Body parts claim protested Falun Gong group revolted by 'harvesting' report

They call it an atrocious crime against human rights. To drive the point home,
local Falun Gong practitioners staged a gruesome mock surgery outside Eau
Claire Market Saturday afternoon.

Dressed in smocks, four members of the spiritual movement pretended to extract
organs from a person lying on a table.

"I cannot even describe how bizarre this has been for me," said Toronto-based
Falun Gong advocate Jan Jekielek, 32. "My people have been used for their
organs."

A Canadian report released Thursday claimed the Chinese government has been
harvesting body parts from Falun Gong prisoners.

Compiled by Winnipeg human rights lawyer David Matas and former Liberal cabinet
minister David Kilgour, the report included testimonies from witnesses in
China.

Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that combines meditation with ancient
philosophies, has been outlawed in China since 1999.

The report said of the 60,000 transplants in China which occurred between 2000
and 2005, 41,500 procedures used organs from unexplained sources.

The Chinese government has denied all allegations made by the report. It
continues to claim, though, that Falun Gong is an "evil cult."

University of Calgary graduate student Winston Liu, 34, who was jailed in China
for three years before he moved to Canada, said he was forced to undergo a
thorough physical checkup during his imprisonment in the province of Shanxi.

"Back then, I didn't know why," he said. "But now I think this is the exact
reason."

Liu said he never witnessed any of the alleged practices, but had often heard
prison guards speak about "a secret place" of no return.

During Saturday's demonstration, the dozen participants urged passersby to call
their elected officials.

"I would like to see a resolution passed by Parliament condemning this
practice," said Jekielek.

He also suggested Canadian universities bar Chinese medical students from
studying transplant procedures.

"I don't want to discriminate against people, but how do you stop what's going
on in China?"

Faron Ellis, political scientist from Lethbridge Community College, said it's
unlikely the Harper government will follow any of the group's recommendations.

"It's not in their top 5 priorities," he said. "And I don't recall it being in
the five after that, or the five after that, and the five after that."

Falun Gong has between 20 and 50 members in Calgary, said demonstrators.