Canada: Investigation Group Hopes to Go to China to Conduct Independent Investigation

International human rights attorney Mr. David Matas

The Group to Investigate the CCP's Harvesting Organs from Live Falun Gong Practitioners, which consists of the former director of the Asian Pacific Division of Canada's Foreign Affairs Ministry, Mr. David Kilgour and well-known international human rights attorney Mr. David Matas, wrote to the Chinese Embassy in Canada, requesting a meeting with Chinese Ambassador, Lu Shumin. The Investigation Group wishes to conduct an independent investigation in China this month. The group will publish its investigation report based on the collected evidence soon.

The Group requests an independent investigation without the CCP's control

Mr. Kilgour and Mr. Matas wrote to the Chinese Embassy on June 2nd. In their letter, they said that they hoped to visit China in June to investigate the CCP's harvesting organs from live Falun Gong practitioners, which has resulted in the death of many practitioners.

They stated that it is proper to request a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador and other Chinese government officials before they applied for visas to visit China. In their meeting, they would like to discuss with the ambassador about this visit and the conditions of their investigation in China.

Mr. Matas emphasised that they were requesting an independent investigation free of the CCP's manipulations. Mr. Matas said that the investigation would be meaningless if the CCP decides who they could meet or talk to.

Mr. Matas hoped that when they are in China, they will have the freedom to investigate the issues directly, instead of receiving evidence provided by the CCP.

The coordinator of "The Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China (CIPFG)" in Canada, Mr. Yang Kaiwen said during an interview that, in order to cover up the truth of persecution and deceive the international community, the CCP always makes some arrangements before the international investigation groups come. The CCP arranges the itineraries and interviewees for the group. The CCP also forces the interviewees to answer the questions in a way that the CCP pre-arranged.

According to Dafa websites, on January 9th, 2004, the UN's International Labour Organisation visited Tuanhe Forced Labour Camp in Beijing for an investigation. As if facing a formidable foe, the camp authorities took all of the imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners inside and confined them in a single area. They did not allow the practitioners to go outdoors nor require them to work, either. To set up a so-called "free interview" for the international investigation team, Group 3 arranged for Pan Jun, a graduate from the Legal and Law University, and Mu Yuan, a graduate of Beijing University of Technology, to answer the visitors' questions. Both of these practitioners had been brainwashed and put through multiple rehearsals in advance. They were also warned that they would have to "take responsibility" if they went off track.

Falun Gong practitioners Zhao Ming and Chen Gang who were illegally imprisoned in Tuanhe Labour Camp, testified that the guards in Tuanhe Labour Camp always force Falun Gong practitioners to stand straight up, sit without moving, bow down for long periods of time, or run in the yard. They also lock practitioners on the bed for a long time or confine practitioners in the rooms where people boil water, in the summer time. The purpose of all the tortures that the guards applied to practitioners is to break down practitioners' will, so they use extreme methods. Falun Gong practitioners who were beaten or not allowed to sleep, or threatened, often develop white hair, weight loss, muscle pain, organs dysfunction, depression, and memory loss. More importantly, although the physical pain due to the torture will often abate as time goes by, the mental and spiritual injuries may influence one's life for a long time.

Mr. Yang Kaiwen used the investigation by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Mr. Manfred Nowak as an example. He said that the CCP interfered with the investigation badly. They spied on and monitored the investigators. They also made trouble with the investigators' plan. Moreover, they threatened the interviewees and witnesses and their family members. So, it is very important that the investigation groups can conduct an independent investigation without the CCP's interference.

Publishing the investigating report is the first step of the complete investigation.

Based on interviews with witnesses outside of China, and a lot of collected evidences, two investigators are working on an investigation report. Mr. Matas said that no matter whether their request is approved or not, they will keep doing their work and finish the report.

Mr. Yang Kaiwen said that the investigation by these two investigators is independent. They will draw their own conclusions based on the evidence they collect. According to the evidence we collected, it is undeniable that the CCP has been harvesting organs from live Falun Gong practitioners in labour camps and secret concentration camp. But because it is difficult to conduct a complete and independent investigation in China, we don't know exactly the degree and scale of the persecution.

Mr. Yang said that publishing the investigation report is the first step in the complete investigation. The next steps include coordinating with other investigation groups, such as The Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China (CIPFG), requesting to visit China, and conducting a complete investigation of all the labour camps and detention centtrs in China, where Falun Gong practitioners are illegally imprisoned.