(Minghui.org) David Matas, Nobel peace prize nominee and renowned international human rights lawyer, recently spoke to the media in Perth about the Chinese regime's killing of Falun Gong practitioners for their organs.
He mentioned that forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners is the worst human rights abuse taking place in the world right now. He calls upon the Australian government to take action to stop Australians traveling to China for organs.
Mr. Matas attended the 15th International Symposium of the World Society of Victimology in Perth, the capital of Western Australia, July 5-7, 2015. Several local news agencies interviewed him at the symposium, and three media outlets covered the topic.
The Australian: Chinese Officials Continue to Harvest Organs from Imprisoned Falun Gong Practitioners
The Australian, the biggest-selling national newspaper in the country, ran an article titled: “China 'harvesting Falun Gong prisoners' organs'” on July 9.
The report cited Mr. Matas, who explained that illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners “whose organs were removed were not given anesthetic but were provided with a muscle relaxant and blood thinner. Their bodies were then cremated.”
Mr. Matas told the reporter that he started an investigation with former Canadian MP David Kilgour in 2006 after a woman claimed that as many as 4000 Falun Gong practitioners had been killed for their organs at a hospital where she worked. She said her husband had removed the corneas from 2000 living practitioners at the same hospital.
“As far as I can tell, it’s still going on,” Mr. Matas told The Australian. “As far as we can tell, people who are coming out of prison in China today still talk about blood testing, and in some provinces in China now, they're not just blood testing and examining Falun Gong practitioners in detention, they're examining them in their homes and off the street.”
RTRFM Radio Station: How Big of a Problem Is Human Organ Trafficking in China?
Chris Wheeldon, a reporter with RTRFM radio station in Perth, asked Mr. Matas how big of a problem human organ trafficking in China really is.
“China is No.1 in the world for transplant volumes after the United States,” replied Mr. Matas, “but when we did our initial version of our report in July 2006, they did not have traditional sources, they didn't have a donation system. So the question became, 'Where have these organs come from?'
“The authorities said they came from prisoners sentenced to death and then executed, but they wouldn't give the death penalty numbers. Given the need for blood types, tissue types, ... the need for proportionately-size organs, you would have needed executions in the range of 100,000 a year to supply that volume of transplants, which obviously wasn't happening in China. So where did the organs come from?
“Then we got all this evidence that Falun Gong practitioners get blood tested and examined. We have made many telephones calls to hospitals to investigate, with doctors promising they have Falun Gong organs.
“The accumulation of evidence led us to the conclusion that a large number of Falun Gong practitioners were killed for their organs.”
Sunday Times: The Worst Human Rights Abuse
Mr. Matas said the treatment of Falun Gong in China was “the worst” in victimization and human rights abuses. The report states that, after the persecution started in 1999, Falun Gong practitioners were put to work in forced labor camps and countless have had their body parts removed while they were still alive.
As to how to stop this atrocity, Mr. Matas said, “Every contact with China is an opportunity to raise this issue and express concerns.
“Politicians could also take action by introducing compulsory reporting of transplant tourism and denying entry into Australia of people who have been complicit in organ transplant abuse,” he added.
Prior to Mr. Matas's visit, The Post, an independent community newspaper, reported that three Falun Gong practitioners presented a 12,000-signature petition to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s office, calling for an immediate end to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.
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