UPDATE: Since this was originally reported by CRN JAPAN the mother has RETURNED the child to the father in a plee agreement.  Karina came back to the USA on Christmas Day 2011.

It has been reported by major newspapers worldwide that a Japanese mother has been incarcerated in Wisconsin after being arrested earlier this year in Hawaii.  43 year old, Eriko Inoue wanted for Custodial Interference,  a felony in the state of Wisconsin was arrested at Honolulu International Airport  on April 7th 2011.  She flew into Hawaii hoping to renew her permanent residence visa but was quickly arrested when it was learned that on February 25, 2008 she was charged with breaking statute 948.31 of the Wisconsin criminal code.

Ms. Inoue was charged with contempt of court, and abduction of her daughter, Karina to Japan.  This took place during divorce proceedings with her husband, Moises Garcia who had filed for divorce just months prior.   In June 2009 he was awarded custody of Karina when their divorce proceedings were finalized.   Officials state that Ms. Inoue would be given a suspended sentence if she would return the child to her father.  She refuses, and Karina remains in the custody of the Inoue family while Eriko Inoue remains in jail.  According to Mr. Garcia’s Blog his daughter Karina is currently living in Takarazuka, Japan.  Karina was born at 12:24 am on August 27, 2002 in West Allis Wisconsin, USA.

“It is rare that authorities are able to bring a Japanese Parental Abductor to justice since Japan has a nearly nonexistent record on returning children or the abducting parent even when there are standing FBI arrest warrants” said Eric Kalmus co-founder of The Japan Children’s Rights Network.   “When a Japanese parent flees to Japan, American authorities are at a huge disadvantage in trying to bring the the criminal to justice since Japan has never extradited a parental abductor or assisted in returning American born children.”  Currently Ms. Inoue is expected to stand trial in the Milwaukee County Courthouse on November 21, 2011.  

Japan is the last of the G-8 countries to become signatory to the The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspect of International Child Abduction.  Russia recently signed on and accepted the societal norms that are associated in most of the world with the rights of children after divorce.   In Japan, sadly the norm is that a child will lose all contact with their non-custodial parent until they reach adulthood.  Recently however, a small group of Left Behind Parents lead by Masako Akeo has been making headway in bringing Japan’s Family Laws into the twenty-first century.   

Japan has stated once again that it intends to sign the Hague Convention but as in previous years it continues to state that specific changes to the convention need to be made before they can ascend.  Those changes however affect the integrity of the Convention and in effect make it powerless.