Austria: Politicians and Media Pay Attention to the CCP's Crime of Live Organ Harvesting

By a Falun Dafa practitioner in Austria

(Clearwisdom.net) Canadian human rights lawyer David Matas has been invited by many countries to give speeches and meet with concerned people from different circles since the release of the investigative report "Bloody Harvest" which he co-authored with David Kilgour, former Canadian State Secretary for the Asia and Pacific. On October 14, 2007, Matas met with politicians and the media in Vienna, Austria, exposing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) crime of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners.

David Matas said in an interview with the German edition of The Epoch Times that he has been to 31 countries to introduce his report. He had just finished attending a seminar in Romania and had just arrived in Vienna early that morning. He had interviews with the media and had meetings with MPs and the United Nations' special rapporteurs as well as human rights foundation coordinators. An official from the Austrian Congress in charge of human rights conveyed to David Matas that they will address the issue of organ harvesting in a congressional hearing.

The United Nations special rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak, met with Matas and talked about the CCP's harvesting of organs from Falun Gong practitioners. Mr. Nowak said that the annual bilateral dialog between the European Union and China was to be held in two weeks in Beijing and that organ harvesting and Falun Gong would be brought up during the talks.

Matas was satisfied with the day spent in Vienna. He talked with people from all circles and felt that people are willing to help. The media also expressed support. The Austrian National News Agency (APA) and an Austria radio station interviewed Matas and reported it the same day.

The Austrian National News Agency (APA) report quoted Matas' support for boycotting the 2008 Beijing Olympics if it could help the human rights situation in China. The Olympic Games provide a platform for the international community to engage with China, therefore we should make use of the opportunity to address the brutal nature of illegal organ trade. Matas also expressed his opinion that mass protests from different countries against organ trade and the CCP persecution of Falun Gong may make the CCP concede and take real action by enforcing the law they recently enacted forbidding organ trade on May 1, 2008. Matas pointed out the necessity of monitoring whether the CCP enforces this law or whether it merely serves as window dressing.

The news report also introduced the independent investigative report co-authored by Matas in which he concludes that illicit organ harvesting is indeed taking place. Evidence included in the report suggests that the CCP kills Falun Gong practitioners for their organs in order to gain profit. The report includes taped telephone conversations between investigators posing as persons in need of organs and hospital staff across China. The conversations reveal that as long as one can pay the price, one can buy organs in China and obtain organs from Falun Gong practitioners if needed.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/10/15/164564.html

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