Belgium: Brussels Press Conference Exposes Chinese Communist Party Organ Harvesting Atrocities

On the morning of July 13th 2006, former Canadian Secretary of State for the Asia-Pacific region Mr. David Kilgour held a press conference in Brussels. The press conference was regarding the Chinese Communist regime's barbaric practice of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners in China. He was joined by Vice-President of the European Parliament Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott, Belgium human rights lawyer Mr. George-Henry Beauthier, and a victim of the Chinese persecution Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Chen Ying.

Vice-President of the European Parliament Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott	Former Canadian Secretary of State for the Asia-Pacific region Mr. David Kilgour
Belgium human rights lawyer Mr. George-Henry Beauthier	Victim of the persecution Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Chen Ying (left) and translator

Kilgour: "A large number of people were killed for their organs"

Mr. Kilgour and international human rights lawyer Mr. David Matas investigated for two months and made their findings in a "Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China" on July 6th 2006. They concluded that "there has been and continues today to be large scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners."

In the press conference, Mr. Kilgour reported to the media the results of his investigation. He read out part of the testimonies from the wife of a Chinese surgeon who removed corneas from over 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners. Kilgour also read out some of the transcripts of the telephone conversations that took place between other investigators and Chinese hospitals while investigating.

Kilgour pointed out that according to their calculation of the Chinese pubic records, the sources of organs for 41,500 transplants during the six-year period from 2000 to 2005 remained unexplained and unaccounted for. The persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999 and many Falun Gong practitioners have gone missing during the six-year period. Kilgour said that this could mean that a large number of people were killed for their organs. (For the full report by Matas and Kilgour, please visit: http://investigation.redirectme.net)

McMillan-Scott: "The persecution of Falun Gong must end"

While visiting Beijing in May this year, European Parliament Vice-President Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott met up with two Falun Gong practitioners who had been persecuted by the Chinese authorities. One of the practitioners, Mr. Cao Dong, told McMillan-Scott that he had seen the dead body of one of his fellow practitioners who had been previously taken away by the Chinese authorities and there were holes on the corpse.

McMillan-Scott said that he had been very concerned about the allegations of organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners for the past few months. He praised the efforts of Kilgour and Matas and hoped that the international community can further investigate the allegations. He said that if there is further evidence, the international community must not let China host the 2008 Olympic Games. He also said that the Chinese regime's persecution of Falun Gong must end.

Beauthier: "For the victims, justice must be served"

Renowned Belgium human rights lawyer George-Henry Beauthier said that the rule of law must be applied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the CCP should be made aware that it can't do whatever it wants to the people who oppose it. Beauthier said that he agreed with a British parliamentarian who once said calmly "all of this must stop". Beauthier reminded the participants that we shouldn't put ourselves in a position that in ten years time when people ask us why we didn't act when we were told what was going on. "We have a duty", he said, "We don't need more information as there is already enough. We must act and we have a duty to act - for the victims, justice must be served".

After the press conference, Beauthier told journalists that the regime's harvesting of organs from Falun Gong practitioners is a horrifying act. Not only were Falun Gong practitioners denounced, tortured to death but also their organs sold. He said that this is a crime against humanity and if this happens to a large group of people, it would constitute genocide.

A Chinese Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Chen Ying, now living in France, also talked during the press conference. She told the participants her personal experience of the persecution in China.

Media such as BELGA, De Standard, De Morgan, Metro, La Libre Belgique, De Gazet Van Antwerpen, Het Belang Van Limburg, Het Laatste Nieuws either attended or reported on the press conference. Amnesty International and Human Rights Without Frontiers International were also present at the event.