Australia backs call for investigation into Chinese organ harvesting

Transcript

TONY JONES: First tonight, the Australian Government has confirmed that officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have asked the Chinese Government to allow an independent investigation into claims of mass organ harvesting in China. Members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement claim that thousands of their followers have been murdered for their organs inside Chinese hospitals. The allegations were backed up by a recent report by two Canadian human rights activists. John Stewart reports.

JOHN STEWART, REPORTER: He's the Chinese government's worst nightmare - a human rights activist with a story about mass organ harvesting inside a secret Chinese operating theatre. Tonight, Canadian human rights activist David Kilgour met with Australian MPs in Parliament House, to push for an independent investigation.

DAVID KILGOUR, REPORT CO-AUTHOR: A nurse would give the people who were not doing it voluntarily, who would be brought up to the operating room, a needle and I'm told now that it was potassium they were given and this would cause heart failure and then people would have their corneas removed and a whole lot of other organs removed.

JOHN STEWART: Last month he and fellow human rights campaigner David Matas produced a report backing up extraordinary claims by the Falun Gong spiritual movement. Falun Gong claims that over 4,000 of their followers had their organs removed inside a hospital in northern China, to be used for organ transplant operations.

DAVID KILGOUR: A man who, I think at the age of 19 got out of Auschwitz and told the world what was going on there in I believe 1943 and everyone said "This can't be happening", and he said "It is happening" and nobody believed him and of course we all know what was happening in Auschwitz.

JOHN STEWART: In July the Australian Government hosted a human rights dialogue with Chinese government officials in Canberra. At a news conference, China's assistant Foreign Minister rejected the Falun Gong claims.

CUI TIANKAI, CHINESE ASSISTANT FOREIGN MINISTER: I think a number of foreign embassies in China and a number of foreign correspondents in China, they did went to the site, they did go to the site of the alleged story, and they found no evidence at all.

JOHN STEWART: Tonight, Lateline can reveal that during the human rights talks, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade asked the Chinese government to consent to an independent investigation into the allegations. A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said, "The Australian Officials raised the issue of organ harvesting on July 25th." "The Chinese side denied the allegations. The Australian side suggested that China allow an independent inveestigation" Mr Kilgour believes the organ harvesting story has the potential to impact on the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

DAVID KILGOUR: The lever we have as you know, is that we have the Olympic Games in two years. If Australians will say "This has to stop", and I think if other governments do this as well, Canada and US and Europe, I think that they will stop.

JOHN STEWART: But much more evidence will be needed to convince sceptics that the Falun Gong have been targetted for mass organ harvesting in China.