Urgent Appeal to Rescue Japanese Falun Gong Practitioner Yuko Kaneko

(Clearwisdom.net) Yuko Kaneko is a 38 year-old Chinese citizen. Recently, she has been living with her Japanese husband in Niigata, Japan. She was also registered as a resident of Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province, China. Her Chinese name is Luo Rong.

We urgently appeal to all kindhearted people to help rescue Yuko!

Falun Gong practitioner Yuko Kaneko arrived in Beijing on May 23, 2002. The next day she went out to distribute Falun Gong truth clarifying materials on the streets of Beijing with two other Japanese practitioners. The police illegally detained them and beat them up. According to the Japanese practitioners, a group of police forcibly searched, photographed and interrogated all three of them violently. The two traveling on Japanese passports were forcibly sent back to Japan on May 25^th, but Yuko is still detained.

A few days after Yuko's detention, supporters in Tokyo formed an "association" to rescue Yuko and return her safely back home.

Reports say that Yuko has been on a hunger strike ever since being detained. On June 18, sources report that police from Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province planned to go to Beijing to transport Yuko to her Chinese residency. The brutality against Falun Gong practitioners at the Wanjia Labor Camp in Harbin is beyond human imagination. The June 20^th atrocities involving female Falun Gong practitioners last year in Wanjia Labor Camp horrified people both in China and abroad. We wish to prevent any further vicious persecution from being carried out against other practitioners.

The Rescue Yuko Kaneko Association urges all practitioners and good people in the world to join forces to rescue Yuko so that she can return to Japan and rejoin her family.

For background information, please go to: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/5/29/22562.html

(1) Collecting signatures on the web:

There is a signature collection web page created by the Rescue Yuko Association. The signatures collected will be used to petition the Japanese government and urge them to actively engage in supporting Yuko from the perspective of justice and human rights.

(2) Actively appeal to international human rights and other organizations and individuals who may be able to apply pressure for Yuko's release:

The rescue association has appealed to Amnesty International in Japan and the Human Rights Organization of the United Nations to help Yuko. But Amnesty International in Japan needs directions from their headquarters in London before they are able to take any concrete action. If possible, please use your connections to influence Amnesty International Headquarters so that they can give directions to the Japanese branch.

Then the rescue efforts can move forward in earnest.

(3) If you know of the exact whereabouts of Yuko or if you have any other suggestions, please inform the rescue association as soon as possible.

To contact the rescue association:

Email: [e-mail] (0 is numerical zero)

TEL: [phone], FAX: [phone]