(Clearwisdom.net) New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton was interviewed by a reporter from The Epoch Times on the evening of October 23, 2006. He said that he was concerned about organ harvesting atrocities in China, whereby the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) harvests organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. He also said that the NDP Foreign Affairs Critic expressed his concern at a press conference. On October 6, Minister of Natural Resources Gary Lunn confirmed that the Canadian government has taken action through bilateral and multilateral means to pressure the CCP and urge it to protect human rights.
Gary Lunn, Canadian Minister of Natural Resources
Canadian New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton
On October 16, Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Gary Lunn wrote to a Falun Gong practitioner to confirm that the Canadian government has taken action against the CCP's live organ harvesting, and pressured the CCP to urge it to protect human rights, through bilateral and multilateral approaches.
"Our government is not only seriously concerned about the issue of illegal organ transplants in China, we have taken action," Gary Lunn said, "Firstly, these concerns have been expressed directly to the Chinese government. As the Canadian Government is not in a position to provide independent verification, we have also requested the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to look into the matter. We continue to work with the UN, as well as like-minded governments, and civil society groups, to seek independent verification and corroboration of these allegations."
Gary Lunn also expressed, "Canada has also been following up continually with China to reiterate our concerns that all organ transplants in China take place in accordance with international standards of free and informed consent."
Gary Lunn said, "At the former UN Commission on Human Rights, Canada made statements advocating the rights of "members of spiritual groups" which included groups such as the Falun Gong. Canada is a current member of the newly created UN Human Rights Council, and will use this position to continue to emphasize substantive exchanges and practical decisions to promote and protect human rights in China.
Gary Lunn finally said, "It is not possible for Canada to unilaterally force China to respect human rights. However, as outlined above, we have used both bilateral and multilateral strategies to pressure China to do so. This pressure has included advocating for the protection of Falun Gong practitioners and the responsibility of China to only engage in organ transplants following free and informed consent."
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