End EU ‘complicity’ in China Organ Abuse, Say Rights Groups
In an open letter to the European Union’s (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, human rights organisations have urged Josep Borrell to ‘protect EU citizens and institutions from complicity’ in China’s state-sanctioned practice of forced organ harvesting.
Click HERE to read the full letter
Initiated by ETAC and supported by more than a dozen global human rights organisations, the joint correspondence was penned in response to the promulgation of new regulations in China concerning organ donation and transplantation.
There was optimism that the ‘Regulation on Donation and Transplantation of Human Organs’, effective on May 1st, would lead to the alignment of China’s domestic laws and practices with international medical and ethical standards.
However, human rights experts have since condemned the new measures as grossly inadequate. According to campaigners, the ‘Regulation lacks necessary transparency measures’ with respect to the sourcing of organs, and ‘fails to incorporate the World Health Organisation (WHO) Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue and Organ Transplantation into its framework.’
This has led to a system that ‘lacks accountability and denies justice to victims of forced organ harvesting.’
In view of credible reports of forced organ harvesting continuing in China, and no evidentiary indication that forced organ harvesting has ceased, signatories to the letter warn that ongoing EU institutional support for entities engaged in organ transplantation and research in China leaves EU institutions and professionals ‘complicit in aiding and abetting forced organ harvesting.’
Given the prospect of EU citizens travelling to China for transplantations using illegally harvested organs with impunity, the letter also calls for the introduction of ‘mandatory reporting of transplant tourism outside the EU by health professionals and institutions to protect EU citizens and institutions from complicity in the abuse abroad.’
In addition to urging Chinese counterparts to introduce greater transparency and access in line with WHO guidelines, the EU’s foreign policy chief was also pressed to hold China to account for ‘historic injustices of forced organ harvesting against persecuted minorities.’
Researchers estimate that since the early 2000s, there have been between 60,000 and 100,000 transplants taking place every year in China.
Falun Gong practitioners, who are killed when the organs are removed, are believed to be the main source of supply. Since 2017, the Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group based in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang, have also been victims of forced organ harvesting.
See below the letter.
For full references, click HERE.
To the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,
Mr. Borrell,
We, the undersigned individuals, and organisations, are writing to express our deep concerns regarding a regulation recently introduced in China about organ donation and transplantation.
On 1st May, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Regulation on Donation and Transplantation of Human Organs came into force. In response to the global concern about the ongoing, state-sanctioned practice of forced organ harvesting in China, and findings that it amounts to crimes against humanity, apologists for the Chinese Communist regime have claimed this regulation reflects transparency and adherence to international standards. However, upon examination of the regulation, we can see that the regulation lacks necessary transparency measures and fails to incorporate the World Health Organisation (WHO) Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue and Organ Transplantation into its framework or flag becoming signatories to the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs.
Despite the regulation prohibiting activity related to, or the trading of organs, there is a glaring lack of provisions for increased transparency and alignment with global standards. By neglecting to address these issues, the Chinese government perpetuates a system that lacks accountability and denies justice to victims of forced organ harvesting.
In light of this, we urge you to:
1. End the EU’s ongoing medical collaborations with China in the field of organ transplantation given continued reports of forced organ harvesting. By persisting in these collaborations, the EU risks being complicit in aiding and abetting forced organ harvesting. A recent Legal Advisory Report and Policy Guidance published by Global Rights Compliance (GRC) outlines the risks and human rights due diligence required.
2. Protect EU citizens and institutions from complicity in aiding and abetting forced organ harvesting, by introducing legislation on mandatory reporting by health professionals for extra-territorial organ transplantations, with subsequent public transparency about transplant tourism volumes outside the EU by country visited. We remain troubled by the absence of mandatory reporting and transparency measures within the EU regarding EU citizens obtaining organs in other countries. Currently, citizens of the bloc could potentially travel to countries like China and obtain illicitly harvested organs and there are no reporting mechanisms to identify this is happening.
We also call on you to advocate for the Chinese Government to:
3. Develop and implement legislation, aligning with the WHO transplantation guidelines and the Declaration of Istanbul (DoI) on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism.
4.Permit international organisations to have access to transplantation and organ donation records, including data from the China Organ Donation Administrative Center.
5. Redress historic injustices of forced organ harvesting against persecuted minorities, whose exploitation has been masked by the lack of transparency and accountability under the current Chinese government’s organ transplantation system.
Whilst China continues to disregard the WHO and DoI protocols, it is antithetical to have Chinese delegates on the associated WHO and DoI advisory groups. It is essential that the EU take immediate action in calling for China to lose its memberships to the WHO Task Force on Donation and Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues and the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Susie Hughes
Executive Director and Co-Founder, The International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC)Marco Respinti
Director, Bitter Winter | A magazine on religious liberty and human rightsRushan Abbas
Founder and Executive Director, Campaign for UyghursCoalition for Genocide Response
Thierry Valle
President, Coordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience (CAP Freedom of Conscience)Professor David Curtis
Dr Torsten Trey
Executive Director, Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH)Jane E. Durgom-Powers
President and Founder, Families of the MissingKabir Qurban
Executive Director, Free Uyghur NowChristine Lin
Managing Director, Friends of Falun Gong USAWilly Fautré
Director, Human Rights Without FrontiersBakhtiar Semseddin
President, International Support for UyghursHena Zuberi
Director, Justice For AllDr Katrina Lantos Swett
President, Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and JusticeMichael Polak
Director, Lawyers for Uyghur RightsDr Sheldon Stone
Advisor, Stop Uyghur Genocide. Trustee, Rene CassinJasna Causevic
Society for Threatened Peoples (STP)Wei Liu
Chairman, UK Falun Dafa AssociationMaira Aisaeva
Chair, UK Uyghur CommunityElfidar Iltebir
President, Uyghur American AssociationLouisa Greve
Director of Global Advocacy, Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP)Joanna Ewart-James
Executive Director, Freedom United
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