The Sudbury Star: Falun Gong tries to stop harvest; Group alleges practitioners are being executed for their organs

Wednesday July 19, 2006

Canadian politicians can help bring to an end to the killing of imprisoned Falun Gong members so their organs can be harvested, a team of Falun Gong practitioners from Toronto said Tuesday during a stop in Greater Sudbury.

"According to the report written by David Kilgour and David Matas, in the past five years, China has done about 60,000 organ transplants and only 18,000 of them are named," said Elaine Xie. "That means they transplanted from 42,000 unknowns."

Those "unknowns" said Xie, came from among the hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong members in China's prisons - imprisoned they allege because the government views their practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance as a national threat.

The report Xie referred to was released July 6 by Kilgour, a former Liberal MP and secretary of state for the Asia Pacific region, and Matas, an immigration, refugee and international human rights lawyer based in Winnipeg.

Looking into the allegation that Falun Gong members were being killed for organ donation purposes, the report concluded the allegation was true. It determined that the body parts being removed included hearts, kidneys, livers and corneas, which were sold at high prices.

The day the report was released, the Chinese government issued a statement dismissing it.

People in need of organs, explained Xie, visit a Chinese government website (The China International Transplantation Network Assistance Centre) and make inquiries.

Until April, an organ price list was featured.

"Right now, there are more and more rich people in Japan and Korea perhaps who come forward for an organ transplant because the waiting time is very short," said Xie. "It can be as short as a few days."

After planned visits to the offices of Sudbury MP Diane Marleau, Sudbury MP Rick Bartolucci and Greater Sudbury Dave Courtemanche, the five-member Falun Gong team was heading to Sault Ste. Marie

Other teams will be visiting Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan shortly to spread the word about the killing of Falun Gong members in China for their organs and seek Canadian government support to help stop it.

Xie said the SOS Car Tour to Condemn Organ Harvest Camp in China has already received the support of the City of Oshawa, which passed a motion condemning what is happening to Falun Gong members and called on the federal government to apply pressure on China to stop the practice.

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