(Clearwisdom.net) Thirteen student organizations jointly held a press conference and a forum entitled, "Invisible Massacre: Expose the CCP Harvesting Organs from Living Falun Gong Practitioners" on April 16, 2007, at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. The attending organizations included Amnesty International University of Pittsburgh Chapter, Students Taking Action Now for Darfur (STAND), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in the Department of Law at the University of Pittsburgh, Liberation in North Korea (LINK), the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University, and Big Straw, a magazine that covers Asian American affairs.
Guest speakers at the forum at the University of Pittsburgh. From the right, David Kilgour, Yang Jingduan, Torsten Trey and Charles Li
City councilor Bill Peduto reads to the guests a supporting letter issued by the city council
David Kilgour calls upon hospitals and schools in all countries to stop cooperating with the CCP to train killer doctors
Famous worldwide, the University of Pittsburgh has the largest organ transplantation center in the world, the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute. According to the Xi'an Jiaotong University website, more than 130 Chinese scholars in the transplantation field once studied in Pittsburgh, 70 of them studied clinical liver transplant specifically.
Pittsburgh City Council Sends a Letter to Support the Forum
At the press conference, Pittsburgh City Councilor Mr. Bill Petudo spoke. He first thanked the forum guests and organizers for their efforts to provide local people with an opportunity to learn about the harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners in China. He also read a supporting letter he wrote on behalf of the city council to the forum. Mr. Petudo has been concerned about the human rights situation of Falun Gong practitioners who are suffering persecution in China. Four years ago, he helped rescue former Tsinghua University associate professor Dr. Xu Cailu's wife, Ms. Jia Xiaomei. Ms. Jia was illegally detained for practicing Falun Gong and distributing Falun Gong flyers.
After Mr. Petudo spoke, four invited guests took the stage, including Mr. David Kilgour, former Canadian Secretary of State for Asia and Pacific and one of the authors of the published investigation entitled, "Reports into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China;" Charles Li, a Falun Gong practitioner who was illegally detained for three years by the CCP authorities for returning China to spread truth about Falun Gong; Dr. Torsten Trey, a German doctor and one of the initiators of the international human rights organization "Doctors Against Organ Harvesting," for which he is also a spokesperson; and Dr. Yang Jingduan, an expert in psychological medicine. They elaborated on the CCP harvesting organs from living practitioners and the brutal persecution of Falun Gong from their own experiences and points of view and answered questions raised by the media.
Kilgour Calls on the University of Pittsburgh to Stop Cooperating in Training Killer Doctors
At the forum following the press conference, Mr. Kilgour highlighted the new evidence added to the investigation report prepared by Mr. Matas and himself. Since the first report was published on July 6, 2006, Kilgour and Mr. Matas have traveled to over 30 cities around the world to expose the CCP's crime of harvesting organs from living practitioners and also to collect evidence regarding live organ harvesting. On January 31, 2007, the independent investigation team released the updated version of the report, titled "Bloody Harvest: Revised Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China." Kilgour said that the revised version expanded their body of evidence from 18 to 33 elements of proof, and also corrected the names of two cities in the wrong provinces. Kilgour said that, regarding their conclusion and their proposed 20 feasible recommendations, the Chinese government has not made any useful response. The Chinese government did say that the names of two cities in the appendix were listed in the wrong provinces, in no way affecting the report's conclusion that "there has been and continues today to be large-scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners."
Kilgour talked to the media and the audience about a patient he had met in Asia who had gone to Mainland China for kidney transplant. The patient described the scene at the time, saying that a doctor had a piece of paper from which he could select kidneys. The paper listed eight kidneys, and only the last one matched him. He said that the donor must have been alive. How otherwise could he have been matched immediately? The transplant operation was done right away.
Kilgour said that, according to websites in mainland China, the transplant center at the Medical Center of the University of Pittsburgh has trained more than 130 Chinese transplant doctors. Regardless of whether this was true or not, he called upon hospitals and schools in all countries that have exchange programs with China regarding organ transplant training to immediately stop such a relationship. "So long as the CCP does not stop live organ harvesting, cooperating with it to train killer doctors amounts to assisting tyranny to do evil and participating in a crime."
Kilgour called upon Beijing authorities to take their report seriously and to truly take action to stop the military, the government, the courts, the prisons, and the hospitals from participating in harvesting organs from living practitioners. He also called for the release all detained practitioners and for permission to allow independent investigation groups from different countries to enter China to conduct a thorough investigation of this matter. Otherwise, even if China passes more laws regulating this crime, they will have no weight and will be seen merely as attempts to cover up their crimes. Kilgour called upon the governments of all countries, particularly the American and Canadian governments, non-governmental organizations, and all people of conscience, to learn about and be concerned about this matter, and to not to allow history to repeat itself and all of humankind to once again suffer from disgrace.
Kilgour especially mentioned that reconsideration is needed whether or not to allow Beijing to host the Olympic Games next year. He said that the Olympic spirit embodies peace, freedom and equality. A regime that sustains its rule with violence and lies runs completely counter to the Olympic spirit. The Chinese government wants to make use of its position as host of the Olympic Games to emphasize its legitimacy in people's eyes. In 1936, when Hitler and the Nazis ruled Germany, Berlin hosted the Olympic Games. The games were held against a background of racial discrimination. They did not help to promote peace but seemed to accelerate the Nazis' ambitions of expansion and the persecution of the Jewish people, which ultimately brought calamity to the whole of humankind.
Charles Li then shared his own experience to tell of the physical and mental persecution he had been subjected to in a CCP prison. He said that he was forced to read materials and watch TV programs slandering Falun Gong to be brainwashed on a daily basis. He was also forced to write "thought reports" and a "repentance letter." If he did not comply, he was beaten. His mother could not endure this state of affairs, her health worsened, and she died. The prison authorities did not allow him to see his mother when she was near death. The prison doctor drew his blood three times. When he did not cooperate, he was tied up and restrained. When he asked why his blood was being drawn, the doctor berated him, "You are a prisoner. You cannot ask any question." Li said, emotionally, that compared to tens of thousands of persecuted practitioners in China, he was actually much more fortunate. At least he got released alive.
Next Doctor Yang Jingduan introduced to the audience what Falun Gong is and told about the persecution of Falun Gong. He said that, actually, the real reason for the persecution was not that there were too many practitioners, because no government would be afraid of there being more good people. It was also not because numerous practitioners chose to go to Beijing to clarify the facts to the government in the face of unfair treatment, because that is their right stipulated by the constitution. The real reason was that the nature of the Chinese Communist Party could not tolerate the existence of a group of people who would not accept its absolute control over their bodies and minds. Dr. Yang suggested those who wanted to learn more about the nature of the CCP read the "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party." It would give them a thorough understanding of the many upheavals wrought by the CCP during its over 50-year rule.
The last speaker was Dr. Torsten Trey. As an initiator of and spokesperson for "Doctors Against Organ Harvesting," he stressed that people in the medical field worldwide should take action regarding the CCP's harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. He pointed out that Kilgour and Matas's investigative report was undeniably authoritative. It has played a significant role in the entire investigation. As of today, the CCP government has not allowed an independent investigation team to enter China. He called for everyone working in the medical field to join the "Doctors Against Organ Harvesting" organization in raising awareness about the CCP's harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners, in exerting pressure on the CCP, and in opening all forced labor camps and hospitals for investigation.
Some Chinese Students Try to Disrupt the Forum
At 5:30 p.m. the forum moved to McConomy Auditorium at Carnegie Mellon University. The university's broadcasting station recording the entire proceedings. Among the listeners were students, professors, deans, and many others. In the middle of the forum, several Chinese that appeared to be students passed out flyers and materials slandering Falun Gong. The security guards told them to leave.
A couple of Chinese students who had not learned about the truth about Falun Gong took advantage of the question and answer period to slander Falun Gong to the audience. Torsten pointed out that their statements were not only off the subject, deliberately diverting the audience's attention, but were also an ignorant attempt to stir up hatred. He said that the topic of the forum was the CCP's harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. As for Falun Gong's belief, another forum could be held to discuss it, but one could not agree with the CCP's persecution just because one disagreed with the victims' belief.
Kilgour said to an impolite Chinese female student, "You said Falun Gong is banned in Japan. That is an absolute lie. Among over 30 countries I have visited around the world, only China is carrying out such an extremely brutal, genocidal atrocity against such a kind group of people."
Dr. Yang Jingduan responded to another disruptive Chinese student, saying, "You keep saying 'evil cult.' Do you really know what an evil cult is? Can an organization be considered an evil cult just because it is an organization? Then a university is also an organization. Can having a belief be considered an evil cult? Then the major religions all have their own beliefs. Can individual worship be considered an evil cult? Then among young people nowadays, there are some students who worship public figures or their teachers. None of this can constitute the characteristics of an evil cult. Whether or not it is really an evil cult should be judged by whether or not it respects life. Since the CCP came into power in China over 50 years ago, it has caused the unnatural deaths of 80 million Chinese citizens. During one political movement after another, and during one round of persecution and suppression after another, countless inhuman tragedies have occurred and countless families have been destroyed, and human nature itself has been distorted. The CCP's absolute control of social resources, including the media, over these years has prevented the Chinese people from being able to ponder its history, leaving the younger generation ignorant about things that have happened in the past." Dr. Yang suggested that students who are able to come to the United States from Mainland China make use of this free environment to learn more about all that the CCP has done in history.
The Chinese students had to admit that live organ harvesting does go on in China, but they felt that it was not directly done by the Chinese government and that the CCP should not be blamed for it.
Regarding this point, Dr. Yang asked one of the students, "Do you know about the Cultural Revolution?"
"Yes, I know."
"Do you know how many people died during the Cultural Revolution?"
"Many people."
"Did Mao Zedong personally kill anyone?"
The student had no response.
Dr. Yang continued, explaining that if the CCP had not taken the initiative to persecute Falun Gong, there would not be cases in hospitals that dehumanize Falun Gong practitioners to such an extent that their organs are inhumanly harvested when they are still alive. "Someone asked me, 'How dare those Chinese doctors say on the phone that the sources of their organs are from living Falun Gong practitioners?' Actually, it is sadly easy to understand. Because of the CCP's hate propaganda, people who have not learned the truth treat Falun Gong as an enemy of China. Actually, the CCP regards Falun Gong as the No. 1 enemy. Then, in modern Chinese society where people have long been educated with hatred and atheism, what is unlikely to happen?"More Chinese students arrived and one said that his grandfather once practiced Falun Gong in China but stopped after the CCP disallowed it, so he has not been persecuted. The student said that he didn't believed Falun Gong was persecuted in China.
A volunteer organizer went up on the stage. She was Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Wang, who was detained in a forced labor camp in China for a year. The host told the Chinese student who asked the question, "You said you have never seen any Falun Gong [practitioner] persecuted. Today, we will let you meet one." Ms. Wang talked about the inhuman treatment she was subjected to in the forced labor camp. She was illegally sentenced to one year of forced labor for speaking out the truth in Tiananmen Square. In the camp, all her clothes were stripped off and she was exposed to the burning sun. Most audience members were shocked and deeply sympathetic. Several students were so disturbed that they left.
Outside the forum site, Falun Gong practitioners conducted a mock demonstration on live organ harvesting. Many people passing by learned the truth from the demonstration.
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Category: Rallies & Protests
