1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention Officially Takes Effect In Japan

Effective April 1st, 2014, Japan officially became a member of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention. Japan’s ratification of the Convention not only makes them the 91st Contracting State, but it comes after long-standing diplomatic efforts and global public outcry over Japan’s previous failure to participate in the international child abduction treaty, as well as the proven history of not offering victimized children and targeted parents of abduction a vehicle to turn to in order to resolve international parental child abduction disputes.

From the standpoint of the I CARE Foundation, Japan becoming a member of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention is a definite sign that diplomatic efforts throughout the international community are working. It also strongly reaffirms that the Hague Child Abduction Convention is the right mechanism for both  governments and families around the world to utilize in an effort to settle international child abduction disputes. However, it is also critically important to note that Japan's Parliment has created significant loopholes for their citizens who abduct a child to remain in Japan and enable the two newly established Hague Courts to sanction a Japanese child's kidnapping in cases that the Japanese parent claims essentially any form of child or spousal abuse. The Japanese government's exemptions to the Hague Child Abduction Convention are particularly concerning as in the vast majority of international parental child abduction cases around the world, the taking parent (regardless of man or woman) claims abuse.

In present cases of mobility, we urge the courts around the world to move very cautiously when making considerations toward travel or mobility. Specificially, it is our extreme view that courts should heavily weigh whether a Japanese parent living abroad who is seeking travel with their child to Japan has previously made false allegations against the child's other parent, or, has demonstrated a penchant to be a non-cooperating parent when the court is deciding on mobility and travel cases.  In the event that false claims by a Japanese citizen living abroad has been made against their child's other parent, courts must realize that these claims against the child's other parent will be enough evidence a Japanese national may need to permanently remain in Japan regardless of Japan's ratification of the Hague Child Abduction Convention. It is also important to point out that in Japan's culture, typically only one parent is permitted to raise the child of a failed marriage or partnership. Finally, in existing cases occurring between Japanese nationals living abroad seeking mobility or travel, courts must be aware that many Japanese citizens living abroad with a child but who are seeking to relocate back to Japan more than likely fully understand the new loopholes established under Japan's annexation of the Hague Child Abduction Convention.  Court's must proceed with extreme caution as the Japanese government begins it process of upholding the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention while also addressing their own domestic family laws.

As part of Japan's participation in the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, retroactivity, for those foreign parents that have previously had a child internationally abducted to Japan are not eligible to file a Hague Application or utilize the treaty.  Saying that, we must be sure to always remember the children who have become victims of international abduction and taken to Japan - as well their left-behind families - because it is many of those families that successfully advocated for Japan’s ratification.

Japan Becomes A Member Of The 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention

(January 24^th, 2014)

Today in Tokyo, the Government of Japan approved ratification of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention; a few hours later, the Japanese Ambassador to the Netherlands, Mr. Masaru Tsuji, deposited the instrument of ratification, making Japan the 91^st Contracting State to this important treaty. This significant development reaffirms that diplomatic efforts among the international community, together with the invaluable assistance provided by the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, are working; it also reaffirms that the Hague Child Abduction Convention is the proper mechanism for all governments and families around the world to utilize in order to settle international child abduction disputes.

Japan’s ratification of the Convention comes after long-standing multi-lateral diplomatic efforts combined with global public outcry over Japan’s previous failure to participate in the international child abduction treaty and to offer victimized children and targeted parents of abduction a vehicle to turn to in order to resolve international parental child abduction disputes.

The 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention will enter into force for Japan on April 1^st, 2014. Under Japan’s participation, foreign parents who have previously had a child internationally abducted to Japan are not eligible to file a Hague Application or utilize the treaty. Retroactivity remains a concern for hundreds of left-behind parents still seeking to reunite with their kidnapped children.

The 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention seeks to combat parental child abduction by providing a system of co-operation between Contracting States and a rapid procedure for the return of the child to the country of the child’s habitual residence. Judges overseeing litigation revolving around the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention are not to determine issues of custody as that issue typically falls under the jurisdiction of the courts located in the child’s country of habitual residency.

Japan’s ratification of the convention demonstrates that international diplomacy and education continues to work, while also creating a stronger atmosphere for other countries that are not participants to the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, such as India, to strongly consider ratification.

In the past, Japan has been considered a ‘black hole’ for international parental child abductors as the overwhelming number of children abducted to Japan by a Japanese national living abroad have not been returned to the child’s country of original jurisdiction.

The vast majority of left-behind parents are fathers residing in Europe and North America. Tragically, the targeted parent often has little or no rights of access or custody to their child once the child lands in Japan due to the country’s antiquated and prejudicial family law policies that tend to grant a child’s mother sole custody of the child while simultaneously removing the child’s father’s access to the child. Japan’s legal system does not recognize the concept of joint-custody.

In May 2013, the Diet had approved Japan’s compliance to the treaty, sending out a clear indicator that the country was steadily moving toward participation. Until today, Japan was the only country in the Group of Eight (G8) that has not affirmed the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention.

The following month (June) Japan’s Parliament enacted a law stipulating domestic implementation procedures for the Hague child abduction treaty.

Japan’s Parliament established procedures requiring the country to create a Central Authority under the auspices of the Foreign Ministry. The Central Authority’s responsibilities include the tasks of locating children who have been abducted and encourage families involved in international parental child abduction claims to settle disputes through consultations.

If the consultations fail, family courts in Tokyo and Osaka specifically trained in 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention matters will decide on matters. The Central Authority will be staffed with legal experts in international private law as well child psychologist and domestic violence counselors. A third Hague Court location could later be added.

Under the terms of Japan’s Parliamentary action in June, 2013 the new law provides grounds forrefusal to return a child if abuse or domestic violence is feared, issues that are expected to draw keen interest in light of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention’s Article 13, a provision that is almost always utilized by parental child abductors regardless of the gender of the abductor.

Child abduction prevention advocates from around the world hope that Japan’s ratification of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention will further push non-Hague countries including India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Philippines, and China (mainland) who are all believed to be actively assessing the Convention with a view to becoming a party to.

Today Japan has taken its place at the table of nations and finally a stand against the atrocity of international parental child abduction and severe abuse against targeted children and their families.  As Japan works to uphold the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention we must first and foremost not forget the children who have been abducted to Japan and their left-behind families, many whom successfully advocated for Japan’s ratification of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention.

We invite you to read the official comments shared by The Hague Permanent Bureau concerning diplomacy and Japan’s ratification. Please click here.

(End)

To visit the I CARE Foundation official website, please click here. 

Father Of Three Internationally Abducted Children Illegally Taken To Japan Inspires Parents Everywhere According To The I CARE Foundation

Bruce Gherbetti, a Canadian father of three young daughters who were internationally abducted and taken to Japan's radioactive infested Fukushima Prefecture, has worked tirelessly in order to reunite with his long-lost children despite Japan's archaic family law policy.

New York, New York (PRWEB) November 09, 2011

Bruce Gherbetti, a loving father living in Vancouver with his three children when they were targets of international parental child abduction to Japan has inspired parents around the world by his unbowed acts and unconditional love and devotion to reunite with his children, who were illegally abducted from Canada and taken to Japan by the children's mother according to individuals at the I CARE Foundation.


Similiar to the United States, international parental child abduction is a crime in Canada.


According to court papers filed with the Vancouver, British Columbia Supreme Court (FP20097642) it took Mr. Gherbetti nearly 23 months to find and then travel from Vancouver to Japan's Fukushima Prefecture, where remarkably, he was able to locate and reunite with his three young children who previously were illegally removed from Canada in September, 2009. In the absence of his children, Mr. Gherbetti lived a life of great pain and worry: the Fukushima Prefecture is a small town located approximately 30 miles away from Fukushima Dai-ichi, Japan's tsunami-maligned 'Nuclear Power Plant Number One' located in the disaster stricken towns of Okuma and Futaba. On March 11th, 2011, after an earthquake categorized as a 9.0Mw caused the creation of a deadly Tsunami, with waves reaching over 14 meters high, Japan and its citizens quickly went from a country straddled with the crisis caused by the earthquake and tsunami, to inevitably, a country that will be long-scarred due to the nuclear disasters that ensued.


Despite the hardships that Bruce Gherbetti had had to endure, which include the pain of not knowing where his children were or when he would see them again, the father of three traveled down every possible road until that road lead him to the Fukushima Prefecture, and into the loving arms of his three daughters. Unfortunately for Mr. Gherbetti, a reunification with his children was not what the children's abducting mother had in mind, and if fact, "she wanted to erase Canada from the children's memories."


Mr. Gherbetti reunification with his daughter may appear to be short-lived; however, for the hundreds of thousands of parents around the world familiar with the criminal act of international parental child abduction, Bruce Gherbetti tremendous effort to let his children know he loves them and desires to be a part of their life has provided hope and inspiration for targeted parents of abduction everywhere. Mr. Gherbetti commented, "My children, Rion, Lauren and Julia are delightful, precious and very dear to me. I was a loving father who was involved in every aspect of their upbringing until they were so unjustly internationally abducted to Japan. They need to know that I am alive, that I love them, and that I want to be with them. I don't know what they have been told. I don't know what they believe or what they know at this point. I just want to arrive and give them the opportunity to see that I am here and to be a part of their life. In coming to Japan, I am fighting for my children's human rights. Rion, Lauren, and Julia have a fundamental human right to see and know their father and their grandmother, their uncles and aunts, and their cousins in Canada. And it is my intent to ensure that Japan allows for this to happen."


Mr. Gherbetti's first reunion with his children lasted only 30 minutes and occurred when his former spouse was not home: the children were being watched by their Japanese grandmother.


Since this time, Mr. Gherbetti has stayed in Japan, where he intends to do everything legally possible to see and be a part of his daughters' lives, while also being proactive in changing Japan's incomprehensive laws that essentially make it near-impossible for one of the parents of divorce (typically the father) from enjoying any rights of custody or access to their children.


Mr. Gherbetti realizes that what he is fighting for is his children's rights to know and receive the love of both of their parents. "None of this is about me, this is about my children," he says. "I feel what she has done is essentially denied them knowing half of who they are. It is not fair - it is simply not fair."


Peter Thomas Senese, a child abduction prevention advocate and a father who successfully reunited with his abducted child in accordance to the Hague Courts commented, "Bruce Gherbetti has empowered and inspired so many individuals within the parental child abduction community through act. Once his plans were secure, this loving father, who lives for his children, made a careful plan - including making sure his children knew he was alive and that he loved them - and left his home of Canada, ready and willing to start a new life in a foreign country so that he could be in his children's lives. When considering the political and legal atmosphere for Bruce in Japan, his willingness to endure whatever he must in order to be in his daughters' lives tells a story of remarkable love. A love I hope one day soon his children will embrace."


Bruce Gherbetti commented, "I know what it is to struggle without a father - to make your way in this life without the competence and guidance of a father. It made me realize that if I am ever in the position where I have children, I just want to emulate what he was able to give me. He was a very good man - a good father."


Japan is a country that has never returned one American or Canadian child-citizen back to the child's country of original jurisdiction and is known to be non-cooperative to alienated parents seeking to reunite with their abducted children. In fact, Japan is the only G-7 member nation that has not signed the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction which was established to protect the rights of defenseless children who have been internationally abducted by returning them to the country of original jurisdiction. Recently, Japan has made a commitment to ratify the Hague Convention; however no time-table has been established, nor will Japan's anticipated signature allow for past abduction cases to be retroactively aligned with the treaty's provisions.


"I think there is a cultural issue at play here," he says. "When the marriage fails, as far as I understand it, in Japan, traditionally access and contact with the left-behind parent is viewed as an inconvenience. It is so completely different from our Western philosophies - that children have the right to know both their parents, a right to know their whole family."


At the time of his children's abduction, Mr. Gherbetti sought assistance from the Canadian government. Mr. Gherbetti commented, "The Canadian government, though well intentioned, is unwilling to press these issues with the government of Japan, preferring instead to try to improve trade volume between Canada and Japan and not jeopardize it by demanding that Japan live up to its treaty obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which they ratified on March 22, 1994 and Canada has also ratified."


Joel S. Walter, a father and attorney practicing international family law in New York City commented, "Mr. Gherbetti's decision to travel to Japan, where it is my understanding, he intends to stay so that his children will know his love speaks admirably of the man Bruce obviously is. His interests are directed toward his children. He clearly wants what is best for them, and that clearly is having such a loving and devoted father in their life. And undeniably, as a parent myself, when I come to learn of the dedication of men like Bruce, it inspires me to be the best parent I can be, too."


Eric Kalmus, Co-founder of the Japan Children's Rights Network stated, "Mr. Gherbetti's children are at the mercy of a court system that does not involve trained psychologists, nor consider the possibity of child abuse by a Japanese parent when rendering decisions. It is apparent that the love he shares with those girls has not, and will not be shattered by Japans lack of proper children's rights protection. Japan must make swift change to their antiquated family law system so that loving families like the Gherbetti's are not ripped apart by the abuse of parental abduction."


Bruce Gherbetti stated, "Japan needs to change domestic law in order to have a joint custody system post separation and divorce. Japan must sign the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction in its present form without amendment and comply with the spirit and intent of the convention. Japan must resolve all outstanding cases of international child abduction as they have said they will not make their accession to The Hague Convention retroactive. Lastly, Japan must ensure to enforce the new domestic law as currently police will not get involved in parental abductions claiming that they are 'family matters'."

Parents Of Hundreds of Abducted Children Rally In Japan This Weekend!

Japan: The Black Hole of International Parental Child Abduction

Chasing Parents from all over the United States who have their children criminally abducted and detained in Japan have joined together under the banner of ‘Bring Abducted Children Home’ (www.bachome.org/events), in an effort to raise the public’s awareness on the growing cruelty directed at defenseless, innocent U.S. children-citizens victimized by the act of international parental child abduction. The group, which consists of nearly 50 Chasing Parents and their supporters have descended on Washington, D.C. to meet with lawmakers and government officials in order to press for the return of their children, while also intending several formal protests and awareness campaigns in order to educate the scores of visitors celebrating Japan’s culture.

The timing of their rally could not be better: this week, Washington celebrates the Cherry Blossom Festival, where over a million visitors are expected to visit the nation’s Capitol. One of these visitors expected to visit is Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

Japan has never returned a child that has been internationally parentally kidnapped and illegally detained in their country in accordance to the laws of the child’s nation of habitual residency. According to various reports, it is estimated that there are over 1,300 children who had been criminally abducted from a foreign country and presently criminally detained in Japan. In addition, in the last decade alone there were 167 child abduction cases in Japan reported to the State Department involving 230 children. This, despite an assortment of U.S. court orders and demands for these children to be returned home.

Zero abducted children returned from Japan equates to this country becoming known as the ‘Black Hole of Abduction’, and a ‘Safe Harbor’ for parental child kidnappers.

Sadly, most American citizens and for that matter, most citizens of developed and progressive-leaning countries have no idea that Japan is a safe-harbor for child abductors, none of whom face prosecution or extradition in Japan. And why would the public not know this? Isn’t Japan one of the United States’ strongest strategic partners and allies? On the surface, the answer to this question is ‘yes’. But how can a strategic partner allow for criminally abducted children to remain in their country and under the guidance and care no less, of the abducting parent?
Culturally, Japan’s courts allow for only one parent to have access and custody of a child during divorce proceedings. Tragically for the child and the parent not selected to be with their own child by the court, contact and communication is frowned upon and not approved. This approach is far different than the West, where research and common sense demonstrate that a child is best served by knowing the love of both parents.

For example, the case of Navy Commander Paul Toland and his daughter Erika's plight provides one microcosm that there is more to Japan's refusal to comply than what is commonly referred to as 'cultural differences in law'. In Commander Toland's case, his daughter Erika was abducted by the child's
US Citizen mother while he was assigned in Japan on military duty. Shortly after, the mother died, and the grandmother took possession of Erika where she remains until this day, held captive in a country that has never returned a child. The US State Department tried to intervene and asked to visit Erika to check on her welfare and well-being, but the grandmother denied their request. The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked to
visit Erika to check on her welfare and well-being, but again, the
grandmother denied their request. In the Japanese system, where no enforcement mechanisms exist and compliance is completely voluntary, all any government agency can say is "We're sorry, we tried." Nobody can offer any remedies or solutions, because none exist. Commander Toland, who is
Erika's sole legal custodian under Maryland State Law, remains with absolutely no access to his daughter. Erika has been gone now for nearly seven years. Her father Paul loves her with all of his heart.

Commander Toland commented, "I never dreamed that serving my country overseas in one of our allied nations would result in the loss of my only child. Japan is supposedly an ally of the United States, so why does the United States continue to
tolerate this behavior from Japan? How can a nation that we call an ally be guilty of such despicable human rights violations and get away with it? Our children are all we have, and every civilized society has the responsibility to ensure that their most vulnerable citizens, their children, have the opportunity to know and love their parents."

In another case that cuts through the chatter of cultural issues is the case of Captain William Lake. In Captain Lake’s case, his former spouse, who is not a Japanese citizen, abducted his daughter Mary Victoria to Japan despite an array of court orders. The abducting parent has no national ties to Japan; however, for nearly five years Japan has provided a safe harbor for the abducting parent despite having no connection to Japan. Mary Victoria will be 13 this Sunday. Her father William loves her greatly.

Christopher Savoie, who drew international media attention to the Japanese government's complicity with child kidnappers when he was wrongfully detained by Japanese police last year while attempting to retrieve his two kidnapped children stated, "I am glad that the tide is turning and that this extremely shameful aspect of Japanese culture is being exposed for what it is. People are starting to realize all of the previously closely guarded dirty secrets of Japanese society such as the popularity and legality in Japan of child pornography, legal "consensual" sex with 13 year-old children, cover-ups about killer vehicles, the ruthless killing of dolphins and the most disgusting secret of all -- that Japan officially and shamelessly supports and even assists in the kidnapping of innocent kids from countries that are supposedly their 'allies'."

‘The Hague Convention On The Civil Aspects Of International Parental Child Abduction’ offers citizens of countries that have signed the international treaty remedies that can legally order for the return of the child. Japan has not signed this treaty, despite internal and external pressure being placed on the Prime Minister and the Diet to do so.

Presently in Japan, there is heavy discussion going on internally about Japan becoming a signatory of the Hague Convention. Petitions from Japanese citizens who face international abduction and have had their own children abducted abroad have come to recognize that they have little recourse available to them for the return of their own children due to Japan’s failure to sign the international convention. In addition, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has openly said that he would like to see Japan sign the Hague Convention, but cautioned that it might be a year before the nation does so because of the slow moving Diet.
Randy Collins, the father of Keisuke Christian Collins - Abducted June 16, 2008 by Reiko Nakata stated, "Any person from Japan that makes the choice to visit or live in United States, must obey ALL laws of the US. When the Japanese parent violates U.S. laws on U.S. soil with existing court orders already in place, by illegally abducting a child to Japan, that parent MUST be extradited back to the US and the child MUST be returned to their habitual residence."

Diplomacy and dialogue are key, but with a zero return rate – ZERO – diplomacy has been too slow for every abducted child and their Chasing Parent. It is critical that the voices of caring individuals – mothers, fathers, and children of somebody – all of us – share our concern with Japan for creating a ‘Black Hole For Child Abductors’. After all – we’re talking about Japan, not some militant third world country, right?

Perhaps Tony Del Vecchio, who lost custody of his eleven-year-old daughter after protracted litigation in the Tokyo District Court, said it best, "For a foreigner divorcing a Japanese national, loss of parental rights followed by denial of access to one’s child is a fait accompli."

Peter Thomas Senese, a successful Chasing Parent and author of ‘Chasing The Cyclone’ commented, “None of these parents expected or anticipated for the abduction of their children to occur. And surely, unless you have walked in the shoes as a Chasing Parent left behind in the wake of criminal child abduction, most individuals can ever understand just how complex, painful, and costly it is to deal with abduction in an international environment. These parents and their children’s ordeal demonstrates just how difficult it is to have an abducted child returned.”

The loving Chasing Parents of children held illegally in Japan ask you to show your sign of support for their children and their efforts to bring them home. For more information, including a schedule of their activity during the coming week, please visit www.bachome.org

Japan: The Safe Harbor For Parental Children Kidnappers

Imagine having your child criminally kidnapped and abducted by the child’s other parent to another country that is known as a fortified and impenetrable safe-harbor for child abductors. Now consider the notion that this nation is one of the United States main strategic allies and trading partners. Are you thinking that this is impossible? Are you wondering what country this is?

Welcome to Japan.

As astronomers push our minds and imaginations by studying the universe, we have come to learn that ‘black holes’ exist many light years away. Think again.

Since at least the inception of The Hague Convention On The Civil Aspects On International Parental Child Abduction – the main international treaty that addresses international parental child abduction – which Japan still has not signed – there has never been one criminally kidnapped and parentally abducted child returned by Japan to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, or anywhere else for that matter.

Once a criminally kidnapped child enters into Japan with their abducting parent, the abducting parent has entered a safe harbor, and fear of prosecution or extradition are put aside. As for the abducted, victimized child – they, like the Chasing Parent left behind in the wake of their child’s abduction, have entered into a black hole where both short and long-term damage almost always plagues the child for the rest of their life.

I will reiterate the unthinkable: It is believed that no child abducted to Japan has ever been returned.

According to various government and independent reports, it is estimated that there presently are 85 active cases involving approximately 230 American children-citizens who have been kidnapped and are presently illegally detained in Japan during the time period of 2000 through mid-2009. There have been hundreds of cases that have been closed during this time period. Information on why these cases have been closed was not available at the time of this article.

In addition, there are at least 38 children-citizens from the United Kingdom, and at least 37 children-citizens from Canada presently being held illegally in Japan. According to William Duncan, the Deputy Secretary General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, there are approximately 1,300 children in total presently living in Japan that are considered abducted and who’s wrongful retention is in violation of criminal kidnapping and abduction laws originating from these children’s countries of original jurisdiction.

So what do you do if your child has been abducted to Japan? This question is the very same question scores of heartbroken but determined loving parents have asked themselves for some time.

Except now, it appears that the tide is turning, and the voices of determined Chasing Parents have finally reached the policymakers in Washington and Tokyo. And their message is clear: Japan’s failure to uphold the laws of the nation of an abducted child’s original jurisdiction will no longer be tolerated.

Last month a two-day close door meeting took place between leading Hague-signatory countries and leaders in Japan, the Ambassadors of the Hague-signatory nations stated in a joint press conference:

We, the Ambassadors to Japan of Australia, Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States have on several occasions expressed our concern to the Government of Japan about the increase in international parental abduction cases involving Japan and affecting our nationals.

We welcome recent statements by the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Justice Minister and other Japanese officials recognizing the seriousness of this international problem. We are encouraged by recent positive initiatives by the Government of Japan, such as the establishment of the Division for Issues Related to Child Custody within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In this spirit, today we have concluded a two-day symposium during which experts from our nations discussed aspects of child abduction with Japanese Government officials and other leaders in this field.


So, you might be asking yourself, why is Japan clearly violating court orders from foreign courts that possessed jurisdiction of the child due to the child’s habitual residency?

Well, the answers are can be found in the nation’s culture and laws. First, change in Japan typically does not occur from within the nation’s borders. If change does occur, it is typically due to the international community expressing urgent concern over this country’s behavior. In addition, the family laws governing divorce and separation in Japan give only one parent custody and guardianship of the children of the divorce, and custody is almost always issued to the mother of the children. And in almost all cases, the non-custodial, non-guardian parent seldom sees the children of the marriage once the divorce action begins.

In addition, parties in Japan have consistently stated that there is great fear in ordering the return of the child and abducting parent because the majority of these cases involve domestic violence.

On February 2nd, 2010 Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell was asked a specific question regarding domestic violence and Japan’s policy of no-return from Maegawa, a reporter from Japan’s national newspaper Asahi Shimbun. The following was taken directly from the United States Department of State’s website.

QUESTION: Thank you for taking my question. I’m Maegawa from Asahi Shimbun, a national newspaper in Japan. I have a question on the Hague -- this issue – because some Japanese citizens are very concerned because this issue includes some of the domestic violence cases where some spouses or ex-spouses have actually fled from the spouses and had no choice but to take the children with them. How do you answer that question?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: I have to say, I've heard this on a number of occasions from Japanese friends, and I think that there is the view that this is a very widespread phenomenon. These allegations caused extraordinary unhappiness among this community, most of whom in the United States already had legal custody, sometimes had gone through divorce or were separated. We can find almost no cases of alleged or actual substantiated claims of violence and where those apply, we of course, understand and support that. But because of the legal situation in Japan, I think that this allegation is used very loosely and oftentimes inappropriately without any supporting criteria whatsoever, and our particular issue is with a situation in which once there has been a separation or a divorce in the United States and when a parent is given dual custody -- parents are given dual custody -- and one of the parents takes the children to Japan outside of a legal framework that's been established. That's kidnapping, and that's a very grave and worrisome problem that needs to be dealt with. I would say that there is a substantial misconception on this issue in Japan that the cases that we are dealing with are primarily those of domestic abuse. Our judgment would be that that is not the case. Okay, last question.

Pressure inside Japan seems to be mounting to sign the Hague Convention. Recently, a Czech father took his Czech-Japanese son to the Czech Republic outside of court orders. The action was met with a loud outcry in Japan, as the mother of the child collected 10,000 Japanese signatures urging Japan to sign the Hague Convention so that the left behind mother could legally attempt to recover her child.

So, perhaps change is occurring within Japan, but internal change has not been something the country is known for.

Diplomatic efforts by countries including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Italy, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom continue to put great pressure on the Diet and Japan’s Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama. In February of this past year, Hatoyama stated that he was willing to sign a treaty that addressed international parental child abduction, but cautioned that it might take until next year before this is achieved.

Japan’s Prime Minister Hatoyama is scheduled to visit Washington, D.C. on April 9th, 10th, and 11th in conjunction with the Cherry Blossom Festival.

It is expected that a large and vocal group of Chasing Parents from the United States will make their concerns known during the weeklong festivities in Washington. These parents of criminally kidnapped and wrongfully retained children are anticipated to meet with various legislative leaders, key members of the U.S. Department of State, and are expected to pass out flyers and other information during the Cherry Blossom Festival.

For more information of the children still captive in Japan, the parents who are desperately trying to bring them home, and how to show your support, please visit http://bachome.org. For more information on Peter Thomas Senese and ‘Chasing The Cyclone’ please visit www.chasingthecyclone.com