France: Council of Europe Focuses on the CCP Trade in Organs Harvested from Prisoners in Labour Camps

The Council of Europe (COE) held a third meeting in Strasbourg, France this week. A forum to "Examining environmental pollution and the human rights situation in China” was held at the 7th Meeting Hall on June 27th, 2006. The harvest of organs from live Falun Gong practitioners taking place in China’s labour camps became a focus of the meeting. The forum was presided over by Mr. Lindblad from the Swedish parliamentary delegation. Experts and professors from Germany, the UK, France, Belgium and Australia, as well as representatives from human rights organisations and Falun Gong practitioners who have experienced the persecution of their spiritual practice first hand all made speeches at the forum.

Speakers at the forum	Congressmen and media attending the forum

This forum obtained support from many international human rights organisations. The co-organisers of this forum included: “Human Rights Without Frontiers International” headquartered in Belgium, the International Society for Human Rights headquartered in Germany, The Epoch Times Europe, The Association for Former Political Prisoners in Romania, the Network for Human Rights in China, Norway, Support Human Rights in China, Sweden, the Network for Human Rights in China, Denmark and so on.

The director of the International Human Rights Association, Mr. Man Yang mentioned in his speech that, "In order to consolidate it political power, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has made several million Chinese people lose their lives during the process of the so called “developing” economy after destroying China's economic basis”. He continued, "In order to seize and maintain power, the CCP uses various evil methods to suppress dissidents and religious believers. Since March, 2006, some witnesses have unceasingly accused the CCP of harvesting organs on a large-scale from live Falun Gong practitioners for profit, and then cremated the remains to destroy the evidence of its crimes. Witnesses revealed that, at least thirty-six concentration camps and a large number of labour camps illegally imprison Falun Gong practitioners for live organ transplants; the personnel involved include the CCP high level officials, the military and the armed police, hospitals and so on. A witness disclosed that, only in Shenyang Sujiatun hospital, there were several thousands people being killed. Many Falun Gong practitioners had been pushed to the surgery table in the situation of using very little anesthetics, their corneas, kidneys; livers and so on have been excised and sold to the international transplant centre seeking huge profit. In order to escape from being investigated, those Falun Gong practitioners can be shifted to other places at any time if necessary.”

Experts and professors on Chinese Problems	Attendants listen to speeches

Professor Li Shao took "the dangerous growth" as a topic, analysed the current situation of environmental pollution during the last fifty years in China with massive data and photographic evidence. He also spoke about the spreading of avian flu, exposed the organ harvesting from live Falun Gong practitioners in concentration camps and labour camps in China. While talking about the crime of organ harvesting from live persons, Professor Li Shao said that, “According to testimony from witnesses, there are at least thirty six secret concentration camps like the one in Sujiatun. This extremely tragic crime began at the end of year 2000, universally and continuously happened in labour camps, prisons, secret concentration camps and hospitals across the country and is still happening today. On the websites for some of China’s hospitals, they claim they can guarantee to find the matching livers and kidneys in a very short time. We all know that, even in the USA where organs donation is well developed, the average waiting time for organ transplant is two to seven years, because it is an extremely small chance to find a matching organ for transplanting. However, a hospital in China, the 3rd Hospital of Zhongshan, is able to find matching livers and kidneys in twenty four hours. ”

A Falun Gong practitioner, Ms Ying Chen, is a survivor from this crime of organ harvesting. She stated her personal experience of being imprisoned in China just because of not giving up the practice of Falun Gong. She said that, “I held a hunger strike to protest against the illegal imprisonment and violence towards me. I was put in handcuffs and dragged to a police vehicle, then I was then taken into a hospital. The police forced me to have a comprehensive physical examination including the inspection of heart, blood, eyes etc. Although the inspection result showed my body being in normal condition, the police insisted to inject some unknown medicine into my body. When the medicine entered into my body, I suddenly felt fierce heart beating and severe pain like a blood vessel cracking; I felt my heart fluttering and suffocation, unusually uncomfortable in my body. After being injected, the left side of my body twitched severely, my nerves felt paralyzed and hurt, after that I lost my memory. Afterwards my family member bailed me out through some relations. When I first saw the brutality of organ harvesting from live Falun Gong practitioners in the hell hole of Sujiantun concentration camp reported on the Internet, my tears could not stop flowing. I recalled what happened to me, most likely they planned to use medicines to destroy my nerve system and then send me to somewhere to harvest my organs. Upon thinking of this, I trembled with fear. ”

Falun Gong practitioners invited to give speeches	Attendants earnestly listening to speeches

Ms Zhizhen Dai, with her six year-old daughter, exposed the CCP’s atrocities using her personal experiences. She said in the speech that, after the CCP banned Falun Gong, my husband was arrested because of his appeal for Falun Gong. The police arrested him from our home in front of me and my little daughter at the beginning of January 2001. He was only thirty-four years old, a strong middle-age person at that time. I had to return to Australia with my daughter in that situation. Who could know that this was the last time I would see my living husband. Two weeks later, I saw the news of my husband being persecuted to death from the Internet. The Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through negotiation with the Chinese government arranged for my husband’s ashes to be brought Australia. Up to now, I still don’t know what kind of treatment he experienced after being arrested by the police. He perhaps died during torture, perhaps died of organ harvesting when still alive. I appeal to the COE and all people here to help us to stop this persecution of Falun Gong.”

Ms Elise Steyaert, the representative from Human Rights without Frontiers International, read out a statement in which NGO Human Rights without Frontiers International appealed to the COE to openly discuss the issue of organ harvesting in China and send an investigation group to China to investigate the truth.

Representative from Human Rights Without Frontiers International