From CNN's Terry Frieden at the Justice Department. CNN. June 7, 2000. Web posted at: 6:03 p.m. EDT (2203 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Justice Department Wednesday urged a federal court here to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Elian Gonzalez's great uncle that seeks to prevent the boy from returning to Cuba on grounds of human rights abuses.
The government filed a motion urging U.S. District Court Judge Henry Kennedy to toss out Lazaro Gonzalez's complaint, saying it represents his "second attempt" to keep Elian in the United States.
"Because the instant lawsuit represents an effort by Lazaro to assert claims he should have presented to the Southern District of Florida, and to reassert arguments he unsuccessfully pressed in another federal court, this action should be dismissed," the government said in its filing.
The great uncle's complaint invokes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, and the Convention Against Torture in calling for Elian to remain in this country. Cuba has a history of human rights abuses.
The government, however, argued in its 39-page motion that Elian may not invoke the treaty rights on his own, and that his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, alone speaks for the boy.
"Lazaro has no authority to bypass Elian's general representative, his father, and file this suit purporting to act as the child's next friend," the Justice Department's motion said.
Elian has been the subject of a heated custody battle between his father and distant relatives in Miami since he was found clinging to an inner tube off the coast of Florida. His mother drowned in her attempt to flee Cuba and come to the United States.
© 2000 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved. |