An Afghan couple who arrived in the U.S. as refugees are suing a U.S. Marine and his wife for allegedly abducting their baby.
The Taliban's swift move to control Afghanistan has plunged the country into chaos with many fearing for their lives and trying to escape.
The little girl, now 3 years old, is at the center of a high-stakes tangle of at least four court cases. The Afghan couple, desperate to get her back, has sued Joshua and his wife Stephanie Mast. But the Masts insist they are her legal parents and "acted admirably" to protect her. They've asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit.
In a federal lawsuit filed in September, the Afghan family accuses the Masts of false imprisonment, conspiracy, fraud and assault. The family has asked the court to shield their identity out of concerns for their relatives back in Afghanistan, and they communicated with AP on the condition of remaining anonymous.
Originally from Florida, Joshua Mast married his wife Stephanie and attended Liberty University, an evangelical Christian college in Lynchburg, Virginia. He graduated in 2008, and got his law degree there in 2014. Both sides agree that when the dust settled, U.S. troops pulled the badly injured infant from the rubble. The baby had a fractured skull, broken leg and serious burns.Mast called the baby a "victim of terrorism." His attorney said she "miraculously survived."The baby was rushed to a military hospital, where she was placed in the care of the Defense Department.
In emails to military officials, Mast alleged that Pence told the U.S. Embassy in Kabul to "make every effort" to get her to the United States. Mast signed his emails with a Bible verse: "'Live for an Audience of one, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ."The U.S. Embassy never heard from Pence's office, said a Department of State official, who requested anonymity because they did not have permission to speak publicly about the situation.
The American concept of adoption doesn't even exist in Afghanistan. Under Islamic law, a child's bloodline cannot be severed and their heritage is sacred. Instead of adoption, a guardianship system called kafala allows Muslims to take in orphans and raise them as family, without relinquishing the child's name or bloodline.
The general in turn put a "gag order" on military personnel about the baby and said "no one was to advocate on her behalf," Mast wrote in a legal filing.The Masts searched for a solution halfway around the world - in rural Fluvanna County, Virginia, where they lived. Yet all along they planned to adopt the baby, according to records obtained from the state of Virginia under a Freedom of Information Act request. Richard Mast wrote the Attorney General's office in November 2019 that the Masts "will file for adoption as soon as statutorily possible."
In emails to a U.S. military office requesting evacuation, Mast alleged that he read more than 150 pages of classified documents, and concluded the child was a "stateless minor." Mast believed she was the daughter of transient terrorists who are citizens of no country, his attorney said. He also speculated that if reunited with her family, she could be made a child soldier or a suicide bomber, sold into sex trafficking, hit in a U.S. military strike, or stoned for being a girl.
But the Justice Department attorneys said they had no right to mandate how the Afghan government vets the family, and that the Red Cross - which has reunited relatives in war zones for more than a century - had confirmed it was done properly.
Motley had originally gone to Afghanistan in 2008 under an American-funded initiative to train local lawyers. She stayed, largely representing foreigners charged with crimes. She took on high-profile human rights cases, gave a TED Talk and wrote a book. On July 10, 2021, around the baby's second birthday, Motley facilitated the first phone call between the Afghan couple and Joshua Mast, with the aid translator Ahmad Osmani, a Baptist pastor of Afghan descent. Mast told the Afghan couple that unless they sent the child to the United States for medical care, she could "be blind, brain damaged, and/or permanently physically disabled."
Osmani did not respond to requests for comment. He asked a federal judge to throw out the lawsuit, and said he never deceived anyone. He was only a "mere translator."In late summer 2021, the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan. Mast said he contacted the family to bring the baby to the U.S. "before the country collapsed." He said he was "extremely concerned that they may not get another chance." The couple agreed.
"If anyone asks to talk about your documents, show them this text: I am Major Joshua Mast, USMC. I am a Judge Advocate..." Mast texted them detailed directions for how to deal with U.S. authorities, their lawsuit says. Inside was the same photo of the child in the wading pool, but altered to change the background, add a shirt and smooth her hair. Mast told the Afghans to "keep quiet" about having his name on her passport, their lawsuit alleges, so it would be easier to get medical care.
In their heavily redacted response to the lawsuit, the Masts acknowledge they "took custody" of the child; they said their adoption order was valid and they did nothing wrong. Meanwhile, the couple says in court documents, Osmani warned them not to contact a lawyer or the authorities, and suggested that Mast might give them the baby back if they dealt directly with him.
His wife gave birth to a girl on October 1, 2021. The young mother's grief became overwhelming. A month later, she considered suicide and was hospitalized.
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