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Almost everyone in Portugal is aware of the abduction of Madeleine McCann, but
there are many other missing children in the country whose cases have received
little attention.
Now their mothers are criticising the police for not making an effort to trace
their young ones.
Filomena Teixeira's 11-year-old son Rui Pedro vanished while walking home from
school in the northern town of Lousada
in March, 1998. He has never been found.
Speaking about the search for Madeleine, she said: "It is clear the police
didn't do the same when Rui Pedro disappeared.
The authorities' mobilisation was not as big.'' Portugal has faced mounting
criticism for its record on bringing child abusers to justice.
The founder of the Swiss-based group Innocence in Danger, which has offices
across Europe and America,
said it had tried but failed to work with Portuguese authorities. Its
president, Homayra Sellier, said Portugal was a country where
"the corruption has gone so high that there's nothing we can do".
The group tried to set up an office there between 2002 and 2004, but Miss
Sellier said: "I stopped it because I thought I couldn't fight against a
country where the people do not want to know the truth." |
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NEWS MAY 2007 |
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