Calls on China (PRC) to end the practice of organ harvesting from prisoners, and particularly from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups.
Calls for a Department of State investigation into organ transplant practices in China, and for the prosecution of those found to have engaged in such practices.
Demands an end to the persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual practice by the Communist Party of China and the release of all Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience.
Recommends that: (1) the Department issue a travel warning for U.S. citizens traveling to China for organ transplants informing them that the organ source for their operation may be a prisoner of conscience; and (2) the U.S. government condemn organ transplantation abuses in China, ban the entry of those who have participated in such activities, and prosecute such individuals should they be found on U.S. soil.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 281 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 281
Expressing concern over persistent and credible reports of systematic,
state-sanctioned organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of
conscience, in the People's Republic of China, including from large
numbers of Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned for their religious
beliefs, and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 27, 2013
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself and Mr. Andrews) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing concern over persistent and credible reports of systematic,
state-sanctioned organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of
conscience, in the People's Republic of China, including from large
numbers of Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned for their religious
beliefs, and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups.
Whereas when performed in accordance with ethical standards, the medical
discipline of organ transplantation is one of the great achievements of
modern medicine;
Whereas the People's Republic of China performs more than 10,000 organ
transplantations per year, yet as of May 2013 it did not have an
organized or effective public system of organ donation or distribution;
Whereas the organ transplantation system in China does not comply with the World
Health Organization's requirement of transparency and traceability in
organ procurement pathways, and the Government of the People's Republic
of China has resisted independent scrutiny of the system;
Whereas the Department of State Country Report on Human Rights for China for
2011 stated, ``Overseas and domestic media and advocacy groups continued
to report instances of organ harvesting, particularly from Falun Gong
practitioners and Uighurs'';
Whereas due in part to traditional views on the importance of preserving the
body intact after death, China has very low rates of voluntary organ
donations;
Whereas the People's Republic of China implemented regulations in 1984 that
permitted the harvesting of organs from executed prisoners;
Whereas in June 2001, Chinese doctor Wang Guoqi testified before the House of
Representatives International Relations Subcommittee on International
Organizations and Human Rights that hospitals worked in collusion with
state security agencies to extract organs from executed prisoners
without written consent of the organ donors, and that these transplants
were a lucrative source of income;
Whereas former Vice-Minister of Health Huang Jiefu admitted publicly that more
than 90 percent of transplant organs extracted from deceased donors
stemmed from executed prisoners in China;
Whereas voluntary and informed consent is the precondition for ethical organ
donation and international medical organizations state that prisoners,
deprived of their freedom, are not in the position to give free consent
and that the practice of sourcing organs from prisoners is a violation
of ethical guidelines in medicine;
Whereas Falun Gong, a spiritual practice involving meditative ``qigong''
exercises and centered on the values of truthfulness, compassion, and
tolerance, became immensely popular in the 1990s, with multiple
estimates placing the number of practitioners upwards of 70,000,000;
Whereas in July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party launched an intensive,
nationwide persecution designed to eradicate the spiritual practice of
Falun Gong, reflecting the party's long-standing intolerance of large
independent civil society groups;
Whereas since 1999, hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been
detained extra-legally in reeducation-through-labor camps, detention
centers, and prisons, where torture and abuse are routine;
Whereas in many detention facilities and labor camps, Falun Gong prisoners of
conscience comprise the majority of the population, and have been said
to receive the longest sentences and the worst treatment;
Whereas in order to protect their families and associates, many Falun Gong
prisoners of conscience refuse to provide real names or other personally
identifying information to security agencies, thus making them more
vulnerable to abuses;
Whereas the number of organ transplant operations in China increased
significantly after 1999, corresponding with the onset of the
persecution of Falun Gong;
Whereas this increase does not appear to be attributable either to an overall
increase in the number of death row inmates or to an increase in
voluntary donations, and in fact, human rights groups and legal experts
believe there has been a decrease in the number of executions in China
in recent years;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China has failed to
adequately account for the sources of the excess organs;
Whereas Chinese hospitals have advertised wait times of 2 to 4 weeks for kidney
and liver transplants, and documented cases of scheduled heart
transplantations with 3 weeks advanced notice;
Whereas because organs have a very limited survival period outside the body,
such short wait times are best explained by the existence of a large
pool of living donors whose organs can be harvested on demand;
Whereas interviews conducted with previously imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners
suggest that, while in custody, they were targeted for medical exams,
including blood and urine tests, x-rays, ultra-sounds, and selective
physical exams;
Whereas the targeted nature of these exams suggests they are intended to assess
the health of the practitioners' vital organs and their potential
candidacy for organ harvesting;
Whereas other prisoner groups are generally not subjected to such medical tests;
Whereas Canadian researchers David Matas, human rights attorney, and David
Kilgour, former Canadian Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, conducted
an investigation into allegations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong
prisoners of conscience in 2006, based on extensive circumstantial
evidence, their report concluded that the allegations were true and that
tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners may have been killed for
their organs;
Whereas in 2006, doctors from 17 Chinese hospitals admitted in phone calls with
undercover investigators that they used or could obtain vital organs of
Falun Gong prisoners of conscience for transplant, with some of the
doctors implicating local courts and security agencies in the organ
procurement process;
Whereas researcher and journalist Ethan Gutmann estimates that approximately
65,000 Falun Gong adherents may have been killed for their organs from
2000 to 2008, and that a smaller number of other religious and ethnic
minorities may also have been targeted;
Whereas Gutmann published findings that Chinese security agencies began
harvesting organs from members of the predominantly Muslim Uyghur ethnic
minority group in the 1990s, including from Uyghur political prisoners;
Whereas in May 2012, the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of
Falun Gong (WOIPFG) released telephone transcripts and audio recordings
of conversations between undercover investigators and senior Chinese
Communist Party officials, in which several officials indicated that
central authorities were aware of or involved in organ harvesting from
Falun Gong prisoners;
Whereas among those implicated were former Politburo member Bo Xilai and his
deputy, Wang Lijun;
Whereas the United Nations Committee Against Torture and the Special Rapporteur
on Torture have expressed concern over the allegations of organ
harvesting from Falun Gong prisoners, and have called on the Government
of the People's Republic of China to increase accountability and
transparency in the organ transplant system and punish those responsible
for abuses;
Whereas the killing of religious or political prisoners for the purpose of
selling their organs for transplant is an egregious and intolerable
violation of the fundamental right to life;
Whereas the Department of Health in Taiwan urged doctors in Taiwan to discourage
patients from undergoing commercial organ transplants in China; and
Whereas in September 2012, experts testified before the House of Representatives
Foreign Affairs Committee that United States patients continue to travel
to China for organ transplants and that the medical community continues
cooperation and training with Chinese colleagues, creating the risk that
they may be indirectly aiding abusive practices: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) calls on the Government of the People's Republic of
China to immediately end the practice of organ harvesting from
all prisoners, and particularly from Falun Gong prisoners of
conscience and members of other religious and ethnic minority
groups;
(2) calls for a full and transparent investigation by the
United States Department of State into organ transplant
practices in the People's Republic of China, and for the
prosecution of those found to have engaged in such unethical
practices;
(3) demands an immediate end to the 14-year persecution of
the Falun Gong spiritual practice by the Communist Party of
China, and the immediate release of all Falun Gong
practitioners and other prisoners of conscience;
(4) recommends that the United States State Department
issue a travel warning for United States citizens traveling to
China for organ transplants informing them that the organ
source for their operation may be a prisoner of conscience; and
(5) recommends that the United States Government publicly
condemn organ transplantation abuses in China and ban the entry
of those who have participated in illegal removal of human
tissues and organs, prosecuting such individuals should they be
found on United States soil.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.
Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Unanimous Consent .
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Unanimous Consent.
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