„A group of people are now planning to drag the child out of there against its will “

„A group of people are now standing outside a hospital ward at Landspítali, planning to drag the child out of there against its will with by means necessary. They are going to deliver the child to its father, whom it fears and has repeatedly refused any communication with. The Child Protective Services in Reykjavík, The District Commissioner of Greater Reykjavík and the police are behind this action. The mother’s lawyer has tried explaining the child’s situation to no avail.“

This is written in an announcement posted on Facebook by the „Líf án ofbeldis“, or Life Without Violence organization today. Police officer Guðmundur Pétur Guðmundsson said in an interview with Mannlíf that the police was at the scene, to aid Child Protective Services in picking up the child.

The announcement states that the child does not want to live with its father and has always counted on being cared for by its mother.

„With this implementation the authorities mean to enforce a ruling on the child’s legal domicile with its father, against the child’s will. The father is suspected of long standing mental and physical violence against the children and their mother. This implementation, against the child’s will, is without exception going to cause the child great emotional distress.

The child in question is chronically ill and has always been in the primary care of its mother. There is great risk that the child will suffer irreparable damage. We fully condemn this complete lack of regard towards children’s interests, exhibited with this implementation, and the government’s brutal conduct towards the victims of violence.“

The announcement carries on, stating that „The child in question is mature enough to be able to express their free will. To ignore the child’s wishes is in clear violation of the main rule of children’s rights, according to The United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child, and Icelandic children’s law on the child’s right to expression. With regards to a child’s constitutional right to family life, The Supreme Court has confirmed that when weighing the best interests of a child, the child’s interest and it’s right to privacy and immunity, protected by the Icelandic constitution, must always be taken into full consideration.“