FREEDOM UNITED PETITION – Help Us Reach 50,000

Freedom United, the Human Trafficking Foundation and ETAC, are calling for countries around the globe to step up and tackle the often-overlooked crimes of human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal, and organ trafficking.

Help us reach 50,000 by clicking on the link below and signing. Please also share on your social media and encourage others to sign.

PETITION TEXT

To all national legislatures:
Forced organ harvesting and organ trafficking are appalling crimes taking place around the world. I believe every government has a responsibility to take action to combat these horrific human rights abuses.
We are encouraged by legislation passed by seven governments – South Korea, Belgium, Norway, Italy, Taiwan, Spain, and Israel — that address the problem and we fully support new laws being proposed in Canada (Bill S-204) and the UK that would make it a crime to receive organ transplants abroad where informed consent has not been given or where the organ has been recklessly obtained or illegally purchased. (UPDATE: Legislation has now also passed in Canada and the UK)
Organ transplants can save lives, but they must be done ethically and with complete transparency if they are to be free from human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal and organ trafficking.
Forced organ harvesting is known to be linked to organ transplant tourism, driving home the point that all governments must educate their own citizens against receiving transplants abroad where organ trafficking persists and victims include political prisoners, ethnic minorities, and persecuted religious communities.
For these reasons, I urge national legislatures in every country to take up legislation to finally tackle these crimes at the international level.
SIGN THE PETITION HERE

Did you know organs are being forcibly harvested from human beings?

It is shocking, but human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal and organ trafficking persist around the world, with primary victims being political prisoners, ethnic and religious minorities, and other vulnerable people. Organ trafficking hotspots include China, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Brazil, Nepal, the Philippines, Kosovo, Iran, and former Soviet states in eastern Europe.¹

Alarmingly, globally only seven countries have passed legislation to combat these horrific crimes.² Today, we demand more countries follow suit to stop forced organ harvesting and organ trafficking once and for all.

Forced organ harvesting and organ trafficking are interlinked crimes where organs are taken from victims through coercion or without informed consent and sold illegally, often making their way into the organ tourism transplant market. This means unknowing tourists undergoing organ transplants abroad are at-risk of receiving organs linked to organ trafficking and forced organ harvesting.

In many countries, impoverished people are targeted and coerced to sell an organ from which the traffickers make a significant profit. The ‘donor’ is left without medical care and with significant health risks.

In China, minorities rounded up by government crackdowns – political prisoners, ethnic Uyghurs³, and Falun Gong (Buddhist Qi Gong)⁴ practitioners — are known to be victims of forced organ harvesting. An international people’s tribunal in London recently found that some of China’s 1.5 million detainees in prisons camps have been killed for the state-sanctioned organ transplant trade worth over $1 billion.

“Forced organ harvesting has been committed for years throughout China on a significant scale,” said the China Tribunal,⁵ calling the crimes “of unmatched wickedness – on a death for death basis.”⁶

In 2012, China pledged to phase out harvesting organs from prisoners, but the international tribunal, researchers, and human rights activists stress that the practice continues to this day. An academic research analysis of organ donation data in China uncovered “highly compelling evidence [the numbers] are being falsified” and that tracking the sources of organs in the country remains difficult.⁷

Despite the clear evidence of organ trafficking and forced organ harvesting, ‘tourists’ continue to go abroad for organ transplants where the source of the organ cannot be verified. In fact, research suggests that 28% of organ transplants in China go to foreigners.⁸

Head to the below page for updates and to SIGN THE PETITION: