State Department pressed for action on abduction cases

A New Jersey congressman says the U.S. government needs to get tougher in its efforts to recover abducted children living in other countries.

WASHINGTON – Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey continued to hammer the U.S. government Thursday over a string of international child abduction cases that remain unresolved, including several from his home state.

“The status quo is simply not adequate,” Smith said at a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on global human rights and international organizations, which he chairs.

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/09/international-child-abductions/2148533/

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U.S. tells Japan to address child abductions but balks at sanctions

AFP-JIJI (May 11, 2013)

WASHINGTON – The U.S. State Department called Thursday for Japan to take action on child abductions but rejected lawmakers’ calls to pose the threat of sanctions to force action on one of the allies’ few open disputes.

Hundreds of non-Japanese parents, mostly men from the United States and elsewhere, have lost access to their children as their estranged partners whisked them away to Japan, where joint custody is never granted.

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/05/11/national/u-s-tells-japan-to-address-child-abductions-but-balks-at-sanctions/#.UY6-k0ZTb48

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The latest by Colin Jones. Japan again fails to live up to tis promises, and remains a pariah in the international community for that failure.

— Tony

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THE ZEIT GIST

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It’s past midnight but child-abduction treaty promise is not yet a pumpkin

By COLIN P. A. JONES

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Despite much promise and a flurry of activity, it didn’t happen: Japan failed to ratify the Hague Convention on international child abduction and pass the extensive piece of accompanying domestic legislation the government felt was necessary in order for it to do so. Both items on the Diet agenda were left up in the air when it closed for business on Sept. 8, with an election for the House of Representatives expected to be held before the end of the year.

This is a most unfortunate result, particularly for the children of feuding international marriages who will continue to face the risk of being spirited to abduction-friendly Japan by one of their parents. For those who have already lost children to Japan this way and the foreign diplomats and others who have been calling on Japan to ratify the treaty for years, the Diet’s failure may seem like more of the same: yet another excuse to be thrown up by a government that has no intention of signing a widely adopted international convention.

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120918a1.html

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Expectations low as Hague signing approaches

Treaty seen by many as mere window dressing in hunt for international community’s approval

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Colin P.A. Jones
Professor, Doshisha University Law School

Professor Colin P.A. Jones
(Photo by Shinchosha)

Introduction

Japan has developed a growing reputation as a haven for international parental child abduction. Major media outlets in the United States and other countries have brought attention to a number of recent cases of children being unilaterally removed by a Japanese parent from the United States before or after divorce, often in violation of American law and court orders.

Attempts to achieve the return of children taken to Japan through the Japanese legal system tend to be unsuccessful. As a result, some children who were born and raised in the United States have lost all contact with an American parent and other relatives, American friends, and the American part of their heritage as a consequence. The apparent lack of legal remedies for abduction in Japan is due to a number of factors that are discussed in more detail below.

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http://amview.japan.usembassy.gov/e/amview-e20120201-02.html

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US girl reunited with father after 4 years in Japan AFP CHICAGO — Nearly four years after his ex-wife spirited their daughter away to Japan and blocked nearly all his attempts to see her, a Wisconsin doctor welcomed his little girl home Friday — just in time for Christmas. “My heart is pounding, … Daughter in custody rift returns from Japan Kansas City Star By BRUCE VIELMETTI MILWAUKEEJust in time for Christmas, a Fox Point man was reunited Friday with his young daughter whose mother fled with her to Japan nearly four years ago at the start of the couple’s divorce. The girl’s return also freed her mother … Fox Point Dad Gets Daughter Back From Japan In Time For Christmas WISN Milwaukee MILWAUKEE — A 9-year-old girl is back with her father in Milwaukee following an international custody battle between an American parent and the Japanese government. It was a battle that many other American parents have never won. … Fox Point man reunited with abducted daughter Milwaukee Journal Sentinel By Bruce Vielmetti of the Journal Sentinel Just in time for Christmas, a Fox Point man was reunited Friday with his young daughter whose mother fled with her to Japan nearly four years ago at the start of the couple’s divorce. … .

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For Immediate Release

Contact: Patrick Braden, CEO, Global Future

(213) 392-5872 or global.future@yahoo.com

MEDIA ADVISORY / PRESS CONFERENCE

Kidnapped Milwaukee Girl Returns from Japan in Time for Christmas

Fox Point Doctor’s Daughter is First-Ever Abducted American Child Returned from Japan

WHAT: Press Conference to announce and discuss the return of Dr. Moises Garcia’s nine year-old daughter from Japan, following her kidnapping from Milwaukee in 2008.

WHEN: Saturday, December 24, 2011, 11 AM

WHERE: Pfister Hotel, Kennedy Room Conference Center, 424 East Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53202.

WHO: Dr. Moises Garcia; Patrick Braden, Founder, Global Future; Takashi Ikeda, Japanese Attorney for Garcia family in Japan; possible speakers to include; Milwaukee County District Attorney (representative to be determined) and Attorney James Sakar (Wisconsin Attorney). Possible VIP’s may be added pending availability.

MEDIA INTERVIEWS: All speakers will be available for interviews following the press conference.

ABOUT GLOBAL FUTURE: Since 2006, Patrick Braden, Dr. Garcia, and Global Future’s member parents, whose children were kidnapped from the United States to Japan and other countries, have lobbied over 600 days on Capitol Hill and held over 2,000 meetings with the administration, members of Congress, law enforcement officials, and NGOs. Global Future’s efforts have been responsible for the passage of legislation, key public policy research, and improvements in the U.S. government’s handling of international kidnappings. Global Future parents assist new members in communicating with public officials and agencies, and with individual case management, protocols, and strategies. Global Future publishes and distributes various materials including our 32-page magazine American Citizen Children Kidnapped by Japan, which U.S. officials acknowledge as a very strong tool in their work on the international kidnapping issue.

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Global Future: The Parents’ Council on International Children’s Policy

P.O Box 861892, Los Angeles, California 90086

Phone: (213) 392-5872 global.future@yahoo.com

Global Future advocates for every child’s right to two loving parents.

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PDF download available here:

MEDIA ADVISORY Final_Version 12-22-2011

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