| Gunnar Daniel Berg |
 |
| LBP Name: Douglass Berg |
| Abduction Date: Aug 2009 |
| Last Contact: Aug 2009 |
| Kianna Joanna Berg |
 |
| LBP Name: Douglass Berg |
| Abduction Date: Aug 2009 |
| Last Contact: Aug 2009 |
| Erika Toland |
 |
| LBP Name: Paul Toland |
| Separation Date: Aug 2003 |
| Last Contact: Jul 2004 |
| Keisuke Collins |
 |
| LBP Name: Randy Collins |
| Abduction Date: Jun 2008 |
| Last Contact: Jun 2008 |
Press Releases
Speaking Out In Seattle
Monday, December 19th, 2011
To coincide with the Dec. 18th rally in Tokyo by parents there, we took to the streets of Seattle to speak with holiday shoppers about how they can help children that have been abducted to and within Japan. As usual people here in the U.S. were shocked to learn about this human rights crisis.
The local ABC affiliate was nearby covering another story, so we seized the opportunity to discuss the issue with one of their reporters off camera. He was interested and will pass the story idea onto his producer.
ShareSix nations press on Hague treaty
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011The U.S., Canada and four other countries have jointly urged Japan to take legal steps to ensure that parents who have removed their children after the failure of international marriages will not be preferentially treated contrary to an international treaty on cross-border child custody disputes, government officials said Tuesday.
Read the entire article here
ShareJapan Needs to Ratify the Optional Protocols on UN Treaties
Friday, November 4th, 2011I Only See My Kids In My Dreams
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
The other day I had another dream of my children. I saw my son Gunnar, he ran up to me burying his head into my chest. He didn’t want to let go and neither did I. Then Kianna ran up to me hugging me and giving me kisses. Soon all three of us were crying. The images of my children were vivid and seemed so real. We had so much to catch up on since it has been over two years when we last saw each other. I was so happy to be reunited with my children again. Then suddenly I woke up and started really crying realizing it was just a mirage that faded away. Sadly, I also become conscious at that moment that I will only see my kids in my dreams.
On August 6th, 2009 my ex-wife Naoko Numakami took our kids to Japan on a vacation but she did not return. She has abducted our kids violating our custody arrangement. The worst part is this has isolated our kids from a loving father who was very active in their lives. I have since found out Japan is a black hole for child abductions where many parents abduct their children leaving left behind parents like me without the right to raise my kids.
It has been two years and I still do not know where my children are living or how they are doing. I send cards to my kid’s maternal grandparents for their birthdays and all the holidays but they are always returned – unopened. Unfortunately all communication has been cut off. I no longer have the opportunity to take my children camping, hiking, to fly model rockets, to see a show, help them with their school work or talk about life with them before they go to bed. These were common occurrences which we shared before their mother kidnapped them to Japan.
Now I am forced to place my children’s fate into hands of our Federal Government, specifically in hands of the Department of State. The State Department constantly tells left behind parents they are doing everything they can to return our children. However, we don’t believe it. Unable to resolve even one case with the Japanese Government leaves me little faith that they will fight for my children.
This whole situation has been very difficult on me, as well as my family. My parents, brothers and sister will never get to know Gunnar or Kianna. Somehow I continue to go on and every day I pray for their safety and their return. When I can sleep, I periodically have dreams of my children. Often by the time the dream is over they end up being abducted again. The nightmare I live with is knowing this is the only time I will ever see my children
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The plight of Japan’s left-behind parents
Saturday, October 29th, 2011
By Simon Scott
9:06 AM Saturday Oct 29, 2011
On April 3 last year Alex Kahney’s wife, Keiko Ono, took their two daughters, Selene, 9, and Cale, 7, and abruptly moved out of the family home in the Denenchofu, the up-market Tokyo suburb where they had lived for more than seven years.
Naturally Alex, who works as a medical researcher and writer, was worried about getting access to his children, but his wife reassured him it would not be a problem.
“She said to me: ‘Don’t worry, you will always be able to see them’.”
But the following Friday his wife cancelled a camping trip he had arranged to go on with his daughters and after she failed to telephone on the Sunday as promised to arrange a visit with the kids that day, Alex become worried.
Read the entire article here
ShareBill eyes incorporating children’s views in int’l custody battles
Wednesday, October 26th, 2011TOKYO (Kyodo) — The Justice Ministry proposed Friday that children’s opinions be reflected when settling cross-border child custody disputes.
The idea was contained in the ministry’s draft interim proposals for domestic legislation that it is preparing for submission to a regular Diet session next year, before Japan joins an international pact related to the matter known as the Hague Convention.
Under the ministry’s draft legislation, the handing over of children to a spouse could be refused if there is a possibility that they could be subjected to violence.
Read the entire article here
ShareLetter to President
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011September 15, 2011
The President The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. Washington, DC 20500Dear Mr. President:
For the past 50 years, Japan has denied loving American parents custodial rights or any access to their abducted children. Yet Japanese Prime Ministers have no reservation about publicly demanding the return of Japanese citizens abducted to North Korea. This week Prime Minister Noda stated they would spare no effort towards achieving the return of all abductees. We ask that you immediately follow his example and publicly address the abduction of U.S. children to and within Japan during next week’s meeting in New York with Prime Minister Noda and that public efforts continue until:
- all American children abducted from the U.S. are immediately returned home in compliance with U.S. law.
- all American children abducted within Japan have immediate and unfettered access to their American parent.
Abduction is a heartbreaking loss for left-behind parents, depriving children of a loving relationship with both parents. There are 268 known cases involving 374 children American children who have been abducted to Japan since 1994. According to the U.S. Department of State, zero cases have been successfully resolved through either the Japanese judicial system or through diplomatic means. This crisis has persisted for decades.
In May 2011, Japan announced its intention to sign the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The Hague Convention is not retroactive and effectively does nothing to resolve existing cases. There has been no indication that the Government of Japan is considering any kind of bi-lateral solution to resolve existing abduction cases and wishes for our children to remain kidnapped in Japan, permanently separated from their U.S. families.
The State Department’s closed-door negotiations with Japan have not yielded any of the results that left-behind parents are seeking. For the past 50 years, quiet diplomacy has not yielded the return of a single abducted American child from Japan. This dire situation with Japan is similar to the problems experienced with Germany in the 1990s. When President Bill Clinton finally made strong, public statements about child abduction to Germany, Germany took actions to resolve child abduction cases. We need similar action from you, Mr. President. The future of our U.S. children is in your hands.
America has helped Japan without reservation during the tragic earthquake, tsunami, and radiation crisis that has created an ongoing, substantial public health danger to our abducted children. Now, it is time for Japan to show gratitude beyond mere words by cooperating on the abduction issue to provide solutions that will return our abducted children without delay. Bringing our children home should be of paramount importance in the bilateral US-Japan relationship. By pressing the Japanese government both publicly and privately, we will be in a better position to recover our beloved children.
Most respectfully,
Members of BACHome
ShareMissing Children Since Tsunami of 2011
Saturday, September 17th, 2011
As you can imagine, parents with children abducted to Japan have been going through a very difficult time right now sick with worry about our children and trying to get the State Department to locate and contact our children. Many of the American left-behind parents living in Tokyo have evacuated to other areas, unfortunately without their abducted children. Contact with them is sporadic at best, since they are travelling to many different places. As of right now, Bring Abducted Children Home (BAC Home) has compiled a list of 16 abducted children who are missing in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami. BAC Home has sent two letters to the Secretary of State asking that State provide passports for our children and that our children be evacuated. The missing children are as follows:
Kianna Berg, Gunnar Berg, Keisuke Collins, Michiru Donaldson, Kai Endo, David Gesselman, Joshua Gesselman, Lauren Mihiro Gherbetti (Canadian), Julia Carmen Gherbetti (Canadian), Ayako Lucy Greenberg, Shanon Yuda Ishida, Riki Ishida, Ricky Kephart, Noelle Kephart, Mary Victoria Lake, Yuuki McCoy, Kaito Matsumoto MacDonald (Canadian), “Mochi” Atomu Imoto Morehouse, Rui Prager, Rion Suzuki, Tiana Weed, Takoda Weed and Kaya Wong.
Particularly hard hit is Bruce Gherbetti, a Canadian citizen whose 3 children, Rion Suzuki (age 8, Lauren Mihiro Gherbetti (age 6) and Julia Carmen Gherbetti (age 3), were living in Iwake City in Fukushima Prefecture. Iwaki was very hard hit by the tsunami. He managed to contact a friend who lived 10 miles away, but they were unable to leave home to search for his children due to high levels of radiation from the Fukushima Nuclear reactor.
Please write to the State Department and your elected officials and ask them to not forget the abducted children in Japan. I will continue to provide updates as I find out more information.
ShareBACHome Receives Support from MMA Trainer
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
Trevor Wittman, the owner and head trainer at the Grudge Training Center in Denver, Colorado, is on a mission to make a difference—and not just inside the Octagon.
Although Wittman is most certainly proud of his gym—clearly for good reason—the Denver native is ready to take on a much tougher opponent than anything the world of mixed martial arts has to offer, as Trevor has joined the crusade against international parental child abduction.
Wittman is already well known for his efforts against bullying in the USA. Also, last Thanksgiving Trevor and his wife Christina Wittman were instrumental in giving help and hope to their community.
“It was probably about two weeks before Thanksgiving, and my wife had one of her friends who was trying to get some turkeys to help out the Denver Rescue Mission, so we jumped on board and started Tweetin’ it and tellin’ our members,” said a passionate Wittman, “We had a good turn-out… my wife’s and my truck were filled to the brim and we took it down to the Denver Rescue Mission, and handed them out to the people out there. Man, that was great, it was a great feeling.”As if working to rid his country of bullying wasn’t enough, Wittman recently took a swing at feeding the underprivileged in his hometown Denver.
As it turns out, Wittman’s Thanksgiving food drive and anti-bullying campaigns are only the beginning. BACHome is proud to be supported by, and is proud to support Trevor and Christina Wittman of Grudge Training Center in Wheatridge, Colorado.Grudge Training Center is the ELITE of martial arts schools and training centers.
http://grudgetrainingcenter.com/
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Japanese Divorce
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011Translator’s Note: The following is a translation of an article written by Professor Takao Tanase for the December 2009 edition of Jiyū to Seigi, a Japanese legal periodical. Divorce and familial breakdown has become a major problem in modern Japanese society, yet the law does not provide any meaningful protection for the noncustodial parent. Professor Tanase analyzes this issue from a comparative and theoretical perspective, looking at the current Japanese visitation laws in place today, while contrasting those with the system in the United States. He also looks at how those laws affect actual families, and how the courts have implemented and enforced visitation agreements and orders. This article concludes that not only are the rights of the noncustodial parent insufficient to maintain a meaningful relation with their children following divorce, but that they hardly exist at all.
Read the entire article here
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