AFP (Agence France-Press): Japanese husband worried about health of jailed Falun Gong wife

Wednesday, 04-Dec-2002 4:20AMááááá

TOKYO, Dec 4 (AFP) - The Japanese husband of a Chinese-born woman detained for months by Chinese authorities for distributing flyers about the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual group in Beijing said Wednesday he was worried about her health and called for her immediate release.

"I am very worried about her health. They told me she is in hospital, but did not tell me exactly where she is hospitalized," Atsushi Kaneko, 47, told a news conference in Tokyo.

"They (Chinese officials) told me I would be able to see her at the end of September, but the Chinese embassy in Tokyo rejected my visa application and told me I should know very well why the visa was being denied," he said.

His 38-year-old wife Yoko, a Chinese citizen formerly known as Luo Rong, was arrested in May along with two Japanese Falun Gong [practitioners] for distributing leaflets and video discs about the group in Beijing.

The spiritual group [follows the universal principle of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance]..

Beijing expelled the two Japanese practitioners but detained Yoko and sentenced her in June to 18 months in a Beijing labor camp.

Kaneko, who is not a Falun Gong follower, said he visited her in August and was shocked to find bruises on her inner forearms.

"Her bruises were black and they were obviously caused by internal bleeding, " he said, adding: "She was extremely skinny and appeared to have no energy, although she used to be a very perky person."

During the visit, Kaneko was allowed neither to speak about Falun Gong nor to discuss her detention by Chinese authorities.

"In addition, I was not allowed to speak to her in Japanese, which is my only language. We had to talk through an interpreter provided by the Japanese embassy," he said, adding eight Chinese security officials were present.

"I was only able to discuss my family in Japan and all she said was life at the labor camp was great and very comfortable," Kankeo said.

To highlight the plight of Yoko, he flew to Los Cabos, Mexico, where heads of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum gathered for a summit in late October.

"I held a big banner demanding the immediate release of Yoko Kaneko so that (Chinese President) Jiang Zemin could see it. But two huge buses stopped right in front of me and I believe he could not see my banner," he said.

Last month Kaneko was informed that his wife was hospitalized but given no details about her condition.

"I've asked the Japanese foreign ministry to check on my wife's health. I will continue to work with the ministry until I get her back," he said.

China's legal system allows people to be sentenced without trial for up to three years in a work camp for so-called "re-education through labour".

Beijing outlawed the Falun Gong group in mid-1999, and since then thousands of followers have been detained and an unknown number -- in the hundreds, according to the group -- have died in custody.

The crackdown has persisted despite widespread condemnation by overseas human rights groups and expressions of concern by foreign governments.

http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/bd/Qjapan-china-sect.Rs6c_CD4.html