U.S. Lawmakers Urge Japan to Join Parental Abduction Pact

Washington, May 5 (Jiji Press)--Two U.S. House of Representatives members urged Japan on Wednesday to promptly join an international treaty for tackling the problems of cross-border parental abductions.

"This issue brings great deal of dishonor to the Japanese
government," Christopher Smith (R-New Jersey) told a press conference,
adding this is a human rights violation issue.
Citing the problem of North Korea's past abductions of Japanese
citizens, Smith said, "I have to say that don't do to American children what
you (Japan) have criticized Pyongyang" has done to these Japanese people.
James Moran (D-Virginia) said, "The Japanese government has neither
accepted the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International
Child Abduction nor has...created any other mechanism" to resolve the
parental abduction issue despite concerns from the international community.
The press conference was also attended by 10 American men who claim
that their children have been abducted by their former Japanese wives.
There is a strong alliance between Japan and the United States, one
of them said. But he added, "We are forced to have doubt of the friendship
of this country (Japan) which does not return abducted children."
The Hague treaty, which stipulates rules for resolving the problems
of parental abductions, has some 80 member states. Among the Group of Eight
major countries, Japan and Russia have yet to join the pact.