pptoland comments

Cleo, Chris Savoie gave his wife a $700,000 settlement, and in return he asked her to get a divorce in the United States. He did this with one interest in mind. To PRESERVE his rights to see his children by having his divorce in a country that protects children's rights to know and love both parents. IF he was truly a liar and abuser, he could have simply had a much much easier way out. He could have just gotten a divorce in Japan where NOTHING is enforceable. He could have abandoned his children and not had to pay his wife a penny in any divorce settlement or child support, but instead he paid his LIFE SAVINGS in return for the guarantee that he could maintain a relationship with his children by having a divorce in the United States. Instead of respecting this agreement, his wife gladly came to the United States for the divorce, took his $700,000, and then KIDNAPPED his children to Japan, where she knew she had a safe haven. So she took both the money and the children and he was left with nothing but a custody order giving him legal custody. Every action he took was in the best interest of his children. Every action his wife took was in her own self interest.

Japan has signed extradition treaties with two countries, South Korea and the United States. Under the extradition treaty with the Unted States, Japan has obligeted to follow the standards of the REQUESTING country, not the requested country, so if the US asked for extadition for violation of the International Parental Kidnapping Act (IPKA), Japan would, under the treaty, be obliged to comply. The United States needs to begin extraditing these kidnappers now and get our stolen children returned.

Let me say that the vast majority of these cases are NOT CUSTODY ISSUES. They are KIDNAPPINGS that occur right off American soil to Japan in violation of US State and Federal laws!!! I am an only living parent to my daughter who was kidnapped and is held in Japan by a more distant relative. I have friends who had court orders sent to the local Japanese Consulate IN THE UNITED STATES forbidding travel of their spouse outside of the United States and the Japanese Consulate officials proceeded to outright break our federal laws by issuing a Japanese passport to his spouse IN A FALSE NAME so she could flee the United States to Japan with his children. In the 58 years since Japan assumed full sovereignty after World War 2, no child kidnapped to Japan has EVER been returned from Japan to ANY foreign country. That's right, thousands of children from around the world kidnapped to Japan and NONE has ever been returned, making Japan quite literally a black hole from which no child ever returns. How can they call themselves a US Ally??? JAPAN...RETURN OUR STOLEN CHILDREN!!!

One complete miscomprehension of attorneys, counselors, etc. in Japan is when they refer to one of the parents as "the divorced parent" or "the ex-spouse". Both parents are "divorced parents" and both parents are "ex-spouses." However, you never become an "ex-parent" to your own child. You are, and always will be, a "current" parent to your child, regardless of anything else. This is a fundemental problem in Japan.

Kensuke Ohnuki was my attorney from 2003 through 2006. Here is another quote from him that he sent to me by email on September 7, 2004. I still have the original email.

Mr. Ohnuki stated; “As you point out, we are challenged by racism and discrimination of Japanese court everyday since we usually represent foreigners. But I know judges become furious if I point out his racism or discrimination. Racism is firmly rooted in Japanese society and even intelligent people refuses to see their own racism. Almost all Japanese believes foreigners are deteriorating the security of Japanese society, which is wrong according to crime statistics.” He concluded his e-mail by stating “Please understand your case is not a piece of cake because of the racism and irrationalism of Japan. It might be something like defending Taliban in US”

This was a quote by Kensuke Ohnuki. It sounds to me like Mr. Ohnuki is talking out of both sides of his mouth, depending on who the audience is. Thanks for listening. Commander Paul Toland, US Navy