David Matas: World Association for Medical Law Congress – August 2026
Preventing and remedying complicity in organ transplant abuse abroad
(Text of a poster presentation to the World Association for Medical Law Congress 2026, Antwerp, Belgium, August 5th to 7th)
Click HERE for the full text and footnotes/citations
Excerpt below of the presentation:
Background
Prisoners of conscience have been killed for their organs on an industrial scale throughout China since the early 2000s. Legally, when the abuse began, there were no laws in place or proposed either inside or outside of China directed against the abuse. Laws in foreign countries specifically directed against organ transplant abuse, when the abuse in China began, were territorial in scope.
In the intervening years, there has been a Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs with an extraterritorial component that has sixteen state parties. There are also several jurisdictions not party to the Convention with legislation either enacted or proposed directed against complicity in the abuse outside of the jurisdiction.
In China, several laws have been enacted which on their face prohibit continuation of the Yet, there is no rule of law in China and investigations show that the abuse abuse. continues.
Research Question
How can legal jurisdictions prevent and remedy organ transplant abuse outside their jurisdictions?
Result
Generally, the problem of organ transplant abuse in China and foreign complicity in that abuse persists. The number of countries with laws combatting the abuse are few. Those countries with laws fail to have a comprehensive set encompassing all available forms of prevention and remedy.
Conclusion
The legal efforts to date, though far from comprehensive, point the way to what needs to be done to prevent and remedy foreign complicity in organ transplant abuse in China.
