Since March 2006, an allegation against the Chinese government has spread widely over the world. The allegation claimed, “Falun Gong practitioners were victims of live organ harvesting in China,” that “living organs were removed from Falun Gong practitioners who died during or after the organ harvesting operations. These operations have constituted murder,” and “bodies of the practitioners killed in these operations were burned, which made it impossible to identify the source of organs.” [1] The allegations were launched by the Falun Gong organization, which was outlawed by the Chinese government in 1999. Up until now, the allegation of “involuntary organ removal from living Falun Gong practitioners” is still one of the key reasons for some countries and organizations to condemn China. These accusations present several questions: Has the Chinese government harvested organs from living Falun Gong followers? Why did Falun Gong supporters fabricate such a sensational rumor? Who is adding fuel to the fire? What do domestic and foreign governments, organizations, scholars and ordinary people think of the rumors? —————————————————————— [1] Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China, by David Kilgour and David Matas, January 31, 2007. I. Source of Rumor about “Live Organ Harvesting” – Sujiatun Concentration Camp Affair
Liaoning Thrombus Treatment Center of Integrated Chinese & Western Medicine (Sujiatun Thrombus Hospital)
The Hospital Entrance
On March 8, 2006, overseas Falun Gong organizations fabricated a sensational rumor, namely the so-called Sujiatun Concentration Camp Affair. According to the organizations, there was a concentration camp enclosed by a three-meter-high barbed wire entanglement in Sujiatun District of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. In the concentration camp more than 6,000 Falun Gong practitioners were detained, two thirds of which died and their bodies had been cremated after their organs had been removed and sold illegally to other regions in China as well as to other countries.
Falun Gong further claimed that a concentration camp was situated in Liaoning Thrombus Treatment Center of Integrated Chinese & Western Medicine (also known as Sujiatun Thrombus Hospital). Falun Gong organizations also published photos of the so-called crematorium.
The so-called crematorium – the exterior of boiler room in the hospital
On March 17, the Falun Gong-controlled Epoch Times introduced one "witness" called Anne on its website. Anne claimed that she was an employee of the Sujiatun hospital and that her ex-husband was once a cerebral surgeon in the hospital. She said since 2001, this hospital has been used to detain a large number of Falun Gong practitioners whose corneas or other organs were taken away and her husband took part in such surgeries. On March 30, the Epoch Times website produced another witness, a "retired military doctor," who claimed that the "concentration camp" in Sujiatun had moved underground after media exposure.[1]
Chinese officials have repeatedly denied and condemned the rumor spread by Falun Gong. Government officials from the US, Canada and New Zealand, non-governmental organizations including Amnesty International and Ukraine-based “Save Family and Individual” as well as foreign media agencies such as CNN, the Associated Press, the Washington Post, Reuters, and Japan’s Asahi Shimbun came to Sujiatun for field visits.
On March 22, Douglas Kelly, visa officer of the US Consulate General in Shenyang, made a thorough visit of the Sujiatun thrombus hospital, and expressed appreciation for the hospital's environment and medical conditions. [2]On April 4, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuted the rumor fabricated by the Falun Gong in an interview with the AP journalists. [3]On April 12, governmental officials from Sujiatun District and Liaoning Thrombus Treatment Center of Integrated Chinese & Western Medicine jointly held a press conference in the State Council Information Office, condemning Falun Gong organizations for the rumors. [4]On April 14, Consul General David Kombluth of the US Consulate General in Shenyang, US Embassy official Eric Richardson, Health Attaché Dr. Craig Shapiro and two others paid a thorough three-and-a-half-hour visit to the hospital. On the same day, the US Department of State released its report on the two investigations by the US Embassy in Beijing and the US Consulate General in Shenyang, stating that they "found no evidence that the site is being used for any function other than as a normal public hospital."[5]
Interior of the boiler room in the hospital and the exterior of coal container
As a matter of fact, the lie spread by Falun Gong and the evidence provided by the so-called “witness” were full of loopholes. "Witness" Anne claimed that the hospital performed vivisection on the practitioners and was involved in illegal organ transplant. In fact, the hospital is next to a busy street with snarling traffic and, as a second-tiered hospital by Chinese classification, is not capable of "removing human organs" in terms of its medical expertise, equipment or doctor's authorization. The hospital has a little more than 300 beds and can in no way house over 6,000 people. The so-called crematory is just a boiler in the hospital. "Witness" Anne claimed that the hospital sold organs of Falun Gong practitioners to Thailand and other places. Yet she failed to give any evidence or clues. As far as we know, organ donation between non-relatives is forbidden in Thailand, let alone organ import or sales. "Witness" Anne claimed that her ex-husband was a cerebral surgeon in the hospital, and that he began to perform cornea removal surgery in 2001. How could a cerebral surgeon perform a cornea removal surgery?
Infusion Room in the Hospital
Even Harry Wu, a Chinese dissident who was known as an expert in China’s reform-through-labor policy, could bear no more of the absurd lie. After arranging for people inside China to visit the Sujiatun scene, Wu wrote to US Congress Representatives and media people on March 22, 2006, denying the authenticity of the “Sujiatun Concentration Camp Affair”. On July 18, 2006, Harry Wu published the article entitled My Knowledge and Experience with the Falun Gong Media Reporting the Sujiatun Concentration Camp Problem, casting doubts on Falun Gong’s story about Sujiatun Concentration Camp Affair.
[1] Big Events in Exposure of CCP’s Crime of Live Organ Harvesting, The Epoch Times, December 3, 2012
[2] Davids' Report Reexamined, by Social Watch, Phoenix TV, June 28, 2007
[3] Response of MAF to Questions about Anti-Japan Protest and Rumors Spread by Falun Gong. Sina, April 4, 2006
[4] Sujiatun Hospital Refuted Falun Gong’s Allegation, China New Service, May 9, 2006
[5] US Department of State: Opinions on China’s Falun Gong issues, IIP, April 16, 2006
II. Vehicles of Rumor about “Live Organ Harvesting” – Kilgour-Metas Reports
When the rumor about the “Sujiatun Concentration Camp” was exposed, Falun Gong claimed that removing organs from living Falun Gong practitioners also existed in China’s other regions, trying to distract the attention of international communities.
On July 6, 2006, as requested by Falun Gong organizations, David Kilgour, who once served as Canadian Secretary of State for the Asia-Pacific region, and a human rights lawyer David Matas released the Report into Allegation of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China, claiming that China illegally removed living organs from a large number of Falun Gong practitioners. On January 31, 2007, the revised version of the report was released. On November 16, 2009, the third edition of the report, namely the 260-page book entitled Bloody Harvest was published. The fourth edition of report was released in 2012.
Since 2006, the two Davids have spared no effort to sell their reports worldwide. During the years from 2007 to 2009, they have been to 44 countries in Europe, Asia, America and Australia.[1]
David Kilgour (left) and David Matas (right)
Professor Shi Bingyi, the executive deputy director of Organ Transplantation Sub-branch of the Chinese Medical Association, is the only expert who was clearly named as a witness in the Kilgour-Matas report. Prof. Shi was quoted in the first Kilgour-Matas report as saying, “During the years from 2000 to 2005, a period that they called after the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, 60,000 organ transplanting operations had been done.” But Prof. Shi was angry with the fictitious quotation and doubted motives of the fabrication. He expressly clarified in a BBC interview in early January 2007, “On no occasion had I made such a statement or given figures of this kinds. These allegations and the related figures are pure fabrication. I do not know why the writers made such fabrications.” What is worth mentioning, despite the statement made by Prof. Shi Bingyi, the two Davids continued to use the quotation in the second and third editions of their report.
The two Davids' evidence could be classified into two categories: first, the testimony of witnesses obtained through so-called “telephone interviews”, and the telephone records. But the report did not provide the specific name, title, address and contact information of any witness, or the information about when, where and how the testimony were obtained or the eyewitnesses. The report did not provide the procedures or regulations on which the telephone surveys had been based. Moreover, the authenticity and objectivity of the telephone records are questionable. Second, materials downloaded from the Internet or obtained in other unidentifiable ways. Besides, people with common sense can easily foind out some materials used in the Davids’ report were lies, for instance, the information provided by Anne about the cornea removal operation done by her ex-husband, a cerebral surgeon.
[1] Writers of the Bloody Harvest Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize, the Epoch Times, February 7, 2010.
III. Content of Rumor about “Live Organ Harvesting”
Falun Gong and its affiliated organizations have been publicizing the rumor about the Sujiatun Concentration Camp Affair, the Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners, and the book Bloody Harvest. What did they say in their rumors? How did they fabricate and spread the rumors?
1. Rumors about “Live Organ Harvesting”●Two Davids Conducted “Independent” Investigation
David Kilgour and David Matas said in their investigative report that they conducted “independent” investigation, without involving the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG), Falun Dafa Society, or any other organizations or government.
On February 5, 2013, in a hearing held in Parliament Building in Ottawa, Wayne Marson, vice president of International Human Rights Committee, which is affiliated to the Canadian Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, asked how the two witnesses funded their large amount of work and trips. Kilgour answered, “We are complete volunteers. We did not get paid at all.” But later he claimed, “Our travel expenses varied each time. In a typical case, I am invited by somebody, who may be a Falun Gong practitioner. My expense may be covered by this person or his/her friends, but not by an agency.”[1]
●China Removed Organs from Falun Gong Practitioners and Sold to Foreign Tourists
The witness “Anne” alleged that “the CCP are stealing organs from Falun Gong members to export to Thailand and other countries”. The report also mentioned, “None of government has issued travel advisories warning that organ transplants in China are sourced ‘almost entirely’ from prisoners.”
As far as we know, organ donation between non-relatives is forbidden in Thailand, let alone organ import or sales. Harry Wu wrote in My knowledge and Experience with the Falun Gong Media Reporting on the Sujiatun Concentration Camp Problem, “Even though it is possible for sick people in Thailand and other countries to go to China to get organ transplants, there has to be some data. To export the organs would be impossible both technically as well as being prohibited by other nations’ laws and conditions. I have been to Thailand many times to investigate the situation of Thai nationals going to China to receive organ transplants, the attitudes of the Thai officials and medical professionals and the relevant regulations. Thai patients who have received organ transplants and the Thai Royal Medical Society chairman had been invited by me to testify at the US Congress. (Congressional records are available for reference)”.
●Cerebral Surgeon Performed Cornea Removal Surgery
Witness “Anne” said that her husband, a neurosurgeon, had cut the cornea of almost 2, 000 Falun Gong practitioners within two years prior to October 2003. The place they claim these operations were carried out is the Sujiatun hospital, in the city of Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China.[2]
In fact, ophthalmology is totally different from neurosurgery. Neurosurgeons are responsible for operations on the spinal cord and brain, while the eye surgeons deal with operations on eyes. Both kinds of operations are professionally and technically demanding, and should be strictly separated. Besides, it is still questionable why this neurosurgeon or eye surgeon served at a special hospital curing thrombosis?
●Ring Box Dropped from Patient’s Pocket in Organ Harvesting Operation
“Anne” said, “When the patient is losing consciousness, my husband began to cut open the patient’s clothes with scissors. At that time, a packet dropped from the patient’s pocket. My husband opened the packet and saw a ring box in it.”
Patients on operating tables are not allowed to wear tops. If a patient has passed out, his/her tops are supposed to be taken off by nurses in the examination room, rather than by doctors in the operating room. Then where did the packet come from? Since any articles irrelevant to operation are forbidden in the operating room, nothing could drop from even the doctors’ pockets.
●Cremators Collected Jewels from the Dead
“Anne” claimed, “Cremators were very poor before they began to work there. But after a period of work, they collected a number of watches, rings and necklaces from the bodies of the Falun Gong practitioners before the bodies were cremated.”
Both patients and doctors are required to take off all of their belongings, including the earrings, rings, watches, and even the artificial teeth before the operation. Technically, only the medical people other than the cremators have the chance to steal jewels from the patients.
●Unknown Organ Supply for Human Organ Transplanting Operations
David Kilgour and David Matas noted in their investigative report that 300 out of the 3, 006 dead people had their organs removed based on the ground that relatives of the dead did not see the bodies or there was no way to prove that the relatives have seen the bodies. Witness “Anne” claimed that over 2, 000 people died from live organ harvesting operation in the Sujiatun concentration camp from the year 2001 to 2003. She also said that the number reached 4, 000 according to the secret statistics of her doctor friend. Another anonymous witness, a retired military surgeon, said that Sujiatun was only one of the 36 concentration camps in China. Kilgour and Matas verified through telephone interviews that there were such concentration camps in another 15 cities. They noted in their reports revised in 2007 that the sources of 41,500 organ transplants in China were still unknown. They speculated that the organs were removed from the tortured Falun Gong practitioners.
The problem is: there is too much difference between the numbers 300, 2000, 4000 or 41,500.
●Tens of Cases and Over 600 cases
A surgeon in the Oriental Organ Transplant Center (Tianjin First Central Hospital) said on March 15, 2006 in an interview that they had done more than ten kidney transplant operations in that year, without mentioning Falun Gong practitioners. But the Kilgour-Matas report quoted what the surgeon said as testimony. The Davids wrote in their report, revised in 2007. that out of the total 10,000 kidney transplanting operations that had been done in China in 2005, 647 operations had been done in the Oriental Organ Transplant Center, which is not the least. Since the telephone interview was made on March 15, 2006, “that year” actually meant the first three and half months of 2006, in which only over ten kidney transplanting operations had been done. The number calculated in 2006 is far below the number in 2005.
●Autopsy Equals to Vivisection
In two Davids’ investigative report released in 2006, Appendix 20 Case 1, an autopsy photo of Mr. Wang Bin had been misrepresented as evidence of vivisection and organ harvesting.
The photo was reviewed by Dr. Friedlander of Kansas City University School of Medicine, Pathology Dept. Dr. Friedlander said the photo exhibited ‘Y’ incisions in the neck and baseball stitch sutures, which are typical of autopsy. He added that organ removal by medical examiners during autopsy is routine.[3]
In their report updated in 2007, two Davids tried to refute it by claiming that Wang Bin died of fatal wounds after being tortured and so it was unreasonable to determine the cause of his death via autopsy.
●Tumor Surgeon Performed Kidney Transplanting Operation
On June 1, 2007, the Epoch Times spread rumors again. It said that Mr. King, who was applying for Korean nationality, disclosed that a surgeon named Yu Haishan of Sujiatun hospital had specialized in organ transplanting operations on Falun Gong practitioners.
Yu Sanjiang is the only doctor whose surname was Yu in Sujiatun hospital. He is a surgeon of tumors, not capable of performing kidney transplant operations.[4]
●Telephone Records Had Been Altered
The two Davids’ report especially mentioned in detail the interview of Doctor Lu who worked in Guangxi Nationality Hospital. It is said that the doctor had admitted he once went to a prison to pick out healthy Falun Gong practitioners around 30 years-old to provide organs.
In fact, the hospital is not capable of performing organ transplanting or removal operation. Doctor Lu is a physician-in-charge in the Urological Department. Doctor Lu said, “The content of the record was not what I said at that time, and a lot of things had been altered. There were two obvious flaws. First, the report said that when I was asked if I had fetched the organs of Falun Gong practitioners from prisons or detention houses, my answer was yes. But it was not my answer at all. I actually answered that neither our hospital nor I could transplant organs, so there was no need for us to fetch organs at all. Second, the report said that when the woman asked me if I had to pick up organs in prison by myself, I said yes. But the fact was no such a question had been asked. It was all faked.”[5]
……
2. How does Falun Gong Spread Rumors
It should be noted that the above-mentioned rumor of “live organ harvesting” has been updated by Falun Gong organizations by making deletion, revision, supplement or replacement. The investigative report published in 2006 has been deleted and is almost unavailable on the Internet now. Falun Gong often took the following methods to spread rumors.
●Faking Chinese news into Rumors and Propogating Everywhere
Falun Gong organizations are keeping close eyes on the online public opinion in China. They are good at turning unexpected incidents into breaking news or exclusive reports in favor of themselves, and then spread the news or reports to China via various channels.
On February 6, 2012, Wang Lijun, the former police chief of Chongqing, went to the U.S. consulate in Chengdu and stayed there the whole day. Then Falun Gong organizations fabricated a rumor saying that Wang Lijun provided information about removing living organs from Falun Gong practitioners. On July 25, 2012, the US Assistant Secretary Michael H. Posner refuted the assumptive misleading offered by journalists of the Epoch Times on the Briefing on the 17th US-China Human Rights Dialogue [6]
●Taking Different Publicizing Methods in China and Other Countries
To avoid doubts from foreign readers, Falun Gong organizations have deleted or altered the sensitive content not in favor of them in English versions. On May 1, 2006, the Epoch Times claimed in the article titled Military Surgeon Disclosed Official Procedures Communists Stealing and Selling Organs of Falun Gong Practitioners in its Chinese version, “China has established special overseas agencies to handle the bodies whose organs have been harvested alive. Many of China’s embassies get involved…In 2005, about 1, 000 bodies were exported.” But these sensational but questionable parts of the report were deleted in the English version. Soon after Roland Soong, a famous translator, pointed out the deletion in his article entitled Dissceting an Unfair and Unbalanced Report, the Epoch Times deleted the English version of the report.[7]
●Altering Investigation Evidences
On May 23, 2008, the Epoch Times website published the breaking news entitled Chinese Consul General Admitted Plotting Besiege in Flushing, attached with a so-called audio document of a telephone interview with Ambassador Peng Keyu. Two days later, Huang Keqiang, president of the Federation of Chinese Associations of East America, published an article on Hong Kong-based newspaper Takungpao, analyzing the audio document as a senior interpreter with 20 years of experience, and concluded that the telephone record released by the Epoch Times was faked. [8]
Then what about the credibility of the large number of telephone records used as key evidence in two Davids’ report? On January 27, 2009, the Radio-Canada website released an investigative report by Julie Miville-Dechêne into the feature report entitled "Malaise dans le Chinatown". According to Julie Miville-Dechêne, in an unaired portion of the interview, Amnesty International spokesperson Anne Sainte- Marie even said that some telephone interviews with Chinese hospitals had been edited in advance by Falun Gong organizations.
[1] Exposure of CCP’s Atrocities of Live Organ Harvesting, Q&A in Canadian Parliament Hearing, Minghui.org, March 8, 2013
[2] Revised Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China, January 31, 2007
[3] Is Falun Gong Going Wrong? Rambodoc, Wordpress.com
[4] Davids' Report Reexamined, by Social Watch, Phoenix TV, June 28, 2007
[5] Davids' Report Reexamined, by Social Watch, Phoenix TV, June 28, 2007
[6] Briefings on Sino-US 17th Annual Human Rights Dialogue, the US Department of State, July 25, 2012
[7] Analyzing an Unfair and Unbalanced Report, Roland Soong, Zonaeuropa.com, May 9, 2006
[8] Falun Gong Faked Telephone Record, Huang Keqiang, Hong Kong-based Takungpao, May 25, 2008
IV. Who Are Spreading Rumor of Live Organ Harvesting?
All of the rumors fabricated by Falun Gong organizations were exposed finally. The rumor about live organ harvesting is the most influential and energetic one that Falun Gong organizations have ever fabricated. It is clear that there is an organized and systematic team working behind the scenes, sparing no effort to create and spread the rumor.
1. Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) - Rumor Maker
David Kilgour (Left on the upper row) and heads of the four branches: Rabbi Dr. Reaven Bulks, President of East Canada Kidney Foundation Organ Donation Committee(middle on the upper row), Lai Ching-Te, a Taiwan legislator (right on the upper row), Baroness Caroline Cox, a UK parliament member, and Andrew Barlette, an Australian Parliament member.[1]
Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) was established in Washington DC on April 4, 2006 by the Falun Dafa Association and Minghui.org. It has been playing a key role in the “live organ harvesting” affair. Falun Gong claimed that CIPFG, with branches in Australia-New Zealand, Asia, Europe and North America, consists of over 300 people from overseas political, legal, medical and non-governmental circles.[2] On May 24, 2006, CIPFG authorized the two Davids to conduct independent survey into China’s harvesting organs from Falun Gong practitioners alive, and published the investigative report in two months.[3]
Regardless of the repeated warnings from Greek government, CIPFG organized the so-called Human Rights Torch Relay in Athens on August 9, 2007.
2. Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH)- Rumor Spreader
Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH) has beenwas also playing an important role in spreading the rumor “live organ harvesting”. Established in Washington DC in 2006, DAFOH claims to be an international independent agency aimed at providing objective evidence of immoral and illegal organ harvesting by medical and social staff. [4]There are ten members in the organization, and Torsten Trey is the executive director. There is also a consultative committee made up of 12 professionals, with Theresa Chu serving as legal consultant for Asia area. Its official website Dafoh.org was set up on August 3, 2007. DAFOH published the book entitled State Organs - Transplant Abuse in China. The book was jointly written by Torsten Trey and David Metas, a writer of Bloody Harvest.
On April 5, 2008, DAFOH made its debut in a news report released by the Falun Gong-controlled Epoch Times. [5]After its three presences in 2008, it went into silence. In October 2011, it returned and began to spread the rumor about “live organ harvesting”. DAFOH members drummed up support for the rumor as doctors and professionals in other fields. In June 2013, DAFOH launched a global campaign, soliciting signatures on a petition to ask “China to immediately stop harvesting organ from living Falun Gong practitioners”. On November 28, DAFOH held a seminar in Hong Kong Legislative Council building.
3. Two Canadians David Kilgour and David Matas – Rumor Advocator
David Kilgour, born on February 18, 1941, is former member of Canadian Parliament and former Secretary of State for the Asia-Pacific region. In 2005, when sitting as an independent MP, he threatened to withdraw support for then-prime minister Paul Martin's government if Canada did not do more to help the people of Darfur, in the Sudan.[6]
David Matas, born on August 29, 1943, is a human right lawyer living in Winnipeg. He has represented Lai Changxing in his extradition proceedings.
The two Davids once called for governments and athletes to resist 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
It should be noticed that the two Davids have never been to mainland China, but they worked out the investigative report within two months, alleging China for live organ harvesting. In addition, they propagated the rumor “live organ harvesting” in the name of writers, spokespeople and members of various non-governmental organizations and human right organizations. During the years from 2007 to 2009, they had been to “44 countries in Europe, Asia, North America and Australia”. [7]They admitted, “The trip expenses varied each tie. In a typical case, I am invited by somebody, who may be a Falun Gong practitioner.” [8]
4. Falun Gong-Controlled Media Network – Platform for Rumor Spreading
Falun Gong-controlled media network includes newspaper, radio, television station, film studio and websites. By establishing an extensive media network, Falun Gong tried to conceal its “cult” identity and to take root in western countries. Falun Gong-controlled media agencies are classified into two categories respectively targeting at its members and ordinary people. The Dafa media which target its members such as Minghui.org is responsible for delivering directions of its leader Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong headquarters and for providing cultivation guidance; the media targeting ordinary people including the Epoch Times, NTDTV, Apollo network, Renminbao, Sound of Hope Radio Network and Shenzhou Film Studio is responsible for anti-China propaganda.
The Falun Gong-controlled media targeting at ordinary people was playing a key role in spreading rumor about “live organ harvesting”. According to search data given by Google on August 6, 2014, the Epoch Times, the NTDTV and the Apollo network respectively published 530,000, 520, 000 and 170,000 articles on live organ harvesting. These media agencies neglected the facts and spread the rumor in various ways, trying to turn the lie into a truth through repetition.
5. Witnesses “Anne” and “Peter” – Source of Rumor
On April 21, 2006, Anne (left) and Peter (right) bribed by Falun Gong
Peter is the first anonymous witness of Falun Gong’s rumor about “live organ harvesting”. He claimed that he used to be a spy of China and later became a “media veteran conducting interviews in Mainland China”. In fact, Peter, formerly John Cater, is a Chinese-American born in 1962. As an unemployed person, he had worked in the church in San Francisco but got fired because of burglary. He was bribed by Falun Gong to become the witness of “Sujiatun Concentration Camp Affair”.
The other key witness “Anne” claimed that her husband had worked in the “Sujiatun Concentration Camp” for five years. Her testimony appeared in the Kilgour-Matas report. As a matter of fact, previously known as Anna Louise, Anne is a 58-year-old Canadian woman who was a dancing girl in the bar when she was young and lived in the neighborhood of new Asia square, Ottawa, Canada. She was bribed by Falun Gong to spread rumors. [9]
Besides, some organizations and so-called human right activists in Europe, America and Asia joined to spread the rumor about “live organ harvesting”. For instance, the International Organ Donation Care Association of Taiwan was established in Taipei on November 5, 2006 to push the spread of rumor about “live organ harvesting”. [10]
[1] CIPFG Wrote to Hu and Wen, Listing Timetable for Stopping Persecution. Minghui.org, June 11, 2007
[2] Human Rights Torch Ignited to Stop Persecution, Minghui.org, August 10, 2007
[3] Big Events in Exposure of CCP’s Crime of Live Organ Harvesting, The Epoch Times, December 3, 2012
[4] French Parliament Held Organ Transplantation Seminar, Doctors Expose China’s Live Organ Harvesting, the Epoch Times, November 28, 2013
[5] International Human Rights Association: Do not Want Olympic Games without Human Rights, The Epoch Times, April 7, 2008
[6] Doubts Cast on Organ Harvest Claims, Ottawa Citizens, Glen McGregor, August 9, 2007
[7] Writers of Bloody Harvest Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize, Apollo network, February 9, 2010
[8] Exposing CCP’s Crime of Live Organ Harvest, Witness Answered Questions in Canadian Parliament Hearing, Minghui.org. March 8, 2013
[9] Falun Gong’s Allegation of Live Organ Harvesting Is Awkward Swindle, South Korea Falun Gong Countermeasure Committee, August 2013
[10] International Organ Donation Care Association of Taiwan Established, NTDTV, November 6, 2006
V. Truth and Facts behind Rumor about “Live Organ Harvesting”1. Status Quo of Organ Transplantation in China
On May 1, 2007, China’s Regulations on Human Organ Transplantation took effect. In the following six years, over 30 documents have been issued to promote the development of organ transplantation. There are three main sources of organs in China, live organs of relatives, organs voluntarily donated by dead citizens and organs donated by death prisoners. In recent years, while live organ donation from relatives violates the principle of “harmlessness” and the number of organs from executed prisoners was declining, most of organs used for transplants came from voluntary donation by dead citizens.
Although China is the second largest organ transplant country in the world, organ supply is far less than demand. Only 8,000 people received organ transplant operation each year, comparing with the total 300, 000 cases of organ failures.
In order to prevent organ acquisition from becoming trade, China began to set up an organ donation management system involving third-party organizations in 2010 in accordance with the international practice. China issued the Human Organ Distribution and Sharing Principles and Core Policies on Liver and Kidney Transplantation. Based on the policy requirements, China developed a human organ distribution and sharing system. The non-profit third-party organization is China Human Organ Donation Management Center. The former Ministry of Health entrusts the Red Cross Society of China to be responsible for the work.
In July 2012, China’s Human Organ Donation Management Center was officially established. As an affiliate to the Red Cross Society of China, the Center is responsible for work related to organ donation, including mobilization, registration, donation witness, fair distribution, aid incentive, reminiscing and information platform building.
Up to August 2013, local human organ donation management centers and offices have been established in 25 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). These centers and offices organized teams of coordinators, collecting information about potential organ donors and reporting to local centers or offices. Meanwhile, the National Health and Family Planning Commission published a list of 165 hospitals authorized to conduct human organ transplant programs including Peking Union Medical College Hospital and China-Japan Friendship Hospital.
In September 2013, the Human Organ Distribution and Sharing System went into operation. In order to ensure the scientific, open and fair distribution of organs and to ensure openness, transparency and traceability of organ donation and transplantation, the National Health and Family Planning Commission issued the Provisional Regulations on Human Organ Acquisition and Distribution Management, requiring the 165 authorized hospitals to automatically distribute organs on the human organ distribution and sharing system. [1]
During the period from the launch of pilot donation programs in 2010 to the end of October 2013, a total of 1, 161 citizens voluntarily donated 3,175 organs after their death. [2]
2. China Response
Since Fulun Gong fabricated the rumor about Sujiatun Concentration Camp Affair, Chinese government solemnly refuted Falun Gong’s allegation of “live organ harvesting” on several occasions in various ways.
On March 28, 2006, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Qin Gang refuted the allegation of Sujiatun, and invited media agencies and people from home and abroad to Sujiatun to make field visit. He said, “Sujiatun Concentration Camp Affair is…a lie, a total fabrication aimed at vilifying China’s legal system and deceiving media.” [3]
On April 4, 2006, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao refuted Falun Gong’s allegation of persecution in an interview with AP journalists. He emphasized, “Falun Gong organizations have been spreading the rumor for a long time. If you carefully analyze the rumor, you will find out it is very ridiculous and groundless. I hope relevant countries and people come to realize Falun Gong’s motives. Falun Gong is a cult outlawed by Chinese government. But Falun Gong supporters are trying to jeopardize China’s stability and the relationships between China and other countries. They even tried to continue disturbing the normal life of Chinese people and harming the physical health of Chinese people.”[4]
On April 12, 2006, the State Council Information Office held a press conference, exposing the rumor about “concentration camp detaining 6,000 people”
On April 12, 2006, China’s State Council Information Office held a press conference, which attracted the attendance of eleven mainstream media agencies from home and abroad, including the AP, CNN, the Washington Post, Reuters, Asahi Shimbun, Singapore United Morning Post, Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, Xinhua News Agency, China News Service, China Daily and China Radio International. In the conference, the officials from Sujiatun District, Shenyang City and leaders of Liaoning Thrombus Treatment Center of Integrated Chinese & Western Medicine refuted Falun Gong’s rumor. Zheng Bin, vice head of Sujiatun District, and Zhang Yuqin, vice president of the Sujiatun hospital, introduced the information about Sujiatun and the hospital. According to Zhang Yuqin, Liaoning Thrombus Treatment Center of Integrated Chinese & Western Medicine is a special hospital curing cerebral thrombus. There are merely 300 beds for patients in this hospital. So it is impossible for the hospital to accommodate 6, 000 people. There isn’t the so-called basement or crematorium in the hospital. The hospital is neither capable of nor qualified for doing any organ transplanting operations. The allegations of “concentration camp” and “organ transplantation” were sheer nonsense. [5]
On March 31, 2006, NHK journalists made field visit to Sujiatun hospital
On December 12, 2013, the European Parliament voted on a resolution against forced organ harvesting in China. Responding to the resolution, Jiang Xiaoyan, spokeswoman for Chinese mission to the European Union, said the so-called "organ harvesting" is a fabrication of the Falun Gong cult. According to Jiang Xiaoyan, not a single Falun Gong practitioner has been subject to forced organ transplantations. On the contrary, Falun Gong's deceptive and harmful teachings and the spiritual control of its practitioners have led to a large number of self-mutilation and suicide. Jiang said Falun Gong is a cult in every sense and an anti-China political organization. "The European side should not be misled by its lies nor provide platform for its deceptive tricks," the spokesperson said. [6]
[1] News Background: Status Quo of China’s Human Organ Transplantation, Xinhuanet.com, August 9, 2013
[2] 2013 China Human Organ Transplantation Conference Held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government, November 3, 2013
[3] China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang Denied Allegation of Removing Organs from Executed Prisoners for Transplantation, Radio Free Asia, March 29, 2006
[4] Foreign Ministry Answers Questions about Anti-Japan Protest and Falun Gong’s Allegation, Sina.com, April 4, 2006
[5] Sujiatun Hospital Refuted Falun Gong’s Allegation, Chinanews.com, May 9, 2006
[6] Spokesperson for Mission to EU: Falun Gong Is Anti-China Organization, CRI online, December 12, 2013
VI. International Response
Although some governmental organizations and political leaders supported Falun Gong’s allegation of “live organ harvesting”, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, non-governmental organizations on human rights and other countries and people who are concerned with China’s human right found out the truth and facts through field visits and reasonable analysis. Up to now, most of the governments, political leaders, human right groups, scholars and media did not consent what the two Davids said in their report. Those who paid field visits to Sujiatun refuted the rumor.
1. Foreign Governments and Political Leaders●US Department of State: Found No Evidence That the Site Is Being Used for Any Function Other Than as a Normal Public Hospital
In March 2006, the US diplomats visited the hospital
On March 22, Douglas Kelly, visa officer of US Consulate General in Shenyang, made a thorough visit to the Sujiatun thrombus hospital, and expressed appreciation for the hospital's environment and medical condition. [1]
On April 14, Consul General David Kombluth of US Consulate General in Shenyang, US Embassy official Eric Richardson, Health Attaché Dr. Graig Shapiro and two others paid a thorough three-and-a-half-hour visit to the hospital. On the same day, US Department of State released its report on the two investigations by US Embassy in Beijing and US Consulate General in Shenyang, stating that they "found no evidence that the site is being used for any function other than as a normal public hospital."[2]
Sean McCormack, Spokesman for US Department of State
On April 16, the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) released the Opinion of the US Department of State on China’s Falun Gong Issue, claiming, “U.S. representatives have found no evidence to support allegations that a site in northeast China has been used as a concentration camp to jail Falun Gong practitioners and harvest their organs, according to the U.S. Department of State,” and “Officers and staff from the U.S. embassy in Beijing and the U.S. consulate in Shenyang have visited the area and the specific site on two separate occasion. In these visits the officers were allowed to tour the entire facility and grounds and found no evidence that the site is being used for any function other than as a normal public hospital.”[3]
●Canadian Government: Most of the Source Material Comes from “Anecdotal and Circumstantial Evidence”
An internal document from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) issued in December 2010 shows the federal government was totally far from convinced by the Kilgour-Matas report. The unofficial assessment, prepared to brief DFAIT officials, dismantled the report's methodology and conclusions. The federal assessment contends, "The sources cited in this investigation as evidence to support the allegations are almost exclusively Falun Gong practitioners," and many of them provided second-or third-hand information. Neither Kilgour nor Matas was allowed to travel to China to research their report and most of the source material comes from "anecdotal and circumstantial evidence available primarily in Canada," the assessment says. [4]
●Australian Government: We have Not Seen Evidence That Proves That These Allegations Are True
Peter Baxter
On May 28, 2007, the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Standing Committee under the Parliament of Australia held a hearing on foreign affairs and trade. In this hearing, Peter Baxter, head of Australian Foreign Affairs and Trade Department’s North Asia said, “On the issue of allegations that organs were harvested from Falun Gong practitioners, it is the government’s position that we have not seen evidence that proves that these allegations are true. …None of the major international human rights groups have made a judgment that the accusations have been proven as yet. We studied the report very carefully and met with Mr. Kilgour when he was in Australia. As I said, we do not believe that the evidence provided in that report proved the allegations.” Rod Smith, a consul and head of the Division of Public Diplomatic and Parliament Affairs said, “The issue of receipt of organ transplants has not to our knowledge been a problem with Australians travelling to China.”[5]
●New Zealand Parliament: No Evidence Verifying the Falun Gong Claims on Organ Harvesting
Two Canadians David Kilgour and David Matas published their Report into Allegation of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China in 2006. As a response, the New Zealand government conducted investigations and came to a conclusion. But Falun Gong took every method to organize lobby, signature and petition.
On November 21, 2013, the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Committee submitted a report to the Parliament of New Zealand, claiming, “The committee has considered the petition of the Falun Gong Association Incorporated, requesting that the House make it illegal for New Zealand citizens and permanent residents to receive an organ overseas that has been trafficked or illegally harvested. Neither committee members nor the Government are aware of any independent evidence verifying the Falun Gong claims on organ harvesting. This conclusion is based on both New Zealand and foreign inquiries. ” [6]
●Head of the German-Chinese Parliamentary Group Johannes Pflug: Rumor about Live Organ Harvesting Were Spread by Falun Gong
Johannes Pflug, the head of the German-Chinese Parliamentary Group
Johannes Pflug is a member of social democratic party and a member of Committee for Foreign Affairs under German Federal Parliament. His policy researches focus on Asian countries. Since 2005, he had been the head of the German-Chinese Parliamentary Group.
On November 9, 2012, Johannes Pflug said in an interview by a journalist for SWR that the accusation about that China executed political offenders to harvest their organs was a groundless rumor. Johannes Pflug said, “I think that was a groundless rumor. I had heard such rumors a few years ago. We had carried out corresponding investigations through our intelligence agencies. Our intelligence staff told me that we had not found evidence confirming such things despite the repeated emergence of such reports. I can be more specific to say that most of such rumors were spread by Falun Gong, but the rumors were entirely groundless.”[7]
[1] Davids' Report Reexamined, by Social Watch, Phoenix TV, June 28, 2007
[2] Harry Wu: My Knowledge and Experience with the Falun Gong Media Reporting on the Sujiatun Concentration Camp Problem, Observation, July 18, 2006
[3] Opinion of the US Department of State on China’s Falun Gong Issue, IIP, April 16, 2006
[4] Doubts Cast on Organ Harvest Claims, Ottawa Citizens, Glen McGregor, August 9, 2007
[5] The Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Standing Committee under the Parliament of Australia Held Hearing, Aph.gov.au, May 28, 2007
[6] Report of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Committee about Petition 2011/84 of Sam Fang on behalf of the Falun Gong Association Incorporated, website of New Zealand Parliament, November 21, 2013
[7] Democracy Is Possible in China, the Voice of Germany, November 9, 2012
2. Human Rights Organizations and International Scholars●Amnesty International: Some Telephone Interviews Chinese Hospitals Had Been Edited
On October 30, 2008, the feature report Malaise dans le Chinatown was broadcast in the Télévision de Radio-Canada. In this program, Amnesty International spokesperson Anne Ste. Marie said, “We spent several months trying to find local human right activists and journalists to verify the news. However, we finally reached the conclusion that the numbers are unverifiable.” On January 27, 2009, Radio-Canada published on its website the result of investigation into the feature report “Malaise dans le Chinatown”. The investigation showed that Amnesty International investigated the issue in China and was unable to confirm the Falun Gong movement's allegations of organ harvesting. In an unaired portion of the interview, Amnesty International spokesperson Anne Ste. Marie even said that some telephone interviews in Chinese hospitals had been edited.[1]
●OrgaNOs: Allegation of “Live Organ Harvesting” Unverifiable
OrgaNOs is a global volunteer organization dedicated to publicize laws and regulations on organ donation and to disclose the secret darkness in organ donation.
OrgaNOs has asked Amnesty International Austria Branch to verify the allegation of “live organ harvesting”. On March 18, 2014, OrgaNOs published on its website an article, which claimed that Falun Gong’s allegation was unverifiable. OrgaNOs said in the article, “For a long period of time, there has been a rumor about China’s cruelty to Falun Gong practitioners. The rumor claimed that China extracted organ from living Falun Gong practitioners in the prisons... OrgaNOs seeks to verify such allegations. Therefore, we directly contacted Amnesty International, which said that the allegations have not yet been verified.” [2]
●Australian Refugee Review Tribunal: Allegations Made by the Report Remain Unproven and Unsupported
On January 17, 2007, Australian Refugee Review Tribunal Country Research Section gave its response to Kilgour-Matas report. The response listed in detail the attitudes of the US Department of State, Harry Wu and other international organizations as well as experts toward Kilgour-Matas report. The CR Section emphasized, “No conclusive evidence has been located to either prove or disprove the allegations made by the report...No major human rights commentator has fully supported its conclusions about the killing and taking of organs from live unwilling Falun Gong prisoners. At the current stage the allegations made by the report remain unproven and unsupported.” [3]
●Harry Wu: Head of the Washington-based Laogai Research Foundation: Falun Gong Needs to Provide Evidence
Harry Wu, a Chinese dissident, head of the Washington-based Laogai Research Foundation, has been investigating the use of organs from executed prisoners for transplanting operation. He has spent 19 years in China’s Laogai (Reform-through-Labor) prison.
Harry Wu
From March 12, 2006, Harry Wu arranged for people inside China to visit the Sujiatun scene. During the following three weeks, the investigators canvassed the entire Sujiatun area, including two military barracks, the Chinese medical blood clotting treatment center and Kongjiashan prison. On March 22, 2006, Harry Wu wrote a letter to 20 or so people who were either US Congress Representatives or media people. On July 18, 2006, he published the article My knowledge and Experience with the Falun Gong Media Reporting on the Sujiatun Concentration Camp Problem, making clear his attitude toward this affair. He thought the so-called Sujiatun Concentration Camp did not exist.
Later on, Harry Wu received interviews with overseas media, casting doubts on Falun Gong’s allegation of China’s living organ harvesting.
●David Ownby, Canadian Professor in History: Falun Gong Is Ruining Its Reputation
David Ownby, associate professor of history in the University of Montreal, is an expert in China’s modern history, chief of East Asia Research Center, a recognized expert on Falun Gong. He is fairly sympathetic to Falun Gong, and wrote a book entitled Falun Gong the Future of China.
David Ownby receiving interview with Télévision de Radio-Canada
On October 30, 2008, the feature report Malaise dans le Chinatown, was broadcast by the Télévision de Radio-Canada. In this program, Professor David Ownby said, “I read [Mr. Kilgour's] report carefully…Organ harvesting is happening in China, but I see no evidence proving it is aimed particularly at Falun Gong practitioners.” [4]
●Senior American Surgeon Kenneth Mattox: Photographs Can Be Deceiving
Kenneth Mattox, a senior American surgeon, wrote the books Top Knife: The Art and Craft of Trauma Surgery and Trauma.
In September 2007, Mr. Rambodoc, a surgeon in India, queried the authenticity of photos publicized by Falun Gong. Mattox answered: "Photographs can be deceiving. While some of the apparent injuries and conditions might have been caused by torture, it appears that some of the photographs are from conditions which are sometimes seen in a hospital. The photographs could have been from rigor mortis in a dead body, advanced cirrhosis of the liver, portal hypertension, advanced necrotic breast cancer, donor site for a skin graft, routine acute electrical and thermal burns, and sacral decubitus ulcer." [5]
●Famous German Anatomist Gunther von Hagens: None of the Exhibited Human Bodies Was from China
Gunther von Hagens is a famous German anatomist. He has worked as an anatomist at the University of Heidelberg since 1978. He founded the Institute of Plastination under the University of Heidelberg in 1993.
German anatomist Gunther von Hagens
In July 2003, Gunther von Hagens held a press conference as a response to doubts of Falun Gong organization over the exhibition of human bodies. He claimed that all of the human bodies were remains of donors. He added that these donors had clearly expressed their willing to donate their remains to public education projects of health and anatomy. “Since the human body donation project was established by the Institute of Plastination in Heidelberg in 1982, more than 13, 000 people had registered to donate their remains. Most of these people came from Germany and the US, while none was from China.” [6]
●Ukrainian Experts: Two Davids Gained Both Fame and Wealth from Rumor about “Live Organ Harvesting”
Vladimir Petukhov, Ukrainian human rights activist, top-tier psychologist, chairman of non-governmental organization “Saving Family and Individual”; Valery, chairman of Ukrainian social organization “Heresy and Society” and president of Kultam.net.
 
Valery Vladimir Petukhov
On December 13, 2007, Vladimir Petukhov and Valery paid a field visit to Sujiatun, from which they reached the same conclusion as the US diplomats and Chinese and foreign media did.
Valery released a commentary on April 3, 2009 on the Kultam.net, claiming, “Falun Gong first published information about organ harvesting, and then used violation of cremation regulations as circumstantial evidence to verify the information...They have travelled to 30 countries but did not pay for the trip; they sold their book to these 30 countries. Hence they gained both fame and wealth.” [7]
●South Korea Falun Gong Countermeasure Committee: Falun Gong Is Deceiving the World
Established on April 23, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea Falun Gong Countermeasure Committee is dedicated to prevent the harm of Falun Gong, to maintain peace and stability of human society, and to defend the truth by taking powerful countermeasures.
The Committee conducted survey into the allegation of “live organ harvesting”, collected a large number of evidence, and published a 10,000-word report entitled Falun Gong’s Allegation of Live Organ Harvesting Is Awkward Swindle. The report said, “Falun Gong claimed live organ harvesting took place in Sujiatun Concentration Camp. As a matter of fact, Sujiatun hospital is a special hospital curing cerebral thrombus. The allegation of live organ harvesting is a pure fabrication that Falun Gong used to vilify China.”
●Shi BingYi: Never Believe in Falun Gong Organ Removal Saying
Shi Bingyi: Deputy Director of Chinese Society of Organ Transplantation (CSOT)
Professor Shi Bingyi: Deputy Director of CSOT
Professor Shi Bingyi, the deputy director of Chinese Society of Organ Transplantation, is the only expert who was clearly named as a witness in the Kilgour-Matas report. Prof. Shi was quoted in the report as saying, “During the years from 2000 to 2005, a period that they called after the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, 60,000 organ transplanting operations had been done.” In early January 2007, Professor Shi Bingyi expressly clarified in an interview with BBC, “On no occasion had I made such a statement or given figures of this kinds. These allegations and the related figures are pure fabrication. I have no idea what their motive is and what drives them to make the fabrication.” [8]
[1] Investigative Report into Malaise dans le Chinatown, website of Radio-Canada, January 27, 2009
[2] China: Innocent Falun Gong Practitioner Killed for Organs? OrgaNOs website, March 18, 2014
[3] Response of CR about “Whether Prove or Disprove Allegations Made by Davids Report”, Refworld.org, January 17, 2007
[4] Report of Review into Complaint Filed by the Falun Dafa Association of Canada Regarding the Investigative Report Entitled Malaise dans le Chinatown, Broadcast on October 30, 2008, on Télévision de Radio-Canada, Radio-canada.ca, January 27, 2009
[5] Is Falun Gong Going Wrong? Wordpress.com, Rambodoc, September 17, 2007
[6] Falun Gong Asks for DNA Test of Exhibited Bodies, Radio Vienna, Austria, July 12, 2013
[7] Information Released：http://kultam.net/rus/news/article-159
[8] China Reel, BBC, January 10, 2007
3. Mainstream Media●Ottawa Citizen: Inside China’s ‘Crematorium’
The sources cited in Kilgour-Matas report as evidence to support the allegations are almost exclusively Falun Gong practitioners.
By the time the report was released, doubts about the veracity of the Sujiatun story were growing.
Questions about the Matas-Kilgour report went beyond the allegations about Sujiatun. A paper prepared by the U.S. Congressional Research Service concluded that the report for the most part "does not bring forth new or independently-obtained testimony and relies largely upon the making of logical inferences." “Some of the key allegations in the report "appear to be inconsistent with the findings of other investigations.” It also questioned the transcripts of telephone calls, in which Chinese officials are said to admit using Falun Gong organs." Some argue that such apparent candour would seem unlikely given Chinese government controls over sensitive information, which may raise questions about the credibility of the telephone recordings," the research service paper said.
The Sujiatun story lost more air when Harry Wu, a former political prisoner of the Chinese government and outspoken voice against the Communist government, said he doubted the witness accounts upon which the Sujiatun stories relied. His organization investigated and found the witness statements unreliable. He concluded the story may be intentionally fabricated. "We haven't found any evidence to support the location and the number and events they have described going on," said Lisa Pertoso, of the Laogai Research Foundation.[1]
Since the report, Mr. Matas has travelled the world to decry organ harvesting and the treatment of the Falun Gong. Western journalists routinely repeat the Kilgour-Matas findings as fact.
The Internet is swamped by stories detailing the imprisonment and alleged murder of Falun Gong in China. The tone of the reporting often seemed highly partisan, especially coverage from the U.S.-based Epoch Times, a newspaper that bills itself as an independent voice of news from China, but appears chiefly interested in anti-Communist commentary and cataloging crimes against Falun Gong.
In August, I wrote another story about Falun Gong after Mr. Kilgour joined with other western politicians to call for a boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympics over organ harvesting.
The story noted that while the conclusions of Kilgour-Matas report have been widely circulated, they are not universally accepted. The Chinese government had dismissed their work as a fabrication, but more neutral criticism came from the U.S. Congressional Research Service, which concluded the report for the most part "did not bring forth new or independently-obtained testimony and relies largely upon the making of logical inferences." This story also drew intense criticism and charges of bias against me from Falun Gong members.
Mr. Kilgour was angered by the previous story I had written. In the first 20 minutes of our phone conversation, he called me "a lousy journalist," told me I don't "have any brains" and compared me to Holocaust denier David Irving. [2]
●Phoenix TV: Davids' Report Reexamined
The report claimed that they had interviewed hundreds of hospitals on telephone, including investigator Mr. M's call to more than 80 hospitals and investigator Mr. N's call to almost 40 hospitals. The face-to-face interview with the persons concerned in both Sujiatun and Guangxi proved that such telephone records were by no means reliable.
Based on a lot of so-called false telephone interviews, Davids' report drew a ridiculous conclusion. That conclusion was related to the abrupt number increase of organ transplanting operation in China in 1999 with the Falun Gong event in the same year, which inferred the increase organ suppliers were those Falun Gong practitioners. The conclusion was logically inaccurate, and the numbers which were the basics of the conclusion were also counterfeiting, that came from Professor Shi Bingyi's words.
Reading the whole report we found that Davids' evidence could be reduced to three categories: first, the words of so-called testimony of witnesses, such as Anne and Shi Bingyi and the distorted telephone records; second, materials download from the Internet; third, illogical inferences containing certain vague words, such as "might", "should", "if" and so on. The example of the third category was that the two investigators inferred the living organ removal from Falun Gong practitioner should exit because human rights condition was not good in China, and they deduced that the hospitals were making profit by removing living organ from Falun Gong practitioners as the government reduced the fiscal appropriation for hospitals. But the on-the-spot investigations of Sujiatun hospital and Guangxi Nationality Hospital, as well as the talk with Shi Bingyi all confirmed that not only the inference was illogical but also the premise of the inference was false. Therefore, no evidence of three categories was reliable or could bear close inspection.[3]
●Ukrsekta.info: Falun Gong under the Shadow of Towering Oxycoccos
Crime evidences are divided into two types in law, direct evidence and circumstantial evidence. For example, if A killed B and left A’s fingerprint on the murder weapon, this is called direct evidence; while circumstantial evidence means that A had a grudge against B but A didn’t have alibi when B was killed.
Circumstantial evidence cannot prove whether someone commits a crime, but it can prove that is possible and can be used to further confirm direct evidence. Therefore, charges merely made through circumstantial evidence are invalid, which can be torn apart by any lawyer. For example, a lawyer can question like this “6 out of 10 enemies didn’t have alibi. Who was the murderer?” “Merely through circumstantial evidence, charges cannot be valid.” - This is the most powerful argument for lawyers. Therefore, Mr. Prosecutor should do excellent work in investigating and collecting evidence.
Of course, if this murderer was literate and wiped off his fingerprint, the prosecutor had to base on the available evidence when he couldn’t find any witnesses. Kilgour and Matas always defended themselves on that ground. In the chapter “Difficulties in Looking for Evidence”, they wrote, “China is very far and it forbids us to enter. The criminal weapons - operating equipment and instruments - are nothing different from those in ordinary hospitals. Thus, we have to base on the existing evidence.”
As such, theoretic speculation is their usual trick. There is an underlying argument between lines of the “Report”: Although circumstantial evidence can’t prove whether someone commits a crime, it is impossible to commit a crime without circumstantial evidence.
Witnesses provided testimony, but the testimony from Falun Gong witnesses was not direct evidence. Here I don’t want to involve the reliability of the evidence, but would like to point out that in witnesses’ testimony, there was no “I saw” but “I heard” “Someone told me” instead. They can’t be counted as direct evidence, but circumstantial evidence.
It’s still OK if the testimony cannot be confirmed as first-hand information of the event on the spot. The contradiction between different witnesses’ testimony seems a greater flaw. Besides, the testimony also contradicts with common sense in organs transplant, surgeries and medicinal sanitation. If a witness doesn’t know the common sense that he should have known, could it be said that he knows more than others about something without any clue? [4]
[1] Doubts Cast on Organ Harvest Claims, Ottawa Citizens, Glen McGregor, August 9, 2007
[2] Inside China’s ‘Crematorium’, Glen McGregor, November 24, 2007
[3] Davids' Report Reexamined, by Social Watch, Phoenix TV, June 28, 2007, 32 minutes
[4] Falun Gong under the Shadow of Towering Oxycoccos (ФАЛУНЬГУН ПОД СЕНЬЮ РАЗВЕСИСТОЙ КЛЮКВЫ), Ukrsekta.info, Gregory Globa, August 2011
4. Netizens around the World●Rambodoc, a surgeon from India
It was a ghastly story of a woman who was tortured with electrical batons held to her breast, and the pictures were supposedly of an electrocuted breast with infection. Naturally, the surgeon in me had an understandable curiosity to see this, and I clicked on the links. I was taken aback to see pictures of a woman with advanced breast cancer…However, some of the pictures did not really gel with the textual explanations of the injuries... The picture of breast electrocution is, quite clearly, a misrepresentation. It fooled none of the group of surgeons I asked to inspect…we could clearly say in those instances what those pictures were NOT, and the breast cancer case was a sitter for any surgeon. It is NOT about electrical torture.[1]
●Charles Liu, a famous activist among Chinese community in the US
In my opinion Falun Gong's actions not only discredited their own cause, they also detracted from honest examination of China's problems. Falun Gong's vivisection indictment muddled the rational discussion of issues such as Chinese society's moral, ethical standards on dignity and treatment of the condemned… Writing an allegory of "Schindler's List" is not the way to examine China's human rights record. If we can not be precise with our accusation, only resort of nefarious indictment - why should anyone take the issue seriously?[2]
●Emma Markham, a scientist of England
Falun Gong claims many are arrested and experience torture, execution and organ harvesting. Most of these claims have been shown to be untrue, with no factual basis. The most disturbing side of the claims is that of organ harvesting…Australian, American and Canadian governments and there was no evidence to suggest these claims were true. In addition, many claims of abuse by police have been completely fabricated…Mostly Falun Gong is considered an extremist fanatical religion and is regarded as highly controversial, trying to gain recognition by claiming persecution to gain sympathy and support. Falun Gong should not be considered a peaceful meditative religion, but as a dangerous cult which manipulates its followers in to high jacking TV stations, committing mass suicide, and murdering their family.[3]
●Daily China, a Dutchman once studied in Sichuan University
The source is a Canadian human rights lawyer, David Matas, so the source has a clear interest: the more dirt he can put on the Chinese government, the better, for this makes his case look stronger…Falun Gong knows how to use the western dominated “free” press…I am not an expert on Falun Gong, neither am I an expert on the alleged organ harvesting practices. But as far as I can tell, this story is at least extremely biased in the issues I mentioned. Extrapolating, I can only expect the rest of it to be highly exaggerated.[4]
Since David Kilgour and David Matas released their investigative report into the so-called “live organ harvesting”, the two Davids have travelled the world to propagate their report at international conferences and to decry organ harvesting and the treatment of the Falun Gong. Some western journalists routinely repeated the Kilgour-Matas findings as fact.
As has been said above, however, the governmental departments, human rights groups from dozens of countries as well as Chinese and foreign media agencies did not find any evidence of the allegations through their field visits. As time passed by, more and more people came to realize that Falun Gong’s allegation of “live organ harvesting” is a rumor and they began to boycott Falun Gong’s publicizing campaigns. In October 2011, the local court in Krasnodar, Russia held that the book “Bloody Harvest” written by the two Davids constitutes banned extremist literature[5]; David Matas failed to speak at a conference in Russia in January 2012 because he was denied a visa to enter the country[6]; on August 27, 2013, the Political Education Center in Hamburg, Germany, cancelled a campaign organized by Falun Gong to publicize their allegations about “China’s live organ harvesting” [7].
It can be said that, as to Falun Gong’s allegation of “live organ harvesting”, both the US and Canada, who are both skeptical about China’s human right issues, and the international human rights organizations and Chinese dissidents have reached a consensus. They all believed that Falun Gong’s allegation was groundless and was aimed at vilifying China.
As the rumor is spreading, some people rose bravely to reveal the facts. Within one month after the release of the Kilgour-Matas report, the Canada-based Chinese Press published a special issue in it, they refuted Falun Gong’s claims about organ harvesting, and offered some articles selected from Chinese media about the anti-Falun Gong movement. The special issue was available free of charge in Chinatowns across Canada. In February 2007, Zhou Jinxing, the President of the Chinese Press, received a threatening letter, “If you go on like this, you will get killed and your office will be burned down.” [8]
We cannot help wondering what the two Davids, the key spreaders of rumor about “live organ harvesting”, think about the authenticity of their investigative report as a well-paid lawyer and a former government official.
In 2007 David Kilgour and David Matas went to Kiev. Valery, a famous journalist and human right activist in Ukraine, conducted an interview with them. In the interview, Valery asked David Kilgour whether he could testify at a trial the authenticity of the allegation about China removing organs from Falun Gong practitioners. Kilgour answered, “No, I can’t.” [9]
[1] Is the Falun Gong Going Wrong? Wordpress.com, Rambodoc, September 17, 2007
[2] Open Letter to David Kilgour and David Matas on Falun Gong and Organ Harvesting, by Charles Liu, Foolsmountain.com, October 6, 2008
[3] Falun Finatics, Blogspot.com, by Emma Markham, March 4, 2013
[4] Scary Stories on Falun Gong Organ Harvesting: How Much of It Is True? Daily China, Web-log.nl, November 2, 2010
[5] Falun Gong’s Power Limited in Russia, Russia Owl Information Analysis Network, August 8, 2012
[6] Russia Bans Human Rights Lawyer Matas, Winnipeg Free Press, January 3, 2012
[7] A Debate Delayed, Berlin Daily, August 25, 2013
[8] Malaise dans le Chinatown, the Télévision de Radio-Canada, October 30, 2008
[9] Ukrainian Famous Journalist Talks about Sujiatun Affair, Kultam.net, April 3, 2009, Valery
|
2015年2月13日星期五
How Falun Gong Fabricates Rumor about “Live Organ Harvesting”
订阅：
博文评论 (Atom)
没有评论:
发表评论