Falun Gong rallying support to stop organ harvesting crimes
| Copyright 2006
Southwest Booster All Rights Reserved Southwest Booster (Saskatchewan) August 10, 2006 Thursday SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A13 LENGTH: 457 words HEADLINE: Falun Gong rallying support to stop organ harvesting crimes BYLINE: By Scott Anderson BODY: A quartet of Falun Gong practitioners stopped in Swift Current to raise awareness of the horrific practice of organ harvesting allegedly occurring to Falun Gong practitioners in China. Wearing t-shirts which state "Chinese Communists kill for organs", the group presented a recently released report to Councillor Gord Budd which confirms the Chinese Communist Party is in fact selling organs from Falun Gong members. There has been global condemnation since the July 6 release of a report confirming these allegations. The report was prepared by Winnipeg lawyer David Matas and former MP David Kilgour. Their independent investigation suggests that many of the Falun Gong practitioners are killed in the course of the organ harvesting operations or immediately thereafter. The four Falun Gong members, all residents of Toronto, were in the midst of a 20 community tour throughout Saskatchewan and Manitoba to rally public support behind a call to stop these atrocities. Dana Zhao, a Falun Gong Director, said they are urging Canadians to not sit silently while these crimes against humanity continue. "We're asking all Canadians to spread the news by copying the report, and to call or write your MP, MLA or city council member to call for a halt to these crimes," Zhao said. Two of the members on the tour were forced to flee China because of their Falun Gong beliefs in conjunction with a government eradication campaign against Falun Gong. Among the findings in the report are: - a wife of a Chinese surgeon was told by her husband he personally removed the corneas from approximately 2,000 anaesthetized Falun Gong prisoners from 2001 to 2003. She was told that other surgeons removed other vital organs and that none of the patients survived; - Communist Party controlled media has called Falun Gong a "cult" and continues a media campaign to turn public opinion against Falun Gong. - The Chinese Government created a special force to spearhead the crackdown on Falun Gong. An estimated 830,000 arrests were made between 1999 and April 2001. - The number of executed prisoners and willing sources come nowhere close to the number of transplants. The source of 41,500 transplants between 2000 and 2005 is unexplained. "Based on what we now know, we have come to the regrettable conclusion that the allegations are true. We believe that there has been and continues today to be large scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners," the report states. Falun Gong includes elements of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, plus incorporates a form of Chinese yoga "Qigong" which is intended to improve physical and spiritual health and fitness. Additional information about Falun Gong and the Matas/Kilgour report is available from www.cipfg.org. LOAD-DATE: August 10, 2006 |