May 26, 2001
Celina and Stephanie Update
Hi Everybody,
There is some major coverage of my daughter's case in the current issue of Insight Magazine (cover date June 18, 2001, publication date: May 25, 2001). It is, appropriately, the "Dads in Trouble" issue.
Insight Magazine is a publication of The Washington Times, the newspaper that often goes up against the more liberal Washington Post. It has a very wide circulation, and I've heard that most politicians in Washington subscribe to Insight Magazine. The magazine claims: "Insight doesn't cave in to White House intimidation -- doesn't need to be loved and accepted by the Washington establishment. That's why we've become the tip sheet for the rest of the national media." Their record seems to bare this out.
Here is a link to their home page with an online version of the current print issue:
Here is the link to the specific article:
http://www.insightmag.com/main.cfm?include=detail&storyid=161092
The title of the article is, "All Talk, No Action on Stolen Children" and it is by Timothy W. Maier. Maier has written much about children who share Celina and Stephanie's plight. In fact, I have links to the investigative series he has done since 1999 on my website, http://www.StolenChildren.net/ You can go directly to his article list by clicking http://www.StolenChildren.net/#Books
About a year ago, I gave Timothy Maier permission to seek my FOIA file (Freedom of Information Act). In this current article, he states "More than a dozen parents came to Insight requesting help in obtaining the State Department files on their cases. Two years ago, this magazine filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking their files in all related agencies. As of May 2001, Insight had received only six case files." The "Yavelow file" is one of those six case files. Some of the information is shocking.
I urge you to read the entire article, it's really great -- in fact, read everything that Timothy Maier has written on this topic if you have time -- but if you don't have time, here are a couple of relevant quotes from the article.
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...International composer Christopher Yavelow was the target of a five-state manhunt and eventually was charged with violating a Dutch custody order for allegedly kidnapping his daughters, Celina, 13, and Stephanie, 10, to the United States from Amsterdam. The case was publicized by CBS This Morning, eventually leading to his arrest. Charges subsequently were dropped, but not before his daughters were taken back against their will to Amsterdam even though evidence was presented that the Dutch custody order was not a valid decree.
[...]
The files also suggest parents have to be careful who they trust. Yavelow's FBI file shows that an unnamed member of the staff of Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., agreed to work with detectives to capture him. The FBI notes, "It was agreed that a detective would help write any e-mails coming from the senator's office." Yavelow had reached out to Helms in hope of testifying at a congressional hearing on child abduction...
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We are very grateful to Timothy Maier for publicizing the judicial abuse of power that has been perpetrated against Celina and Stephanie by their mother Monique Fasel with the cooperation of the Dutch government and certain corrupt or duped American officials.
***** RECENT NEWS ABOUT THE ABDUCTION OF CELINA AND STEPHANIE *****
==> OUR CASE IN THE NYU LAW REVIEW
The illegal removal of Celina and Stephanie from their home country, the United States of America, is highlighted in an upcoming article in the NYU Law Review by Thomas Johnson, a lead attorney for the Bureau of Population Refugees and Migration at the State Department (Johnson let me see galleys of the article during the recent quadrennial Hague Convention Symposium in the Hague). Even though much of that article is about Sweden because Johnson's own daughter was kidnapped to Sweden in a similar case, the situation in the Netherlands is just about the same.
==> STEPHANIE GETS LEGAL REPRESENTATION
Stephanie turned 12 on January 29, 2001. She spent part of her 12th birthday trying to get a lawyer to exercise her right as a 12-year-old to return home to me. She was blocked at every attempt to do so by her mother. In fact, for 100 days, her mother blocked all communication between Stephanie and her legal representation (the Children's Rights Shop). But, on May 9th, Stephanie was finally able to meet with her legal counsel. We will see what develops from that at a June hearing.
==> MEDIATION LEADS TO A NIGHT HOME FOR THE GIRLS
Other recent news includes the fact that I had a nearly 3-hour mediation session with their mother on May 7th, and six days later, on May 13th, Celina and Stephanie were able to come home to me for 12 hours. After that wonderful occasion, Monique announced that the children would be allowed to come home for 12 hours every other week provided that there was absolutely no contact in between (the children and I have been meeting secretly almost daily for many months). This "12 hours every other Sunday" is slightly up from her original "3 hours, every other Saturday" that she relented to after kidnapping the children the first time (January 4, 1999). I advised her to discuss the matter privately with the mediator, and unexpectedly, on May 19, Celina and Stephanie were able to actually spend the night here in their beds, in their rooms, in their home, for the first time in 642 days -- going on two years. The girls were, needless to say, ecstatic. However, because their mother's continued instability has made her completely unpredictable, we have no way of knowing where this is leading, if anywhere.
==> CELINA HAS ETCHING IN D.C. "IN YOUR FACE" EXHIBIT
Celina has a recent etching in an exhibit at the P.A.R.E.N.T. "Conference 2001 on International Child Abduction." The exhibit's press release mentions Celina: "Art work of parentally abducted children from all over the world will be on display at the P.A.R.E.N.T. conference. From the beautiful colorful bird of Skye Vikstrom (NY) to the etching of a child's face with haunted eyes by Celina Yavelow (Netherlands), we present a forum for those that have had their lives shattered, to speak... it will be on display at the Hilton Garden Inn (815 14th Street NW, Washington DC 20005), June 7, 8, and 9, 2001. Efforts are underway to have the work exhibited at forums across the country and around the world for an international tour to bring about greater global awareness of the plight of abducted children."
You can view a scan of Celina's etching here: http://www.StolenChildren.net/graphics/tears.jpg I believe you will agree that this portrait of a weeping child accurately captures the terrible turmoil and depression that have now replaced the bubbling "this is a dream come true" happiness of the girl many of you may have seen in America before her mother abducted her -- the girl who, with her sister, shouted, "We are American citizens and we want to stay in America!" as they were brutally removed from their home country on October 21, 1999, to spend well over a year sequestered incomunicado in a foreign land which removed all my parental rights without reason.
To those of you who asked, regrettably, I won't be able to attend the P.A.R.E.N.T. International Conference coming up this June in D.C. Maybe next year.
Thank you for continuing to keep Celina and Stephanie in your prayers.
Christopher Yavelow
Father of Celina and Stephanie
http://www.yav.com (business)
http://www.yavelow.com (family)
http://www.StolenChildren.net (important!)
http://www.BringTheChildrenHome.com (like it says!)
http://www.ChildrenHelpingChildren.com (you can help too!)
On AOL Instant Messenger, I'm "Bytehoven"
+31-23-573-7121 (home)
+31-650-853-863 (mobile)
+31-23-573-7120 (fax)