The world continues to speak out against China’s transplant practices

The world continues to speak out against China’s transplant practices

 In June, Alex Newman of the New American summarized recent legislation and international actions to condemn the organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience in China. The states of Missouri, Georgia, and Arizona in the United States as well as the nations of Canada, Japan, and Australia have all either passed or are in the process of passing legislative statements that condemn China’s organ harvesting practices.

In the context of recent backlash over Chinese Communist Party interference and financing of several Australian parliamentarians, health professionals and human rights advocates urged a parliamentary committee to consider extending laws to prohibit Australian citizens from obtaining illicitly procured organs abroad, focusing especially on China. At the hearing, members of this June 8th committee on organ transplant tourism and organ trafficking were also urged to accede to the 2014 Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs which urges members nations to legislate against organ trafficking and transplant tourism. Currently there is no penalty in Australia for those who travel abroad to procure illegally sourced organs. But, an existing New South Wales law on slavery might be used to charge those who travel abroad for unethically obtained organs with criminal action. The adoption of the Modern Slavery Bill 2018 will allow authorities to begin monitoring those who are suspected of traveling abroad for illegal transplants.

In the United States, the issue of organ harvesting was raised at a Los Angeles trade forum. When asked about illicit organ harvesting, Haiyan Liu, Senior Commercial Consul for the Chinese Consul General in Los Angeles, denied that this was a problem in China. Meanwhile, five United States representatives, including Dana Rohrabacher and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, gathered at a June 20th rally on Capitol Hill calling for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong. Thirty-one lawmakers signed a letter of support for the event. Falun Gong adherents in mainland China are the main victims of organ transplant abuse. California congressional candidate Brian Witt took an all-night flight from California to Washington DC to attend a Falun Gong rally on June 20th.  Although he lacked sleep he was energized and impressed by the event. Witt believes mainstream media has not adequately reported on this medical genocide, that the US should regain its leadership role in promoting global human rights, that all good people around the world need to stand up in opposition to China’s genocide, and the perpetrators of these atrocious crimes must be brought to justice.

Canadians David Kilgour and David Matas received The Friends of Falun Gong Human Rights Award for their tireless efforts to end illicit organ transplantation practices sanctioned and directed by the Chinese government.  While accepting the award recognizing their work exposing organ pillaging from Falun Gong, Kilgour humbly credited others’ work as well, saying, “Of course, I want to thank DAFOH [Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting], all the medical people around the world, the supporters of DAFOH, they’ve probably been among the most effective against these practices.”