DAVID MATAS
Author / Human Rights Lawyer
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David Matas is an international human rights lawyer, author and researcher based in Winnipeg and currently acts as Senior Honorary Counsel for B’nai Brith Canada. He has served the government of Canada in numerous positions including as member of the Canadian delegation to the United Nations Conference on an International Criminal Court; the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research; and the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe Conferences on Antisemitism and Intolerance. He has also been involved in several different organizations, including the Canadian Helsinki Watch Group, Beyond Borders, Amnesty International, and the Canadian Council for Refugees.
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Mr Matas has received numerous awards and honors, including the Manitoba Bar Association Distinguished Service Award in 2008, the Order of Canada in 2009, the Canadian Bar Association National Citizenship and Immigration Section Achievement Award in 2009, and the International Society for Human Rights Swiss Section Human Rights Prize in 2010.
In 2006, Mr Matas co-authored Bloody Harvest: Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China alongside Hon. David Kilgour. Both Mr Matas and Mr Kilgour were nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for this work.
David Matas is a co-author of the 2016 investigative report An Update to Bloody Harvest and The Slaughter. The report meticulously examines the transplant programs of hundreds of hospitals in China, drawing on media reports, official propaganda, medical journals, hospital websites and a vast amount of deleted websites found in archives.
His other works include Why Did You Do That? The Autobiography of a Human Rights Advocate; Justice Delayed: Nazi War Criminals in Canada with Susan Charendoff; Closing the Doors: The Failure of Refugee Protection with Ilana Simon; No More: The Battle Against Human Rights Violations; Bloody Words: Hate and Free Speech; and Aftershock: Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism.
DAVID KILGOUR
Author / Former Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific
David Kilgour is a former Canadian cabinet minister, Member of Parliament, prosecutor, lawyer, author, columnist and human rights advocate.
First elected to Canada’s House of Commons in 1979, he was re-elected seven times for the south-east region of Edmonton, Alberta. While in Parliament, he served as Deputy Speaker and Chair of the Committees of the Whole House, and in Jean Chretien’s cabinet as Secretary of State for Latin America & Africa (1997-2002) and Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific (2002-2003). Currently, he is co-chair of the NGO Friends of a Democratic Iran, a director of the Ottawa Mission (for homeless men) Foundation, a director of the Helsinki-based NGO First Step Forum, and a Session member of Westminster Presbyterian Church.
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Before entering Parliament, he was a Crown and defence counsel. His prosecution work began as an assistant city prosecutor in Vancouver, later working on tax litigation for the Department of Justice in Ottawa. In 1970-72, he was Crown Attorney for the Dauphin Judicial District in his native Manitoba. From 1972-79, he was a senior agent of the Alberta Attorney General in Edmonton.
His awards include Honorary Doctor of Divinity (Knox College, University of Toronto); Special Award, Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Alberta Provincial Council; Masaryk Award, Czechoslovak Association of Canada; Human Rights Award, B’Nai Brith Canada; Katipuman Award, Council of Edmonton Filipino Associations; Outstanding Service Award, Edmonton Sikh Association; Community Religious Liberty Award, International Religious Liberty Association, Liberty Magazine and the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
In 2006, Mr Kilgour co-authored Bloody Harvest: Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China alongside David Matas. Both Mr Kilgour and Mr Matas were nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for this work.
He is a co-author of the 2016 investigative report An Update to Bloody Harvest and The Slaughter. The report meticulously examines the transplant programs of hundreds of hospitals in China, drawing on media reports, official propaganda, medical journals, hospital websites and a vast amount of deleted websites found in archives.
ETHAN GUTMANN
Author / Investigative Journalist
Ethan Gutmann, a London-based China analyst and human-rights investigator, is the author of Losing the New China (Encounter Books, 2004) and The Slaughter (Prometheus, 2014). He has written for publications such as the Wall Street Journal Asia, The Weekly Standard, National Review, and Investor’s Business Daily, while briefing the United States Congress, the Central Intelligence Agency, the European Parliament, and the United Nations. He has also testified in London, Ottawa, Canberra, Dublin, Edinburgh, Prague, and Jerusalem. A former foreign-policy analyst at the Brookings Institution, Gutmann has appeared on PBS, CNN, BBC, and CNBC and was recently nominated for the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.
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Mr Gutmann’s research into Chinese Internet surveillance, the Laogai System, and the intersection of Western business with Chinese security objectives has received sustained attention for almost 15 years.
His book The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China’s Secret Solution To Its Dissident Problem was released in 2014.
He is a co-author of the 2016 investigative report An Update to Bloody Harvest and The Slaughter. The report meticulously examines the transplant programs of hundreds of hospitals in China, drawing on media reports, official propaganda, medical journals, hospital websites and a vast amount of deleted websites found in archives.