Press Release for Matas-Kilgour Investigative Report on Organ Harvesting from Falun Gong Practitioners in China
(clearwisdom.net) A
45-page report based on an independent investigation by former
Canadian Secretary of State (Asia Pacific) David Kilgour and
international human rights lawyer David Matas into allegations of
organ harvesting from living Falun Gong prisoners in China was
released Thursday at a press conference on Canada's Parliament Hill.
The report finds these allegations credible.
MEDIA
RELEASE
July
6, 2006 OTTAWA: David
Matas, international human rights lawyer, and David Kilgour, former
Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) for Canada, today released an
independent report, following their two-month inquiry into
allegations that vital organs are being seized from Falun Gong
practitioners across China.
The
report concludes: "...the
government of China and its agencies in numerous parts of the
country, in particular hospitals but also detention centres and
'people's courts', since 1999, have put to death a large but
unknown number of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience. Their vital
organs, including hearts, kidneys, livers and corneas, were virtually
simultaneously seized for sale at high prices, sometimes to
foreigners, who normally face long waits for voluntary donations of
such organs in their home countries." How
many of the victims were first convicted of any substantive offence
in a legitimate court the report does not answer because such data
unavailable. However, one Beijing Falun Gong practitioner, now living
in Europe, told the inquiry that she was arrested three times and
spent a year in a labour camp but she was never taken before any
court. She also reported during her imprisonment, that without
explanation or cause, she was taken in leg irons and handcuffs for a
thorough medical examination. Witnesses
were consulted in Canada, Australia, France and the United States,
sometimes in personal interviews and sometimes by email. Among the
most significant incriminating evidence, however, were certified
translations of recorded conversations in Mandarin with doctors and
other officials at hospitals and detention centres located in various
parts of China. Transcripts of some of these conversations are
included in the report.
Other
important evidence: Translations
of recent and continuing postings on number of websites at
transplantation centres within China which were also important in
convincing the inquiry that the only fair conclusion was that the
organ harvesting is widespread and continuing.
Testimony
from the former wife of a surgeon in China who told the inquiry that
he confessed to her that he removed the corneas from the eyes of
approximately 2000 Falun Gong prisoners in 2002 and 2003. Testimony
from Ms. Yuzhi Wang, now of the Vancouver region, who stated she
spent most of her time in 2000 and 2001 in labour camps for being a
Falun Gong practitioner. Suffering internal damage from beatings,
she is convinced this is the only reason she did not become a
"donor" and was able to leave China. Testimony
from Xiaohua Wang, now of Montreal, who reported that in 2002, after
spending two years in a forced labour camp working 16 hours daily
with chemicals because of his belief in Falun Gong , he also
received a comprehensive forced medical exam. Later, he was able to
emigrate to Canada. Testimony
from Ms. Na Gan, now of Toronto, who stated that she was beaten by
police when she unfurled a Falun Gong
"truthfulness-compassion-tolerance" banner in Tiananmen Square.
As a result, her CCP membership and salary as a customs employee at
the Beijing airport were revoked and she was sent to the local
women's labour camp. In mid-2001, she reported that only the Falun
Gong members of the group had their blood, urine, and eyes examined
at a nearby hospital. She too managed to leave China for Canada.
The
following are some key recommendations in the report: As
organ harvesting is a crime against humanity, authorities in China
should conduct a criminal investigation for possible prosecution. Organizations-intergovernmental,
governmental and voluntary-should take the allegations seriously and
make their own determinations on whether or not they are true. As
the UN Protocol to prevent trafficking in persons bans the removal
of organs, the UN should investigate whether China is in violation. Foreign
governments should ban the entry of Chinese doctors seeking training
in organ transplantation and any doctor there known to be engaged in
such work should be barred from visiting foreign countries
permanently. All
countries should tighten their laws against organ trafficking and
doctors should, for example, be required to report to their
respective authorities any evidence that a patient has received an
organ from a trafficked person abroad. Governments
should deny or revoke the passports of nationals who are travelling
to China for organ transplants. No
governments should participate in any China-sponsored meeting or
research on organ transplant. No private company should provide
goods or services to any Chinese transplant program. A full copy of the
report can be obtained at: http://investigation.redirectme.net/
For further information, please
contact
David Kilgour: (613) 747-7854;
David Matas: (204) 944-1831
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