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Rutherford dad of abducted children appeals to Congress

TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2011 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY MAY 25, 2011, 11:06 AM
BY HERB JACKSON

A Bergen County sheriff’s officer whose ex-wife illegally took their children to Japan in 2008 joined other “left-behind parents” in an emotional hearing demanding action by Congress and the State Department on the thorny problem of international abductions.

Michael Elias of Rutherford broke down in tears as he told the House human rights subcommittee about the last time he’d seen his now 5-year-old daughter Jade and 3-year-old son Michael.

His ex-wife, Mayumi Nakamura, had agreed to an Internet video conversation with the children for Jade’s 4th birthday in January 2010. After Jade looked at her mother and said something in Japanese, Elias asked what she’d said.

VIDEO SCREEN SHOT
Michael Elias of Rutherford tells the House human rights subcommittee about the last time he saw his children.
“She replied, ‘she wants to be with you,’ ” Elias recounted, his voice cracking and an audible sigh filling the hearing room packed with parents in similar situations. “The monitor immediately went black.”

Through tears, he described a longing for his children that is “completely unbearable at times” and grows worse each day. He was not alone. Four other parents teared up describing how the pain of divorce or separation is followed by a the international nightmare of trying to get a child back from overseas.

Several said the State Department initially treats parents seeking to get their children back as the guilty party to avoid the headache of an international issue, and does not give the issue appropriate attention because maintaining good relations with other countries has a higher priority.

This happens even when domestic courts grant American parents full custody. In Elias’ case, his wife was ordered to surrender the children’s passports while they were in divorce proceedings in Bergen County, but was able to leave the country because she had new documents issued using connections at the Japanese consulate in Chicago.

“To date, no child has ever been returned from Japan according to the State Department’s statistics,” Elias said. “I am begging my government to help not only my family but hundreds of other heartbroken families as well to demand the return of our American children who are being held in Japan and in most cases are never seen from or heard from again.”

The hearing was chaired by Rep. Chris Smith, R-Robbinsville, who traveled with Elias’ parents to Japan in February to try to see the children. Elias said that after repeated emails and phone calls were ignored, the U.S. Embassy was able to reach Nakamura and she said she would not accept any calls.

Japan has not signed an international treaty that spells out procedures for dealing with international custody issues, but has said it would do so soon. But Smith said Japan has said its signature would not change its treatment of cases of children already in the country.

A bill Smith introduced on Monday would give the president and the State Department new tools and authority to help get children taken to other countries back.

Under the bill, a country with a “pattern of non-cooperation” would face 18 possible penalties that range from cancelling cultural exchanges to blocking loans from international loan bodies.

Smith called the problem of international abductions “a global human rights abuse that seriously harms children while inflicting excruciating emotional pain and suffering on left-behind parents and families.”

The bill also would create a new ambassador position responsible for helping parents and collecting data on how all countries respond to the issue.

David Goldman, the New Jersey man who was able to get his son back from Brazil only after Sen. Frank Lautenberg stalled action on an international trade agreement, told the hearing there has to be a way to penalize the disregard of international law.

“These countries want our money more than they want our children and unfortunately that’s what it takes,” Goldman said. “If we do have these sanctions ready and waiting, more often than not they will return our children without us having to use them.”

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