Child Abduction Issue Explodes

[Mulboyne]

[floatr][/floatr]CNN: American jailed in Japan for trying to reclaim his abducted children
Had this parental abduction drama played out in the United States, Christopher Savoie might be re-united with his two little children, after snatching them back from an ex-wife who defied the law and ran off with them. But this story unfolds 7,000 miles away in the Japanese city of Fukuoka, where the U.S. legal system holds no sway. And here, Savoie sits in jail, charged with the abduction of minors. And his Japanese ex-wife -- a fugitive in the United States for taking his children from Tennessee -- is considered the victim. "Japan is an important partner and friend of the U.S., but on this issue, our points of view differ," the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo said Tuesday. "Our two nations approach divorce and child-rearing differently. Parental child abduction is not considered a crime in Japan" ...more...

Bucky already posted an account in another of the forum threads on abduction of how Savoie was trying to negotiate to get his children back. It now looks like he has taken the law into his own hands. It's no comfort to the man himself but his actions could push the issue more into the public eye in Japan. It's a hot potato for the Japanese authorities because it is a clear violation of domestic laws but there may be some international support for Savoie.

[Mulboyne]

From another account:

Early Monday, Savoie apparently picked them up as they walked to school, according to friend and witness Shannon Higgins. But instead of heading to the nearest airport, Savoie drove straight to the nearest U.S. Consulate -- where Japanese police were waiting. "This happens to many, many parents who have had their children abducted, but it's just heartbreaking to see this unfold in front of your eyes," Higgins told NewsChannel 5 by phone from Japan. Apparently alerted by Savoie's ex-wife, Japanese police blocked the road near the consulate, Higgins said. Then, Savoie got out of the car and ran. "So there was that first barricade -- and then, once they got to the gate, the U.S. Consulate did not open the gate," he recalled.

Like a scene from a movie, Higgins said, Isaac froze in the streets as his Dad raced toward the consulate with Rebecca in his arms. "He was there -- Chris -- with a little girl in his arms crying. 'Please help, please help. We're American citizens. Please let us through.' And they simply did not open the gate They did not let us through," Higgins added. NewsChannel 5's Phil Williams spoke with Savoie briefly by phone after hours of questioning, but the call was cut off when he said police came into the room to handcuff him and lock him up. The U.S. State Department said it could not comment for privacy reasons.

Amy Savoie said she's been told her husband has been charged criminally, but she doesn't know what charges he faces. Now, she fears that, even though Noriko Savoie broke the law by abducting the children, the Japanese government may make him pay the price through the continued loss of his children and his freedom. "It's just such a shame that his love is deemed to be so threatening," she added. Efforts to reach the Japanese government were unsuccessful.

[AlbertSiegel]

This just really pisses me off.... Why is it the people in charge think it's still the 1940's? Worst yet is the fact that other countries do just about nothing to help. I really feel for the father. I hope he fights for everything he can and wins. Is Japan really that disparate to increase the population that it would allow the abduction of children?

[wuchan]

poor guy. He should have had the tickets/passports ready and got on a plane. Any US citizen living here knows that the Embassy doesn't care and won't help. Maybe it is some kind of fine print in the SOFA agreement, who knows. The best thing the family can do is keep this in the international media spotlight cause as we all know, Japan hates getting a black eye.

[Iraira]

While this shit sucks for Savoie, the only thing that will get Japan to stop this shit is if enough cases happen that generate enough press and get other country's governments calling J-land saying "Are you fuckers out of your minds?" Or, just start sending in some bounty hunters after the J-ex-wife (or husband) fugitives. Would make for some good TV.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

While this shit sucks for Savoie, the only thing that will get Japan to stop this shit is if enough cases happen that generate enough press and get other country's governments calling J-land saying "Are you fuckers out of your minds?" Or, just start sending in some bounty hunters after the J-ex-wife (or husband) fugitives. Would make for some good TV.

You are spot-on. It's really tough on Savoie, but I hope he sticks to his guns for the sake of others in a similar situation. And I hope others back him to the hilt, too.

[Mulboyne]

The US consulate might be thinking it dodged a bullet on this one. They would have been in the hot seat if Savoie had made it into the building with his kids before the police could react. I wonder what they would have done if he had asked for refuge and safe passage? The consulate may have been obliged to hand Savoie over if they judged he was guilty of an a offence but it would have been trickier to hand over the children to someone who has an arrest warrant outstanding in the US.

[Bucky]

It sure sounds as though he had done little planning and was going on emotion and his gut instinct.

[james]

Parental child abduction is not considered a crime in Japan if you're japanese

ftfy.

[Western All Stars]

As of right now I can't find a single Japanese news sites reporting this (I only looked in Japanese versions). The only one I found was just the Japanese version of CNN. I look forward to reading how the Japanese press will portray the mom.

But the way the dad handled this was pretty fucking stupid. Yeah sure, big white dude grabs kids walking to school and forcing them into a car won't cause a scene. With a little more planning and some finesse he might have pulled it off, as it has been done before. But really, what does this say about both parents? I think they should both lose custody.

[Ketou]

As unfortunate as this is for him he has done a great service to the issue.
Japanese only ever move when their shit is shown in the cold light of day.

[halfnip]

This is so fucked up on so many levels...

I hope my wife doesn't see this.

[Mulboyne]

Of course, it can only become an issue in Japan if it gets covered in Japan. As Western All Stars has pointed out, there isn't a mention in the press so far. 2ch and blogs often pick up stories touching on Japan which are reported overseas but there isn't anything yet. It might still be a bit early but we'll soon see if it does get noticed.

[Kanchou]

He should have hopped on a Shinkansen to Kyoto and boarded a flight to Seoul before heading towards the US...
That, or he should have hired a tuna boat to take his kids somewhere they could board a flight.

Or better yet, a NetJets flight out of a local airport.

[Cyka UchuuJin]

As of right now I can't find a single Japanese news sites reporting this (I only looked in Japanese versions). The only one I found was just the Japanese version of CNN. I look forward to reading how the Japanese press will portray the mom.

But the way the dad handled this was pretty fucking stupid. Yeah sure, big white dude grabs kids walking to school and forcing them into a car won't cause a scene. With a little more planning and some finesse he might have pulled it off, as it has been done before. But really, what does this say about both parents? I think they should both lose custody.

the japanese press will portray the mother as 100% victim. innocent japanese girl who was seduced by the foreigner with promises of a wonderful life and happiness, who then took her to america where she was miserable and forced to live as a housewife, far away from her family. she begged and pleaded to return to japan but he refused and she had no choice but to divorce him and hope for full custody of the children. the courts unfairly did not grant her immediate and full custody, which made her life even worse, as she was now forced to take on a menial, low paying job just to survive. her father, sympathetic to her horrible plight, bought plane tickets for her and the children, so that a real court could make the correct custodial ruling.

does anyone know what nationality the children are? do they have dual jap/yank citizenship? not that it will really matter since she's on home turf and the courts are 150% pro j-mother.

btw, any wonder that the ex's name is noriko??

[Cyka UchuuJin]

The best thing the family can do is keep this in the international media spotlight cause as we all know, Japan hates getting a black eye.

Japanese only ever move when their shit is shown in the cold light of day.

not gonna happen in this case. they way japan sees it, they're completely in the right as this was a crime committed against a japanese. they will argue that divorce proceedings should have been conducted in japan since that's where they married (assuming that is the case) and therefore the mother had the right to bring them back to japan. especially as unless the mother is mentally unstable, she would be given sole custody anyway. no matter how often it's brought up that she committed the first wrong by taking them out of tennessee, the japanese will counter that he broke japanese law in japan.

as sad as it is, he should probably try to make peace with the mother so that he can go to japan once a year for supervised visits. even if they were dual citizens before, she's probably already taken the divorce papers to the courts and had their american citizenship revoked.

[Bucky]

the japanese press will portray the mother as 100% victim. innocent japanese girl who was seduced by the foreigner with promises of a wonderful life and happiness, who then took her to america where she was miserable and forced to live as a housewife, far away from her family. she begged and pleaded to return to japan but he refused and she had no choice but to divorce him and hope for full custody of the children. the courts unfairly did not grant her immediate and full custody, which made her life even worse, as she was now forced to take on a menial, low paying job just to survive. her father, sympathetic to her horrible plight, bought plane tickets for her and the children, so that a real court could make the correct custodial ruling.

Nothing against Tennessee, but for a Japanese single-mother, I would think living there would be tough. Williamson County, TN, where they were living has an Asian population of 0.03% and a culture, I imagine, about as different from Japan as you can get in the U.S..

It is interesting to note that according to Wikipedia, Williamson County is, according to the Council for Community and Economic Research ranked Williamson County as America's wealthiest county (1st) when the local cost of living was factored into the equation.No bearing on this issue but is an interesting sidenote.

[Kanchou]

All she'd have to do is move 200 miles to Atlanta... PLENTY large Japanese community, Japanese companies, etc...

[goemon]

Hoping that this movie ("From the Shadows") will help give some exposure to this and put more pressure on Japan.

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[Mulboyne]

CNN presenter Anderson Cooper has over 340,000 followers on his Twitter feed and has just posted a tweet which includes a link to his blog where he has embedded the CNN video report on Savoie.

CNN will follow up the story on Campbell Brown's show which will feature Paul Toland, another father who regularly appears in coverage of this subject.

[xenomorph42]

not gonna happen in this case. they way japan sees it, they're completely in the right as this was a crime committed against a japanese. they will argue that divorce proceedings should have been conducted in japan since that's where they married (assuming that is the case) and therefore the mother had the right to bring them back to japan. especially as unless the mother is mentally unstable, she would be given sole custody anyway. no matter how often it's brought up that she committed the first wrong by taking them out of tennessee, the japanese will counter that he broke japanese law in japan.

as sad as it is, he should probably try to make peace with the mother so that he can go to japan once a year for supervised visits. even if they were dual citizens before, she's probably already taken the divorce papers to the courts and had their american citizenship revoked.

All good points. I agree. I had a friend 7 years ago trying to attempt the same thing, but his situation was a bit more dramatic, they could have made a TV movie about it. He did the perfect snatch and take, hired a bunch of Peruvians, Yaks and an Israeli paid them off, arranged 5 rental cars(same make, color etc.)drove by the mom's house around 4 am. bound, tied up her and her family. 1 got the child, 2 stayed in the house(to give them a 30min. jump start)then left the house, got in the get away cars parted their ways. My friend made it to the airport, met up with a female friend got on the plane, used her American passport and fled to Seoul. Stayed overnight by this time, the mother and her family called the cops, she got an emergency passport and followed. While in Seoul since my friend stayed overnight(which gave the mother time to catch up since there is 1 international flight per day) while in the hotel, he was approached by the J-embassy staff(already knew the info where he was)knocked on the door and told him that he needs to return his daughter, she is a Japanese citizen, basically, he told them to fuck off! Next day as he was standing in line to make his connecting flight to LA while standing in line, the girls mom saw them in the line and of course you can imagine what happened next! She was screaming and crying and going crazy
Grabbing and tugging on the child. The Korean police came and people were freaking out(9/11 was still fresh on folks mind)they agreed to be quiet, go to the states, find a lawyer and settle it in child court. When they arrived at LAX as soon as the plane docked, over the PA the pilot asked for my friend and his family to walk towards the front exit of the plane. So he was in shock as to what was going on and when he did that, he was greeted by FBI agents. Japan had put him on Interpol. They were going to lock him up for 8 years for kidnapping, but because the mother was on the same flight, it boiled down to a he said, she said kind of thing. While they were at the station, Social workers came, convinced him that the child should stay with the mother. They provided her a public lawyer and told them to show up the next day. You all probably know what I am about to say next....
She wasn't going to stick around and wait for a Judge to give her kids joint custody. so she took the Red Eye and went back! Now my former friend is blacklisted from Japan, the family changed their number and so far has heard nothing of his child in 7 years. At the time she was 5 years old. Yes, he was wrong for snatching her here in Japan, but he tried for 3 years to follow the legal channels in Japan, spent money on lawyers, going to courts etc. but nothing worked.
In these kind of situations, most women know that US, UK, German or any other country that involves children and legal custody issues are not recognized by the Japan courts. I also heard that when women seek counseling that they are advised to bring the child back to avoid any legal backlash, but I don't know if this is true or not.

[leitmotiv]

All good points. I agree. I had a friend 7 years ago trying to attempt the same thing, but his situation was a bit more dramatic, they could have made a TV movie about it......

Extremely compelling...is this story documented in the media somewhere?

he was greeted by FBI agents. Japan had put him on Interpol.

..is the absolute fucking kicker.

[Hikonejou]

No matter the distance, a Father has the right to be with his Children.

[Coligny]

The US consulate might be thinking it dodged a bullet on this one. They would have been in the hot seat if Savoie had made it into the building with his kids before the police could react. I wonder what they would have done if he had asked for refuge and safe passage? The consulate may have been obliged to hand Savoie over if they judged he was guilty of an a offence but it would have been trickier to hand over the children to someone who has an arrest warrant outstanding in the US.

Refusing entry to a US citizen ? Is it what consulate are really paid to do ?

Once again my French "in'a'fureign'land" card state that I am under protection of the french consulate. Sure that means nothing to the japanese side. But against the french side it might not go so well if they refuse assistance for an act allowed by the french law. And as usual, if the french judge think it's none of their business, there is still the much more picky European Union legal system. Don't mean I would not be fucked. Just that much more people would get involved. And that interpol thing (the HQ is in Toulouse/France) would not go so well as it is basically a false declaration.

BTW, this might have helped. When you start these kind of things, it's better to go full out. (and fuck collateral damage)

[Mike Oxlong]

Why does the USA not put these Japanese parental abductor fugitives on the Interpol wanted list?! They could be scooped up like Miura or Polanski when they traveled internationally...

[xenomorph42]

Extremely compelling...is this story documented in the media somewhere?


..is the absolute fucking kicker.

No, it wasn't in the media, sadly at that time, we had no idea as to how the laws in Japan worked and what to expect. At the time his lawyer advised him to get a good job, pay her every month, show good will, have a good attitude and be patient and maybe when his daughter is 18, then he should thy again and to establish contact with his ex again.
The lawyer said, "what else do you want me to do?" I spoke with your kids mother and SHE said, "she doesn't want you to see, speak or come near her and her child!" I can't make her.
He also was confused as to why western men, make such a hoopla about these kind of matters. Just find a pretty woman and start all over. As I sat in the back of the room listening to all of this, I thought I was on ride at Disneyland that went horribly wrong. My friend wound up spending over 600.000yen for that kind of shitty legal advice!
Nice, huh?

[xenomorph42]

Why does the USA not put these Japanese parental abductor fugitives on the Interpol wanted list?! They could be scooped up like Miura or Polanski when they traveled internationally...

Most Japanese women are NOT that dumb that in these kind of situations, they know full well as to what might befall them, if they leave this Island. Plus their lawyers advise them NOT to leave because of a possible, potential risk that they could be apprehended.

[Ketou]

not gonna happen in this case. they way japan sees it, they're completely in the right as this was a crime committed against a japanese. they will argue that divorce proceedings should have been conducted in japan since that's where they married (assuming that is the case) and therefore the mother had the right to bring them back to japan. especially as unless the mother is mentally unstable, she would be given sole custody anyway. no matter how often it's brought up that she committed the first wrong by taking them out of tennessee, the japanese will counter that he broke japanese law in japan.

as sad as it is, he should probably try to make peace with the mother so that he can go to japan once a year for supervised visits. even if they were dual citizens before, she's probably already taken the divorce papers to the courts and had their american citizenship revoked.

Yes but I'm not talking about that case in particular. I'm talking about the issue of children abducted by Japanese parents. Japan is already getting stick about the Hague Convention. This hitting the international media will add to the pressure and hopeful get Japan closer to signing.
They happily use it to get kids abducted from Japan whilst refusing cases where kids are kidnapped from a foreign country into Japan. Fucking hypocritical arseholes.

[klimmer]

the japanese press will portray the mother as 100% victim. innocent japanese girl who was seduced by the foreigner with promises of a wonderful life and happiness, who then took her to america where she was miserable and forced to live as a housewife, far away from her family. she begged and pleaded to return to japan but he refused and she had no choice but to divorce him and hope for full custody of the children. the courts unfairly did not grant her immediate and full custody, which made her life even worse, as she was now forced to take on a menial, low paying job just to survive. her father, sympathetic to her horrible plight, bought plane tickets for her and the children, so that a real court could make the correct custodial ruling.

does anyone know what nationality the children are? do they have dual jap/yank citizenship? not that it will really matter since she's on home turf and the courts are 150% pro j-mother.

btw, any wonder that the ex's name is noriko??

Or they could portray her as a money grabbing, Roppongi slut who was totally out to get a visa because she hated wife beating Japanese oyagi. It can work both ways but for sure Daddy should have a better thought out strategy than a futile dash for the consulate.

[FG Lurker]

No matter the distance, a Father has the right to be with his Children.

I thought you understood everything about Japan?