Falun Gong

The Chinese government is persecuting members of the peaceful spiritual group Falun Gong after their demonstrations at Tienanmen Square, and medical professionals are using their organs for transplants. On November 3rd , 1999, 3,000 officials were called by the ‘610’ office in China to discuss the campaign against Falun Gong, and Li Lanqing, the head of the ‘610’ office declared the government’s new policy on the movement. The strategy was to “defame their reputations, bankrupt them financially, and destroy them physically” (DAFOH). 

Since 1999, members of the Falun Gong have been detained for religious beliefs and the group’s open demonstrations and these practitioners have become the primary source of organs and income for the Chinese government. In their detainment, the Falun Gong are subject to medical examinations and slaughter or live transplantation of their organs, which are contained in a live organ bank belonging to different Chinese hospitals and have been the source of at least 10,000 transplantations in China. Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting is an non-government organization founded by medical doctors around the world who are strongly against the ‘unethical’ acts of forced organ harvesting. The group has particularly focused on the live organ harvesting of innocent Falun Gong practitioners, who have not violated any laws or charged in judicial courts, and are simply detained by the government. 

The DAFOH believe that the forced organ harvesting of these people is akin to premeditated murder with associated robbery. In 2013, DAFOH initiated a petition targeted towards the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, asking that immediate action be taken against the forced organ harvesting of prisoners and Falun Gong practitioners in China. DAFOH feels that there is overwhelming evidence of forced organ harvesting of the Falun Gong and the organization hopes that the end of organ harvesting of the Falun Gong will also bring about the end of forced organ harvesting in many other Chinese minority groups. The Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting state that these calls are literally acts of genocide, and Falun Gong practitioners are the main victims of the inhuman crime of organ trafficking. 

 The DAFOH believe that the most successful way to ending both forced organ harvesting and persecution of innocent Falun Gong practitioners is through a petition focused on appealing to the UN’s High Commissioner of Human Rights. Previously, in 2012, DAFOH provided speakers for both U.S. Congressional hearings on the topic of forced organ harvesting and initiated several petitions in Europe, Australia and in the U.S. calling for the end of forced organ harvesting in China and for further investigation through the United Nations Human Rights Council. Over the course of 3 months, the petitions gained over 250,000 signatures, which were recognized by the UNHRC as “impressive”. The DAFOH initiated a new petition in 2013 focusing further against forced organ harvesting and the persecution of the Falun Gong. Between July and November, 2013, 1.5 million people in over 50 different countries and regions signed the petition. The specific actions being called for in the DAFOH petition are to firstly call upon China to end organ harvesting of detained Falun Gong practitioners, secondly to investigate further that will lead to the prosecution of perpetrators involved in the crime, and to lastly call upon the Chinese government to ultimately end the persecution of the Falun Gong. 

Additionally, members from DAFOH have attended the International Human Rights Day in Geneva Switzerland, and on December 9th during the event, delivered the signed petition to the UN. As stated by Dr. Torsten Trey, the president of DAFOH, “[DAFOH] came as a strong delegation with doctors and lawyers from 6 countries to respectfully represent the 1.5 million people who appealed to the UN High Commissioner to turn the tide of silence and help end forced organ harvesting,” (“1.5 Million…”). In addition, to bring national attention to the issue and gain signatures, there have been multiple accounts of signature drives held by Falun Gong practitioners and other organizations supported by the DAFOH.