The following is a question asked by Member of Parliament Mr. Lionel Vandenberghe to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Karel De Gucht, on the 20th April 2006.
Last week, more and more reports came out about the fact that in China prison camps are built for Falun Gong practitioners. In a certain camp it is said there are more then six thousand Falun Gong practitioners and yet nobody has come out alive. According to certain messages the camp in Shenyang contains a crematorium and an unusually large number of doctors are working there. The reason for this would be the fact that there are practices whereby prisoners are killed for their organs which are being sold for profit.
The messages are so shocking that they seem unbelievable. Meanwhile different witnesses appeared who confirm those reports and also according to journalistic and scientific sources those prison camps do actually exist.
The Epoch Times spoke with a witness who worked as a doctor in the military area of Shenyang. This source confirms the recent reports which talk about the presence of such a camp and states that throughout China in total thirty six similar camps exist.
The statements of different military doctors form a part of the growing list of horrible facts and detailed disclosures which make us fear for the worst. A previous member of the security service of the Chinese government has also given a similar testimony. The messages gain force with a statement from the British Transplantation Society, reported in The Standard today.
I am aware that such horrible messages are a sensitive issue, but that cannot be a reason to ignore them.
On the 28th of March the Ministry of Health in China announced new legislation whereby forced organ transplantation would in theory be outlawed. That law, however, will only take effect from the 1st of July. This announcement happened just after the disclosure of the concentration camp for Falun Gong practitioners in Shenyang on the 6th of March. Critics fear that the Chinese Communist regime is performing a cover-up by, amongst others, use of denial and cosmetic lawmaking.
If such camps do exist, then this constitutes a large scale violation of human rights and the international community cannot keep silent.
Is the minister aware of the reports about the existence of prison camps for Falun Gong practitioners whose organs are merchandised? Has he already made contact with the Chinese Ambassador in Brussels to investigate these reports? Has this subject already been presented on a European level? What will Belgium do to investigate these messages?
M. Karel De Gucht, minister of Foreign Affairs replied:
Both my services in Brussels as well as the Belgian Embassy in Beijing were informed by Falun Gong practitioners in March that in the district of Sujiatun of the city Shenyang a concentration camp for Falun Gong practitioners exists, where prisoners are selected for their organs and executed. Like mister Vandenberghe my services received an article of The Epoch Times. I of course took notice of the articles that appeared about this during the last days in the press. I am filled with dismay by those messages.
Our embassy in China, after the first message, has already put this issue on the agenda of the reunion of the EU-representatives in Beijing. That meeting took place at the end of March. Concerning this I can also refer to my answer on the parliamentary question of mister Guide Tastenhoye.
From my knowledge the EU didn't take steps yet towards the Chinese government because insufficient balanced elements could be presented. I gave my services the order to investigate this issue further, together with our EU partners and to contact the Chinese authorities about this.
The British Transplantation Society says it has further evidence. The allegations added with these new elements will be discussed again at a European level, if necessary on my initiative.
Mister Lionel Vandenberghe replied:
I thank the minister and his services for being cautious. I am happy that some steps have already been made to investigate this very critical situation and I hope that the case will be followed further.