Yoko Kaneko Recalls Her 548 Day Abduction By the Followers of Jiang and His Regime, Part 3

(Clearwisdom.net) One night, after I had been in detention about three months, Captain Li Jirong criticized Japan in front of all the Falun Gong practitioners. Everyone was puzzled as to why he did this and was looking at me for an explanation. However, I did not know why he was agitated. I did not realize what had happened until after I returned to Japan. Due to pressure from the Japanese government and people, and Falun Gong practitioners around the world, the Chinese government dared not treat me in the same way they treated practitioners from Mainland China. They hated the situation that they were in but couldn't do anything about it, which was why the captain had been so upset.

After the SARS outbreak in China, some of the practitioners around me were gradually released at the end of 2003, but I was still imprisoned. I asked my captors why I wasn't being released, but they wouldn't tell me. They couldn't torture me, but also couldn't release me because they were afraid I would tell people about what happened to others during my confinement. During this time they tried to find excuses to extend my prison term, but failed. We clearly saw how Jiang's gang had persecuted Falun Gong in China. They were afraid that people around the world would know what was happening in China. Their persecution of Falun gong is illegal, ignores human rights, and barbarically tramples on practitioners' freedom of belief.

Every day we went through long hours of hard labor in the forced labor camp. We got up at 5:30 am and were only allowed 5 minutes to get ready. We'd work until 10 pm. We were required to watch CCTV news broadcasts while we worked. Sometimes we had to get up at three in the morning; the evening work hours were also sometimes extended past 10 pm. Because we sat for long hours on a small hard plastic bench, our buttocks became calloused. This caused our hind sides to feel itchy, and our scratching caused the skin to bleed. But our mental suffering was harder to bear than any physical pain. Each day we felt great anxiety. When we got up each morning, we weren't sure what would happen that day. When the police called upon a practitioner, we'd worry about him or her, wondering what would happen and whether he or she would come back. Each night, our captors would take a roll call before bed. We'd see each other during roll call, but someone might not show up the next morning; they'd be gone without a trace. It gave us great comfort to see each other in the morning and we would encourage each other, even if with just a short glimpse or smile. Under such huge pressure, some people's hair started to turn white. I now dye my hair.

My blood pressure became elevated and my health suffered during my incarceration. During the last two months of my term, I was sent back to the Tiantanghe Hospital; my captors were afraid that my physical condition would reveal what I was enduring. While in the hospital, the captain of my unit, Li Jirong, was transferred out and another woman named Li took his place. She came to the hospital and threatened me, saying, "You'll be released soon. We will exchange opinions with the Japanese Embassy. Even after you return back to Japan, we can still extradite you back to China." She also made other threatening remarks. Without the help of the Japanese government and overseas Falun Gong practitioners, I don't know what might have happened to me. I suppose I might be dying in the labor camp right now, or at least have to suffer a longer term of confinement.

Finally, I have returned to Japan and to my dear family, whom I missed so much during my days and nights in the labor camp. Although I have regained my freedom, there are still many practitioners in forced labor camps experiencing painful torture. My heart feels especially heavy when I think of them.

Just because I distributed truth-clarifying materials, I was sentenced to one-and-a-half-years of forced labor and torture. My family and friends in China and Japan suffered as well during that time.

For Parts 1 and 2, please see
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2003/12/29/43598.html
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/1/3/43759.html
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2003/12/19/62877.html

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