Issued by Clearwisdom Net

News release

David Matas and David Kilgour in a reaction statement released today called on the Government of China to enforce its new rules on organs. The Government of China issued the new rules on Friday April 6 that come into force on May 1. The new rules ban the sale of human organs for profit.

Kilgour and Matas said:

"China has had a history in this area of announcing policies and laws which sound fine in principle but are then not enforced. The announcement of the rule change is welcome. But this announcement will mean nothing if the practice of organ harvesting from non-consenting donors for huge sums of money continues."

"This announcement of a rule change is, in effect, a statement that China is going to stop organ harvesting from unwilling donors for huge sums of money. The very statement that they are going to stop doing this is an admission that this practice is now happening."

"We worry that this announcement of a change in the law is nothing more than political cosmetics, a piece of propaganda."

David Kilgour and David Matas are authors of a report on organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China. The first version of the report was released on July 6, 2006; the second version was released on January 31, 2007. They concluded that thousands of Falun Gong practitioners are being executed by medical professionals for commercial reasons and their vital organs sold, often to foreigners. The revised report almost doubled, from 18 to 33, the number of evidentiary factors leading to their conclusion. Both versions are available at <http://organharvestinvestigation.net>. Their full statement follows below.

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For further information, contact

David Matas at 204-944-1831; [email protected]

David Kilgour at 613-747-7854; [email protected]

Reaction Statement of David Matas and David Kilgour

Re: Chinese announcement of the rule change for organ transplants

May 2, 2007

China has had a history of announcing policies and laws about organ transplants which sound fine in principle but are then not enforced. The most recent official Chinese announcement of the rule change for organ transplants, banning their sale for profit, is welcome. But this announcement will mean nothing if the practice of organ harvesting from non-consenting donors for huge sums of money continues. The new rules have to be enforced.

China enacted another law last March which came into force July 1st, 2006 also banning the sale of organs. Even before that China had a policy in place to prevent such practices.

Deputy Health Minister Huang Jiefu, speaking at a conference of surgeons in the southern city of Guangzhou in mid November 2006 decried the selling of organs from executed prisoners sentenced to death saying "Under the table business must be banned". Yet, it was already banned in law on July 1 and by policy much before that. His speech was an official acknowledgment that previous bans were not effective.

We concluded in our report "Bloody Harvest" that thousands of Falun Gong practitioners are being executed by medical professionals for commercial reasons and their vital organs sold, often to foreigners. The first version of the report was released on July 6, 2006; the second version was released on January 31, 2007. The revised report almost doubled, from 18 to 33, the number of evidentiary factors leading to our conclusion. The Government of China has yet to come up with any facts or figures contradicting our report.

One of the reasons we came to the conclusion in our report "Bloody Harvest" that organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners occurs is that the precautions which should be in place to prevent this organ harvesting are not in place. The announcement of this rule change vindicates that observation. The change in the law is a tacit admission that the present legal system has been inadequate to prevent the practices we decry.

This announcement of a rule change is, in effect, a statement that China is going to stop organ harvesting from unwilling donors for huge sums of money. The very statement that Chinese hospitals are going to stop doing this is an admission that this practice is now happening.

We worry that this announcement of a change in the law is nothing more than political cosmetics, a piece of propaganda. That is what both the March 2006 announcement of a law change for July 1, 2006 and previous policy announcements turned out to be.

The Chinese authorities have built a vast array of transplant centres. Many Falun Gong practitioners remain in detention centres and forced labour camps. Will the military hospitals and surgeons, which to date have functioned outside the civilian health system and are heavily involved in transplants, be required to comply with the new regulations?

The practice of organ harvesting from unwilling donors on payment of huge sums of money has survived all the previous policy announcements. It remains to be seen whether this law change will be any different.

The announcement is an acknowledgement that the transplant industry in China is causing the Government of China political problems. We say that these problems will not be solved by a re-announcement of a policy which has been announced several times before. We will continue to scrutinize Chinese transplant practices. We ask the global community not to allow this announcement to lull them into the belief that now in China, for transplants, everything is all right.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/5/7/154275.html

To voice support for six lawyers in Beijing who are defending Falun Gong practitioners, lawyer Chiu Huang-chuan, deputy director of the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) Asian Delegation and Director of the Cheng Nan-jung Foundation, invited human rights lawyers in Taiwan to take part in a press conference on May 5, 2007. The press conference called for the international community to condemn the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) deprivation of lawyers' rights, support the six lawyers in Beijing who are safeguarding righteousness, and demand that the CCP immediately release Falun Gong practitioners unlawfully imprisoned and stop the persecution of religious freedom in China.

Attendees at the press conference included lawyers Gao Yung-cheng and Li Sheng-hsing from the Human Rights Protection Committee of the Taipei Bar Association, lawyer Lin Feng-cheng from the Civil Judicial Reform Foundation, professor Huang Mo from the Chang Fu-chuan Human Rights Research Center, and lawyer Chu Wan-chi from the Human Rights Law Foundation. Central News Agency, FTV and New Taiwan Weekly covered the event.

An open letter was signed during the press conference and sent to nine well-known human rights organizations, including the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International. The letter urged these organizations to condemn the CCP's atrocities against the lawyers and asked them to request the Chinese government to improve human rights conditions. The letter also requested these organizations to monitor the Chinese government to see whether it is fulfilling its human rights promises. Copies of the letter were sent to Chinese President Hu Jintao and the International Olympic Committee.

On the morning of April 27, 2007, six lawyers in Beijing, Li Heping, Li Xingbing, Zhang Lihui, Li Shunzhang, Tong Biao, and Wu Hongwei, defended Falun Gong practitioners Wang Bo and her parents in the Shijiazhuang Intermediate Court, Hebei Province. This is the first time that the outside world has heard of several lawyers conducting an innocence defense in court for Falun Gong practitioners, despite pressure from the CCP. Lawyer Tong Biao and others were beaten by court police in front of the public.

Lawyer Chu Wan-chi said, "During the eight years of the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, the CCP ordered the courts to deal harshly with Falun Gong issues and not allow any defense for Falun Gong. After the long-term efforts of Falun Gong practitioners to expose the persecution, the CCP is under a lot of pressure. From 2001 to 2003, some practitioners received 'guilty defense' from lawyers to reduce their punishment."

A Chinese lawyer told Ms. Chu over the phone, "This is better than before. No one wants to defend Falun Gong practitioners in China because they risk their life doing so."

A Chinese democracy activist told her that China is not controlled by law or humans. Ms. Chu said, "In the twenty-first century, the CCP has established hell on earth. Lawyers in China try their best to do two things: to protect litigants' interests and their own lives. Their difficulties cannot be imagined by lawyers in the outside world."

Ms. Chu then mentioned that Falun Gong practitioners had filed more than fifty lawsuits against Jiang Zemin and more than twenty lawsuits against the CCP in more than thirty countries across the world. She said that more than fifty human rights lawyers who are involved in the Falun Gong lawsuits, including herself, have received interference and harassments from CCP embassies and consulates.

Professor Huang Mo from Chang Fu-chuan Human Rights Research Center said that lawyers should have a righteous commitment to strive for human rights. It is a new and welcome change for the six lawyers to jointly defend Falun Gong practitioners in court. He thought that their defense could set a precedent and teach a lesson to the CCP regime about human rights and rule of law.

Mr. Huang said, "From this trial, in which the CCP persecutes Falun Gong practitioners and beats lawyers in front of the public, one can tell that the CCP is a tyrant. The CCP should be condemned for its policy of persecuting dissidents. Practitioner Wang Bo's case is a basic human rights issue. The CCP's actions violate the Chinese Constitution and international human rights law."

Mr. Huang continued, "The voice of support in Taiwan is significant in that so many lawyers and organizations are expressing their support openly. Many professional organizations in Taiwan are reluctant to openly support the Chinese people's efforts against CCP persecution. From the point of view of universal human rights, they should not be like that."

He hoped that the media including newspapers, magazines and TV, would report on this in depth and investigate the basic issues.

Lawyer Li Shi-hsing, Director of Amnesty International (AI) Taiwan Branch, said he wrote to AI headquarters in London and asked AI branches in each country to voice support for the activity. He said though the CCP regime hates Taiwan, the rights of 1.3 billion Chinese people should be safeguarded. Human rights in Taiwan have progressed and human rights in neighboring countries should be safeguarded.

Mr. Li said, "Professor Huang Mo and I are listed on the CCP's blacklist and cannot enter mainland China. The CCP ignores people's basic human rights for economic development. Religious freedom and freedom of belief are precious and cannot be replaced. Falun Gong is the biggest group being persecuted by the CCP. Even under the CCP's brutal control, these lawyers are defending Falun Gong practitioners. I send my highest respect to the six lawyers. All lawyers in China should help stop the persecution of human rights."

Lawyer Lin Feng-cheng from the Civil Judicial Reform Foundation said that it is a principle that lawyers conduct innocence defense for defendants. He was surprised to learn that the innocence defense in China is considered as making big progress. He indicated that the situation in China is worse than he thought.

Lawyer Gao Yung-cheng from the Human Rights Protection Committee of the Taipei Bar Association pointed out that lawyers in China cannot protect their own basic human rights and that there is a serious problem in execution of the constitution and law in mainland China. He said if 120,000 lawyers in China and more future lawyers would stand up together, they would experience society controlled by the rule of law. When the rule of law become mature, such persecution of basic human rights would not happen.

Lawyer Chiu Huang-chuan, Director of the Cheng Nan-jung Foundation, said he was surprised at the CCP's beating of lawyers in court. He criticized, "Such a government does not qualify to host the Olympic Games. Civilized countries should think over what kinds of improvement of human rights can be achieved by attending the Olympic Games and what help can be obtained for the Chinese people. If it [hosting the Olympic Games] cannot helpful in this regard, it just lets the CCP take advantage of the opportunity to decorate itself and cover up the ugly things, and in fact assists the CCP regime."

Attorney Chiu said that civilized countries emphasizing human rights should support these six lawyers and speak out for the defendants.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/5/6/154217.html

Federal Chancellor: Angela Merkel
Deutscher Bundestag
Platz der Republik 1
11011 Berlin

May 2nd, 2007

Dear Chancellor:

In view of the forthcoming human rights dialogue between China and the EU, we would like to register our deep concern about the effectiveness of continuing these talks in any meaningful way.

Although the EU and other European and international governments have conducted discussions on human rights with China for over ten years, particularly in relation to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners since 1999, we believe that the majority of these talks have proved to be fruitless.

We cite the findings of the Canadian government as an example; Canadian officials state that 'the (annual) dialogue was created as a cornerstone of Ottawa's policy of engagement with China on human rights, but today there is "pervasive cynicism" and "dialogue fatigue" among most officials.' The overriding view of many participants in annual bilateral talks with China is that, although talks have been intended to provide genuine dialogue, they have always descended into a rehearsed propaganda exercise.

Amnesty International stated in their most recent press release that there is little evidence of improvement in human rights particularly relating to the Olympic Games, and that there has been increasing repression of human rights activism and domestic journalism. In fact 'the Olympics have been used by China as a catalyst to extend the use of detention without trial.'

Catherine Baber, Deputy Asia Pacific Director at Amnesty International, said 'The IOC cannot want an Olympics that is tainted with human rights abuses -- whether families forcibly evicted from their homes to make way for sports arenas or growing numbers of peaceful activists held under 'house arrest' to stop them drawing attention to human rights issues.'

The recent reports by former Canadian MP David Kilgour and human rights lawyer David Matas have shown that international governments need to take a much tougher stance with China on the issue of human rights. They have documented evidence not only of the scale of the persecution, but also of the systematic harvesting of organs from thousands of live Falun Gong practitioners for sale abroad. None of the talks with other countries' officials has ever tackled this problem head on. We also suspect that this report may be only the tip of a much more sinister iceberg.

We therefore call upon the EU to:

• Publicly condemn the Chinese Communist regime for these atrocities.
• End the fruitless bilateral dialogue with the Chinese regime and openly condemn
them for the persecution of Falun Gong and organ harvesting.
• Investigate all Chinese labor camps without interference.
• Call for an international boycott of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Yours sincerely,

John Dee (Vice-Chairman)