On March 16th 2006, in violation of US court orders and laws, Ryoko covertly boarded a flight on ANA (a Japanese flagship carrier) and illegally kidnapped Melissa to Japan.

Patrick Braden has set aside his personal career for the last 3 years to work in Washington DC on the issue of International Child Abduction with a specific focus on Japan and their defiant disregard of International Children’s rights, US laws, international treaties and other related issues.

On March 11th 2009, after 2 years of work on Capitol Hill,and partly with the support from the recent high level publicity regarding the Sean Goldman case, House Resolution 125 was passed with a unanimous roll call vote in the US House of Representatives. This Resolution will benefit thousands of children and their left behind parents, affected by the plight of International Child Abduction.

The only way that Patrick can parent his child at this point is to continue his work to bring her home. Japan has refused to sign onto the Hague Convention Treaty and has never returned a single abducted child back to the United States.

You can find the “Help Bring Melissa Braden Home” group page on Facebook and connect with other parents that have been victims of International and Domestic Parental Abductions. This episode is an eye-opening compilation of what to expect, what you should do, and how to effectively advocate with the various organizations/agencies for the safe return of your children.

Some Interesting Statistics as Reported in House Resolution 125 (March 11th, 2009)

According to the Department of State, there are 51 cases involving 65 children who were habitual residents of the United States and who were removed to Brazil by a parent and have not been returned to the United States as required under the Hague Convention.

According to the Department of State’s April 2008 Report on Compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, `parental child abduction jeopardizes the child and has substantial long-term consequences for both the child and the left-behind parent’.

The Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues, while not always notified of international child abductions, is currently handling approximately 1,900 open cases of parental abduction to other countries involving more than 2,800 children abducted from the United States.

According to the Department of State, in fiscal year 2008, the United States Central Authority counted 306 cases of parental abductions involving 455 children taken from the United States to other countries that are not partners with the United States under the Hague Convention, currently including 101 children in Japan, 67 children in India, and 37 children in Russia.

Three-year-old Melissa Braden is among the children who have been wrongfully abducted to Japan, a United States ally which does not recognize intra-familial child abduction as a crime, and though its family laws do not discriminate by nationality, Japanese courts give no recognition to the parental rights of the non-Japanese parent, fail to enforce United States court orders relating to child custody or visitation, and place no effective obligation on the Japanese parent to allow parental visits for their child.

Melissa was taken from Los Angeles, California to Japan on March 16, 2006, when she was 11-months-old, despite a California court’s prior order forbidding Melissa’s removal to Japan and granting joint custody to her father Patrick Braden.

Despite his extensive efforts, Mr. Braden and his daughter have not seen each other since her abduction.

According to the Department of State, abducted children are at risk of serious emotional and psychological problems and have been found to experience anxiety, eating problems, nightmares, mood swings, sleep disturbances, aggressive behavior, resentment, guilt and fearfulness, and as adults may struggle with identity issues, their own personal relationships and parenting.

Left-behind parents may encounter substantial psychological, emotional, and financial problems and many may not have the financial resources to pursue civil or criminal remedies for the return of their children in foreign courts or political systems.

About the Hague Convention as applicable to Child Custody and Jurisdiction involving minors

The Hague Convention of 1996  is the third of the modern Hague Conventions . Its full title is Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children. It is much broader in scope than the first two conventions, covering a wide range of civil measures of protection concerning children, from orders concerning parental responsibility and contact to public measures of protection or care, and from matters of representation to the protection of children’s property.

The third of the modern Hague Conventions, the Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children, is much broader in scope than the first two, covering as it does a very wide range of civil measures of protection concerning children, from orders concerning parental responsibility and contact to public measures of protection or care, and from matters of representation to the protection of children’s property. It also covers:

• Parental disputes over custody and contact

• Reinforcement of the 1980 Child Abduction Convention

• Unaccompanied minors

• Cross-frontier placements of children

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