News

An incident in which an American father was arrested in Fukuoka on suspicion of abducting his young children is creating a stir following heavy U.S. media coverage, with a demonstration staged in front of the Japanese Embassy in Washington. Meanwhile the case is threatening to cause diplomatic problems.

Western countries have complained that problems frequently occur because Japan has not signed the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspect of International Child Abduction, and it is possible that the latest arrest could create further diplomatic friction for Japan.

Arrested on suspicion of abducting the two minors was Christopher Savoie, 38. He is accused of forcing his 9-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter into a rented vehicle as they were traveling to school with Savoie's former wife, who is Japanese, and driving away with them.

Savoie' wife alerted police and he was arrested after being questioned by a police officer in front of the U.S. Consulate in Fukuoka. The children were taken into protective custody.

"It is a Japanese incident, and we are investigating it in accordance with Japanese laws," said an official from Yanagawa Police Station in Fukuoka Prefecture.

The case has received wide coverage by the U.S. media. The Japanese Embassy in Washington said roughly a dozen people staged a two-hour protest in front of the embassy on Oct. 3, after CNN television reported on the incident, showing photographs of the family.

A Japanese lawyer for Savoie said that he divorced his wife in Tennessee in January this year. Under a Williamson County court divorce judgment, the children were to live with Savoie's former wife in Tennessee, and they were to spend four months of the year with Savoie. In addition either party was to inform the other when moving outside the state with the children, and obtain consent. Furthermore, half of the couple's assets were to go to Savoie's former wife, together with child support payments.

In August, however, his former wife brought the children to Japan without contacting Savoie. As a result, a court granted custody to Savoie, and local police obtained an arrest warrant for his former wife on suspicion of abducting the children, and had been searching for her.

The U.S. Embassy in Japan has not commented on the incident, saying that from a diplomatic perspective, it cannot disclose exchanges between the U.S. and Japanese governments.

Commenting on the Hague Convention, an official from Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "We are examining the possibility of entering into the convention," but declined to comment on Savoie's case, saying it was under investigation.

However, some officials have been hesitant to sign the convention, based on concerns over whether Japan would be able to sufficiently protect its citizens under the treaty.

"The Japanese government's position is 'not interfering in civil affairs,' a representative of the ministry's International Legal Affairs Division said.