Denmark Separates Autistic Iranian From Parents
TEHRAN -- A senior Iranian judiciary official on Wednesday condemned a recent decision by Danish authorities to separate an autistic Iranian child from his family, calling on Copenhagen to reverse the measure and reunite the minor with his relatives.
Kazem Gharibabadi, the Judiciary chief’s deputy for international affairs and secretary of the country’s High Council for Human Rights, in a statement denounced as “unfair” the Danish government’s decision to grant the custody of Darioush Haydari to another family in the Nordic country, and deny his parents of the right to look after their son.
Gharibabadi said the deportation of Darioush’s parents on charges of child abduction and their subsequent separation from the child amounts to a gross violation of the European country’s obligations under human rights treaties, particularly the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
He appreciated efforts made by the Iranian Foreign Ministry to resolve the issue and reunite the child with his parents as he criticized the Danish government’s non-cooperation under the pretext that any decision on the autistic Iranian child should only be made by court.
“The main question now is why the Danish government is ignoring its obligations to reunite the child with his parents whilst the latter are in Iran and are no longer present in Denmark,” he said.
Even with visas issued for the child’s parents to pursue the matter through legal channels, it is neither correct nor consistent with Denmark’s human rights commitments to subject them to complicated legal procedures, Gharibabadi said.
Back in late September last year, protesters set up a cage outside Denmark’s embassy in Iran with a cake inside to celebrate the fifth birthday of autistic boy Darioush.
Copenhagen took custody of the autistic child for “incompetence reasons,” something her mother dismisses as unjust.
His mother Mahsa had lived in Denmark for six years, but did not have permanent Danish residency.
She and her husband both agreed to return to Iran, but the Danish government refused to grant them custody of Darioush.