Jul 07, 2006.
OTTAWA – "Based on what we now know, we have come to the regrettable
conclusion that the allegations are true. We believe that there has been and
continues today to be large scale
organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong
practitioners," concludes the much-publicized
report conducted by former
Canadian Secretary of State (Asia Pacific) David Kilgour and international
human rights lawyer David Matas.
The 46-page document, accompanied by 14 appendices, is the
culmination of their two-month investigation into allegations that Falun Gongprisoners of conscience in China are being murdered for their vital
organs—including hearts, kidneys, livers and corneas—which are then sold for
profit.
The report makes 17 recommendations, including that China
immediately put an end to the practice. Other key recommendations include
mobilizing the Canadian government and other parties to conduct their own
investigations, denying or revoking the passports of people traveling to China
for organ transplants, barring Chinese doctors from entering other countries to
seek training in organ transplantation, and urging Chinese authorities to
conduct a criminal investigation for possible prosecution.
"When you read this report, you will be appalled,"
Kilgour said. Kilgour and Matas assessed 18 different elements of proof or
disproof, all of which they say are "verifiable and in most cases
incontestable." When all the evidence is put together, the authors wrote,
"they paint a damning whole picture."
Timeline of Events: July
20, 1999 – Falun Gong is officially banned in China.
December 22, 2000 – Falun
Gong website reports doctors and police officers colluding to extract
organs from Falun Gong practitioners.
2001-2003 – Organ
harvesting camps' peak operating period,
according to sources. March 9, 2006
– "Peter," a Chinese journalist, reveals existence of Sujiatun camp;
all prisoners are Falun Gong practitioners, he says.
March 24, 2006
- "Annie", wife of Sujiatun camp doctor, says that husband harvested
corneas from Falun Gong
practitioners there, and that organs are often
extracted live from victims. March 28,
2006 – The Chinese communist regime issues a statement denying
reports of Sujiatun used as an organ harvesting facility. March 31, 2006 – A retired military official
claims that over 36 labor camps are performing organ harvesting on Falun Gong
and that the largest camp can hold over 120,000 prisoners. He also says that
investigating Sujiatun is fruitless, given the government's ability to
transport large amounts of prisoners by freight overnight. April 12 – The
State-run Xinhua News Agency says that "There were Falun Gong followers in
Sujiatun, but all of them are now receiving rehabilitation
programs in
places outside the district." April
16, 2006 – U.S. State Department releases a statement, saying that
they found "no evidence" of an organ harvesting facility in Sujiatun
in two separate visits. April 20, 2006
– In an effort to call attention to the organ harvesting in China,
Dr. Wenyi Wang protests at the welcome ceremony for Chinese Communist Party
leader Hu Jintao at the White House. May
8, 2006 – Former Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) David Kilgour
and international human rights lawyer David Matas announce launching of report
into organ harvesting in China.
May 21, 2006 – Edward
McMillan-Scott, Vice-President of the European Parliament, meets with two Falun
Gong organ-harvesting witnesses in China.
May 21, 2006 – Cao Dong,
one of the two witnesses, is arrested shortly after the meeting. His current
whereabouts are unknown. July 6, 2006
– Kilgour and Matas publish report, saying that they are now convinced that
Falun Gong organ harvesting claims are true.
The extraordinarily short wait times for organs in China—one
to two weeks for a liver compared with 32.5 months in Canada
(median wait for 2003).
One of the most disturbing pieces of evidencewas his
interview with the ex-wife of a Chinese surgeon. The husband admitted he had
removed corneas from approximately 2,000 Falun Gong prisoners. "No one
gave their corneas without giving their life as well," Kilgour said. Other
surgeons were responsible for removing the vital organs before the bodies were
cremated.
The transcript of a conversation with a doctor at the Nanning
City Minzu Hospital
in Guangxi Autonomous Region on May
22, 2006 reads:
"Why is it easy for them
to get ?” "Because they are an
important institution. They contact the judicial system in the name of the
whole university." "Then they use organs from Falun Gong
practitioners?” "Correct." … "What you used before (organs from
Falun Gong practitioners), were they from detention centre(s) or
prison(s)?" "From prisons." "And it was from healthy Falun
Gong practitioners…?" "Correct. We would choose the good ones because
we assure the quality in our operation."
Matas called the report's revelations "a shocking,
different form of evil," very hard to believe, like the Holocaust and the
attack on the World Trade Centre in New York City.
That Falun Gong has been "extremely dehumanized, vilified, and
marginalized," for the past seven years also makes it more believable,
according to Matas. They are "persecuted both in word and in deed in the foulest
way possible," he said.
The report estimates that in the six-year period from 2000
to 2005 there have been 41,500 organ transplants that have no other explained
source. Kilgour urged concerned Canadians to write to their Members of
Parliament, write letters to the editor, and spread widely copies of the
report, available in both French and English at: http://investigation.redirectme.net/.
More reviews about the The Epoch Times: Kilgour-Matas Report Confirms Organ Harvesting in China / By Cindy Chan