Charisa Coulter’s release papers have been signed, but for lack of the official stamp, she will remain in jail until Monday at the earliest.

Laura Silsby remains in the Haitian jail pending further investigation.

The Daily Bastardette post pretty much says all I would, and contains the pertinent links:

SAINT-VIL: SILSBY HELD FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION; COULTER HOME SOON

I have very little to add beyond how deeply disgusted I am that it appears the responsibility is being artificially narrowed down to land on Laura Silsby when clearly her actions would not have been possible but for a long chain of responsibility and culpability, the actions of many people, firmly rooted in the Baptist church networks that financed, enabled, and gathered the raw personnel for the “mission.”

There’s plenty of blame to go around, from Central Valley Baptist Church using its tax status to collect funds for the scavenger team (the New Life Children’s Refuge team itself was split across the two countries some in Haiti others in the Dominican Republic also see this link for more on the D.R. side of the team) on through to those that enabled the New Life team on the ground in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

If Laura Silsby alone is held responsible for the actions of so many, she would likely be held up as little more than a symbol used to signify that some semblance of law does still exist in Haiti.

Not surprisingly, the Prime Minister has made it clear he considers the focus on the child scavengers a “distraction.” Haiti would no doubt be content to utilize an unsympathetic character the likes of Laura Sislby as a personification  or personal embodiment of what went wrong here.

But as I’ve said before and will continue to point out, she did not act alone, nor does she alone bear responsibility.

Around the time of the initial release of the first 8, I wrote two pieces:

The 73 Haitian kids deserve genuine justice, not a premature release of the scavengers

and

Haiti fails its children, releases 8 Child Scavengers on nothing more than their (worthless) word

Both of which are worth revisiting at this juncture as I find much of what I’d have to say, I’ve already written. I consider the initial release of the 8 not merely premature, but a basic failure of Justice.

Adding Charisa Coulter, the “VP and co-founder” of New Life Children’s Refuge to that tally of what I can only view as releases prior to a full investigation (which would have to take place across three countries at this point, the United States, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic) leaves  Laura Silsby in the role of “fall guy” (or gal,) for an effort she clearly, provably at this point, was but one part of.

Yes, as I wrote earlier today in a comment at the Daily Bastardette, it seems everyone would love to get this over and done with, get it behind them so as to go on about the many things they are already doing.

Haiti has far too many minute to minute life and death real world problems to handle.  The situation is simply dire. The rains and the flooding are what matters here, not some idiot from Idaho and her buddies whining about only getting one meal a day, usually chicken while Haitians starve.

The United States has been perfectly content to fly the other 8 home on a military flight at taxpayer expense and then let them fade quietly back into the American landscape. While Silsby, again, might make a useful scapegoat when and if she makes it back to U.S. soil she certainly did not do any of this all by her little lonesome. At this point, she’s more likely to face an American court over her back wages owed former employees than for attempted child trafficking in another country.

The adoption industry both here in the U.S. and around the world would like nothing better than for the entire world to suffer collective amnesia concerning both the New Lifers and the issues raised in terms of what terminology such as “orphan” and “orphanage” can mean in practical application.

But as for Bastard Bloggers and others who actually care about the kids, their families of origin (who were clearly lied to, and therefore any ‘consent’ they may have given was based upon those lies), and importantly, the NEXT batch of kids someone’s going to try to traffic into intercountry adoptions somewhere down the line?

We want to see Justice done.

Genuine Justice, not symbolic justice, not Laura Silsby being made a singular and personal example of, as if she herself was a mere aberration.

Actions such as these by the New Lifers and those who made their “mission” possible, when not met with swift and harsh consequences, are all too often repeated.

Child scavenging in the wake of national cataclysm should be met with the harshest of sentences, not media puff pieces about “good intentions” or military flights home to staged ‘heroes’ welcomes.’

Child traffickers are human scum, not heroes.

They should be penalized and ostracized, not idolized.