The Chinese regime has been killing prisoners of conscience for their organs, turning China into a top destination for transplant tourism.
Experts on China’s practice of harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience recently spoke at a summit in Brussels, addressing lawmakers from 28 countries on the urgency of the issue while offering recommendations on what governments can do to tackle the gruesome abuse.
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a global group of hundreds of lawmakers who coordinate their efforts to confront challenges posed by Beijing, held its fifth annual summit in Brussels in November. One of the topics discussed during the summit was how to prevent forced organ harvesting and organ trafficking.
Wayne Jordash, president of Global Rights Compliance, an international law foundation, told the lawmakers at the summit that states have the “legal responsibility” under international human rights law, international criminal law, and public international law to use their executive, legislative, and judiciary powers to “prevent, mitigate, and remedy” forced organ harvesting through national measures and international cooperation.
“Forced organ harvesting is not just a crime—it is a grotesque violation of humanity,” Jordash said, according to a transcript from The International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC).
“States and business should demonstrate their [resolve] through vigilance, hard law and enforcement. Transparency must be mandatory. Prosecution must be non-negotiable. Collaboration must be unyielding.”
With a direct appeal to the lawmakers, Jordash said the issue “is a test of [their] collective moral spine.”
“Will you allow this atrocity to persist in the shadows, or will you shine the light that will burn away impunity?” Jordash said. “The answer must be action. The time to act is now.”
For years, China has been a top destination for transplant tourism because Chinese hospitals offer unusually short waiting times for matching organs. In contrast, in Western countries, the typical waiting time for an organ transplant is months, if not years. China’s transplant volume is made possible because the Chinese regime forcibly harvests organs from prisoners of conscience, according to multiple reports, including from the 2020 China Tribunal.
By Frank Fang
