Japan – The Grinch That Stole My Children
Friday, December 16th, 2011
P.M. Noda The Head Grinch
Japan is a country with a heart two sizes too small. It is the only country in the world which has NEVER returned a single abducted child. While it may be individuals who are stealing children, it is the Government of Japan that does nothing to resolve these cases allowing the abductions to take place. As the single worst country for harboring internationally abducted children, Japan has shown the world they truly are a Grinch that steals children.
It is the holiday season again and with that comes a great deal of pain for parents who are denied access to their children. Left behind parents are all too familiar with Japan’s unwavering willingness to keep our children. In Japan, my children have no human rights. For a third Christmas in a row I am unable to spend even a single minute with my children, Gunnar and Kianna Berg, who were stolen in 2009. I am unable to wish my children a Merry Christmas or give them presents for being good. Instead, all I can do is mail a Christmas card to my kids. These cards will most likely be returned unopened or ripped apart and then sent back to me.
Every year I hang their stockings up in my house wishing we could spend this special day together. I also go Christmas shopping to buy gifts I think my children would enjoy. I place them under the tree and when Christmas is over I end up donating the gifts to charity. I spend the day with family watching other kids open gifts having a wonderful day while I sit in silence remembering that Japan is the Grinch that stole my children. The main difference between Japan and the Grinch is that the Grinch eventually reforms and restores Christmas to the town of Whoville while Japan continues stealing children.
Japan has been teasing the world for almost two decades saying they will sign the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This convention would facilitate the return of abducted children post ratification, and provide a mechanism for access to my children for me. Prime Minister Noda is the current head Grinch that has made promises but has yet to deliver. Japan continues to use its powerful economic might to steal children from around the world ruining the families of good and decent people. Perhaps when the Government of the Grinch signs the convention and also returns our children will we see the heart of Japan grow three sizes that day.
By, Douglass Berg
Loving Father of Gunnar and Kianna Berg
Share
Patrick says:
December 17th, 2011
1:51 pm
It should be noted, that even without the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, Japan is still breaking the law. Not just international law, but even it’s own law.
Despite all of Japan’s claims to the contrary, International Child Abduction is illegal in Japan — The real issue is that Japan just ignores any laws which it finds inconvenient.
In Article 98 of the Japanese constitution, it clearly states:
Article 98:
This Constitution shall be the supreme law of the nation and no law,
ordinance, imperial rescript or other act of government, or part
thereof, contrary to the provisions hereof, shall have legal force or
validity. 2) The treaties concluded by Japan and established laws of
nations shall be faithfully observed.
Section 2 being the key part, so I’ll repeat it again:
“The treaties concluded by Japan and established laws of
nations shall be faithfully observed.”
Simply put, per the Constitution of Japan, treaties which Japan signs automatically become effective law.
This would mean treaties such as:
- The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
> Yet Japan repeatedly refuses the pleas of human rights organizations, which have asked Japan to institute any laws to actual prevent such discrimination. So discrimination in Japan is alive and well, and goes unpunished.
- The Convention Against Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
> Yet Japan refuses to stop the practice of “Daiyo-Kangoku”. The “Substitute Prisons” that have long been condemned by human rights groups, due to the in humane treatment of arrested detainees. Investigators
- The Convention on The Rights of the Child
> Which already states that International abduction is wrong (Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction adds a international legal mechanism and standard for the return of children.) and clearly states that children have the *right* to have access to both parents.
… and the list goes on.
So to recap:
- The Japanese Constitution states that foreign treaties shall be “faithfully observed”
- Japan signed the UN The Convention on The Rights of the Child, back in 1990 and it was ratified in 1994.
- The UN Convention on The Rights of the Child, clearly states in Article 11
1. States Parties shall take measures to combat the illicit transfer and non-return of children abroad.
2. To this end, States Parties shall promote the conclusion of bilateral or multilateral agreements or accession to existing agreements.
* This is commonly understood to mean the prevention of parental abduction — See http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Protection_list.pdf
- Yet Japan continues to claim that parental abduction is not illegal in Japan.
So what gives? Is Japan saying that it’s own Constitution, and the Government of Japan’s signature on international treaties, aren’t worth the ink that they are penned in?
Simply put, Japan doesn’t just kidnap children – Japan actively breaks it’s own laws, and it’s international treaty obligations (and lies about doing so) in order to justify these acts of child abduction.
共同親権ニュースドットコム » BACHOME:日本 – クリスマスを盗んだグリンチ says:
December 17th, 2011
7:08 pm
[...] http://www.bachome.org/wordpress/2011/12/japan-the-grinch-that-stole-christmas/ [...]
Walter Benda says:
December 17th, 2011
8:12 pm
This is spot-on, and I completely agree. My children were abducted and retained in Japan over 16 years ago and are now in their early 20s. I still am unable to have contact, even at Christmas time, due to parental alienation after so many years of zero contact. Sadly, I have seen no significant improvements on this issue over the past 16 years. U.S. left-behind parents are still as powerless to do anything when their children are abducted to Japan now as they were 16 years ago. The U.S. government needs to push this issue much harder than it has been doing. Kidnapped U.S. children should be at the top of the list whenever U.S. officials meet their Japanese counterparts.
Michael says:
March 28th, 2012
8:57 pm
Child Protective Services in Hawaii was going to remove my child from their mother due to photgraphic evidence of extreme child abuse – she escaped to Japan before that could happen and when presented with the same evidence, the Japanese courts simply replied “Well, now they are in Japan, this sort of thing won’t happen here. And their mother wouldn’t be so stressed if you would stop trying to see the children, so if you really care about them you will just stop pursuing visitation. She takes her stress out on the children but she is stressed because you want to see them, so you see, it is really up to you.” I was in court for nearly a decade in Japan, heard the same BS from multiple judges and court appointees etc – and the highest court finally rejected my appeal as it wasn’t a human rights violation (for me or my children). I do have a court order specifying a meager visitation (a few hours a year) but there is no enforcement mechanism (as most of you know) so even when I fly to Japan and go to the appointed meeting place at the appointed time, nothing. My nearly 11 year old daughter and 8 year old son (who I met for a few minutes the first time when he was nearly 2) think me an ogre. Well done Japan! and you wonder why the neighbors who know you best don’t trust you.