Human rights advocates sought to make the forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners the focus when addressing human rights issues with China at the International Religious Freedom Summit 2022 in Washington from June 28–30.
The International Religious Freedom Summit is an annual event held in Washington DC to address the many forms of religious persecution. The event draws many former and current members of the U.S. government and members of NGOs who promote religious freedom around the world in places where it is suppressed.
Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, the summit co-chair, former chair of the U.S. Committee on International Religious Freedom, and president of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, spoke on the issue of forced organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience in mainland China. She stated that medical schools are complicit in the crimes if they train Chinese physicians.
She also said that human rights are not an internal matter for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Lord David Alton from the British House of Lords also called the practice outrageous and said that he, together with his colleagues from all party lines, have been working on legislation to bring in greater penalties for anyone involved in organ harvesting.
Many members called for greater pressure on the Chinese regime to end the horrific practice.
