(Rachida Dati, French Justice Minister)According to Enfants Kidnappés, the police in four European countries, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and France, carried out a simulation exercise recently, to test out how well the system, already in place, works to help find children who have been abducted and thought to have been taken across national boundaries.
Enfants Kidnappés 12/06/08
12 juin 2008Alerte Enlèvement: Victoria a disparu
Il s'agit d'un exercice commun du plan "Alerte Enlèvement", mis en place en février 2006 en France pour aider à résoudre rapidement des affaires de disparitions d'enfants, entre la France, la Belgique, le Luxembourg et les Pays-Bas. Victoria, une petite luxembourgeoise, a échappé à la surveillance de son oncle en gare de Tourcoing cet après-midi. Un témoin affirme avoir vu la fillette en compagnie d'un homme. D'après ses dires l'individu a poussé Victoria dans une voiture immatriculée aux Pays-Bas qui s'est ensuite dirigée vers la frontière belge…
Abduction alert: Victoria has disappeared. It is a shared exercise of the, "Abduction Alert," plan which was set up in February 2006 in France, to help to rapidly resolve cases of missing children, between France, Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. Victoria, a little Luxembourg girl, slipped away from her uncle's supervision in the Tourcoing train station this afternoon. A witness confirms having seen the little girl in the company of a man. From what was said, the individual pushed Victoria into a car registered in The Netherlands, which then headed towards the Belgian border.
Ces faits ne se sont heureusement pas produits dans la réalité. Il s'agit juste du scénario imaginé par les autorités policières et judiciaires de quatre pays : la Belgique, la France, les pays Bas et le Luxembourg. Scénario destiné à tester un système d'Alerte Enlèvement.
Fortunately, these events did not arise out of a real situation. It was just a scenario created by the police and judicial authorities of four countries: Belgium, France, The Netherlands and Luxembourg, a scenario intended to test out an abduction alert system.
Le faux plan "Alerte Enlèvement" a été déclenché à 14h30, une heure trente après l'enlèvement imaginé. L'exercice a pour objectif de coordonner l'action des services de police et de justice des pays participants, et d'évaluer notamment les obstacles linguistiques à la bonne diffusion du message d'alerte et à l'échange d'informations.
The fake, "Abduction Alert," plan was triggered at 2.30pm, an hour and a half after the imagined abduction. The objective of the exercise was to coordinate the activity of the police forces and judicial authorities of the participating countries, and especially to evaluate language barriers to the effective diffusion of the alert message and the exchange of information.
Le plan doit fonctionner dans les pays frontaliers.
Interview (20minutes)
Pourquoi étendre «alerte enlèvement» aux pays frontaliers ?
J'ai pris l'initiative de proposer ce dispositif à nos voisins après l'enlèvement du petit Enis à Roubaix en août 2007. Si le ravisseur était passé en Belgique, le dispositif se serait arrêté à la frontière. L'intérêt des enfants est que le plan puisse continuer de fonctionner dans des pays transfrontaliers.
The plan must work in neighbouring countries.
20 minute interview. (With Rachida Dati, France's Justice Minister)
Why extend the, "abduction alert," to neighbouring countries?
I took the initiative of suggesting this operation to our neighbours following the abduction of little Enis in Roubaix in August 2007. If the abdcutor had crossed into Belgium, the operation would have stopped him at the border. It is in the interests of children that the plan can continue to work across national borders.
Quel est l'objectif de cette simulation ?
Il s'agit d'abord de convaincre nos partenaires européens. Nous avons procédé de la même manière avec l'interconnexion des casiers judiciaires qui était une initiative franco-allemande : six pays sont aujourd'hui effectivement connectés et six autres s'y préparent. Certains pays comme la Belgique ou les Pays-Bas utilisent des dispositifs d'alerte en cas d'enlèvement, mais aucun ne va aussi loin que le nôtre.
What was the objective of the simulation? It was first of all to convince our European partners. We have worked in the same way with the sharing of criminal records, which was a French-German initiative: six countries are now effectively connected and six others preparing to be. Some countries, like Belgium or The Netherlands use alert operations in cases of abduction, but none goes as far as ours.
Y a-t-il des points de blocage chez nos voisins ?
La simulation doit servir à démontrer à tous l'efficacité et donc l'utilité d'un tel dispositif. Le Luxembourg, les Pays-Bas et la Belgique participeront avec nous de manière active à la simulation, tandis que l'Espagne, le Portugal, l'Allemagne, la République tchèque et la Suède seront présents en tant qu'observateurs.
Are there any sticking points with our neighbours?
The simulation may serve to demonstrate to everyone the effectiveness and therefore the usefulness of such an operation. Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Belgium will actively participate with us in the simulation, while Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Czech Republic and Sweden will be present as observers.
Quand souhaitez-vous qu'« alerte enlèvement » soit opérationnel dans ces pays ?
C'est un dispositif que la France leur propose. Il ne s'agit pas de contraindre nos partenaires à adopter un dispositif unique en la matière : certains d'entre eux disposent, en effet, déjà de leur propre mécanisme de recherche et d'aide à l'enquête. L'objectif est de les inciter à ne pas limiter la mise en oeuvre de ces plans aux seules frontières de leur territoire national. Il y aura début juillet une présentation de cet exercice à l'ensemble de nos partenaires. Le fait que la France prenne la présidence de l'Union européenne est un atout pour la poursuite de ce projet.
When do you want the, "abduction alert," to be operational in these countries? It is an operation which France is proposing to them. It is not to compel our partners to adopt a single system on the subject: some indeed already have their own system for search and assistance in an investigation. The objective is to encourage them not to limit the setting up of these plans only to their own national borders. At the beginning of July, there will be a presentation of this exercise to an assembly of our partners. The fact that France takes up the presidency of the European Union is an advantage for the continuation of this project.
Au niveau national, envisagez-vous d'améliorer le dispositif existant ?
Je considère que le système est assez efficace. Il y a des conditions strictes pour déclencher cette alerte : ce doit être un enlèvement avéré et non une disparition, avec des informations précises pour permettre de localiser le ravisseur, la victime doit être mineure, sa vie ou son intégrité physique doit être en danger et il faut le consentement des parents. A six reprises, « alerte enlèvement » a été utilisé, à chaque fois avec succès.
At a national level, do you envisage improving the existing system?
I consider that the system is effective enough. There are strict conditions for triggering that alert: it must be established to be an abduction and not a disappearance, with accurate information to help locate the abductor, the victim must be a minor, his life or his physical integrity must be in danger and there must be parental consent. On six occasions the, "abduction alert," has been used, each time successfully.
It is reported that Kate and Gerry McCann will be in Strasbourg next week, to encourage more MEPs to sign up to the Europe-wide Amber alert system. As the above article reports, several European countries have already been working with a cross-border alert system and others have been observing the recent exercise to test out the effectiveness of the system.
I really doubt that the alert system would have helped or been triggered by Madelein McCann's disappearance. Rachida Dati, the French Justice Minister lists the strict conditions for triggering an alert:
- It must be an established abduction and not a disappearance.
- There must be accurate information to help locate the abductor.
- The child must be a minor.
- The child's life must be in danger or the child must be at risk of physical harm.
- There must be parental consent.
- The Portuguese police are still investigating abduction as one of the possible scenarios, but there does not seem to be absolutely clear evidence of an abduction: no trace, apparently, of the abductor was found in the apartment and there was no evidence of forced entry.
- At the time, Jane Tanner reported having seen a man carrying, "a bundle, which could have been a child," though later this was improved to a man carrying a child wearing pyjamas like Madeleine's. The vague information given at the time would not have helped locate an abdcuctor.
- Madeleine is a minor.
- If Madeleine had been abducted, her life would surely have been in danger.
- I am sure the McCanns would have consented.
- A small blonde child was last seen in her parents holiday apartment. She is not there now.
- A man was seen, near the apartment, carrying a bundle which could have been a child.
In my opinion, it would be a much more useful exercise for the McCanns to be warning other parents about the dangers of leaving small children alone, rather than their supporting the introduction of a European alert system, which would not have helped nor been triggered in the circumstances of their daughter's disappearance. Also, it appears that work towards a European abduction alert system has been progressing nicely for some time without the McCanns' help. So, given that Madeleine's disappearance would not have triggered an alert, and there were already moves to set up a Europe-wide system, I really don't understand the McCanns' involvement.
http://www.kidnapping.be/alerteenlevement/index.html
12/06/08
