DAFOH Calls Upon U.S. Congress to Investigate Genocide of Falun Gong in China

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 19, 2019 — The United States Congress must act immediately on the findings of the Independent Tribunal on Forced Organ Harvesting that the killing of detainees in China for their organs has continued despite the regime’s promises to the contrary, according to leading human rights organization Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH). The tribunal, chaired by former international war crimes prosecutor Sir Geoffrey Nice, released its final judgment on June 17th.

“The tribunal’s judgment demonstrates beyond all doubt that China is continuing to kill prisoners of conscience for their organs. We believe that forced organ harvesting in China is linked to other prolific abuses of this target group and amounts to a deliberate campaign of genocide against Falun Gong practitioners,” said Dr. Torsten Trey, executive director of DAFOH.

The tribunal’s findings recognize that some elements of a genocide are “clearly established” and explicitly invites further investigation concerning genocide.DAFOH echoes the tribunal’s call for further investigations and urges Congress to launch formal proceedings to determine the extent of the practice and the degree to which it constitutes genocide.

The tribunal’s report coincides with the one-year anniversary of an academic article, co-authored by members of DAFOH, which first described the organ harvesting campaign as a ‘cold genocide’ against Falun Gong practitioners in China.

One characteristic of a ‘cold genocide’ is that the eradication of the targeted group occurs in a slow-moving manner, said Trey. The Chinese government’s framing of Falun Gong as a ‘cult’ has misled the Chinese people and the international community preventing unbiased investigations of the genocide carried out against practitioners. “The campaign to label Falun Gong as a ‘cult’ has become part of the cold genocide, as it tries to conceal the eradication of the group,” said Trey.

Falun Gong is known worldwide as a peaceful, orthodox Buddhist Qigong practice. The debunking of the false ‘cult’ designation is an important first step to objectively examine the occurrence of crimes against humanity. An unbiased, fair investigation of the forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners will contribute to ending the malpractice and may benefit all other prisoners of conscience subjected to this transplant abuse, including Uighurs, Tibetans, Christians, and others.

 

Contact:

Ann Corson, MD

Email: [email protected]