Friday, 29-Nov-2002 8:20PM Story from AFP

BEIJING, Nov 30 (AFP) - Amnesty International on Saturday issued an appeal on behalf of a Japanese-based follower of the Falungong spiritual group detained in China, warning she was seriously ill and could have been tortured.

Yoko Kaneko, 37, a Chinese citizen formerly known as Luo Rong [Editor's Note: Yoko Kaneko is this practitioner's Japanese name, Luo Rong is her Chinese name] who moved to Japan several years ago, had reportedly been hospitalised for high blood pressure, the rights group said.

There were "serious concerns" that Kaneko, who was sentenced to 18 months in a labour camp in June, according to her family, might not receive adequate care, the London-based group said in a statement.

"According to reports, (Kaneko) has bruising around her wrists and has lost a lot of weight, indicating that she may have been tortured or ill-treated whilst in the labour camp," it said.

Amnesty also said that Kaneko's elder sister, Luo Zhen, who lives in China, was reportedly detained on November 5 by police in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang for helping to publicize her sister's case.

Lou is thought to be in detention, although her family has not been told of her whereabouts, Amnesty said, adding that according to some sources she may have been sent to a labour camp for two years.

Luo Zhen is not believed to be a follower of Falungong, banned by China in July 1999 [...], but she and her family had been harassed by police following her sister's detention, the group said.

Kaneko was arrested in May along with two Japanese Falungong [practitioners] for distributing fliers and video discs about Falungong in Beijing. The other two women, both Japanese citizens, were expelled.

Kaneko migrated to Japan in 1999 and is a permanent resident of Japan and married to a Japanese man, but not yet a Japanese citizen.

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

Tens of thousands of Falungong adherents have been detained since Beijing outlawed the group, [...].

Hundreds of followers have died following torture and beatings while in custody, according to Falungong.

http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ba/Qchina-japan-sect.RrVW_CNU.html