and-human-trafficking/global-alliance-against-child-abuse/index_en.htm