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In Hazbun Escaf v. Rodriquez, 200 F.Supp.2d 603 (E. D. Va. 2002), the District Court held that the child was habitually resident in
Colombia immediately prior to his retention in the United States. The
child had lived his entire life in Colombia, attended school there, and
had numerous friends and family in Columbia. The mother did not abandon
the child, and thus the father's retention of the child violated the
mother's custody rights under Columbian law, even though the mother had
granted permission for the child to visit the father in United States
for a brief period. The mother was exercising her lawful custody rights
immediately prior to the father's retention of the child in the United
States, and she promptly and steadfastly objected to the child=
s retention and vigorously pursued steps to compel the child's return to
Colombia.
Evidence that American businessmen generally, and the
father in particular, faced a heightened risk of kidnapping and violence
was insufficient to establish that the child was in grave risk of harm.
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