At a recent screening of the documentary ‘Human Harvest’ at our university, we were shocked to see something so cruel and barbaric happening in China today. Organs from prisoners are pulled out when they are still alive and goes to a billion dollar illegal organ trade run by the Chinese Communist government. My friends and I were in tears and the students disturbed by what they saw had many questions to ask to the director, Leon Lee, in an interactive skype session.
Leon Lee took 8 years to make this well researched Documentary and he received many threats from the Chinese Communist party while doing so.

We were shocked to learn from the documentary team that many affluent Indians go to China for organ transplants.
We asked around and got some information from reliable sources. However, we could not get facts and figures as to how many Indians go to China for organ transplants since this is a nefarious ‘black market’ practice which is not systematically gathered or reported in most countries.

China has become a destination for people wanting to avoid waiting lists and get a quick transplant.
When all over the world, patients have to wait for years for organ transplants, in China you can get it in a week’s time. Hospital web sites in China till recently advertised short waiting times for organ transplants. Due to the increase of available organs for sale in China, many foreigners travel there for transplantation. Organ transplantation in the People’s Republic of China has taken place since the 1960s, and is one of the largest organ transplant program in the world.10,000s of organs are transplanted in China every year, even though China has no effective national organ donation system.

What is the source for China’s large bank of organs?
70 million people practicing Falun Dafa, a peaceful spiritual practice with exercise and meditation became the soft target and are being killed on demand to supply an ongoing illegal organ transplant industry. The Chinese government not being able to come to terms with the popularity of Falun Dafa banned it on 20 July 1999 and since then for 16 years Falun Dafa practitioners are systematically imprisoned, tortured and killed for their organs. Their bodies are often cremated so that there is no evidence left. (Read more at www.faluninfo.net)

When reports first emerged from China in 2006 that state-run hospitals were killing prisoners of conscience to sell their organs, it seemed too horrible to believe. But ‘Bloody Harvest’ a report by human rights lawyer David Matas and former Canadian Member of Parliament David Kilgour began to uncover the mystery, the true picture became all too clear. Their evidence suggests that tens of thousands of innocent people of a spiritual faith called Falun Dafa were deliberately killed in custody so their organs could be extracted, sold and used in transplant operations in hospitals of China.Chinese doctors and hospital workers admitted in recorded phone calls from undercover investigators that they have live organs from healthy Falun Gong practitioners in prisons, available for sale.

My friends and I submit this petition so that we can create awareness among millions of people online and put an end to this horrible practice. As Indians, we are ashamed and guilty that Indians too have traveled to China for transplantation.

From our findings and from what other governments are doing, we have some suggestions but the authorities at the centre can come up with stricter rules.

What can India do to counter this unethical and illegal practice?
Laws banning transplant tourism to China, already in place in Israel, Spain, Canada, Australia, France and Taiwan, are being debated in many other countries.

·         Governments have been refusing visas to Chinese doctors seeking to travel abroad for transplant training

·          Laws require doctors to report evidence that patients have received trafficked organs, and prevent or discourage their own citizens from travelling to China for transplants with stricter rules for visas.

·         India should issue travel advisories warning to its population that organ transplants in China are sourced almost entirely from non-consenting prisoners, whether sentenced to death or Falun Dafa practitioners.

·         The medical profession in India should set up a voluntary reporting system to accumulate aggregate data about patients who have traveled to China for transplants.

We appeal to the millions of people online to sign the petition and put a stop to this crime against humanity.  Lastly, we would like to appeal to those seeking organs in China for their loved ones to go by their conscience. Think is it morally right to take a life to save a life?

If you are interested in finding more information you can read ‘Bloody Harvest’ by Kilgour & Matas and ’Slaughter’ by Ethan Gutmann.

You can also watch ‘Human Harvest’ on vimeo for a fee or watch these films on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANKR8LIL3H4    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvAOOwvJMZs