| Kilgour urges boycott of Beijing Olympics |
http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/na.cgi?nationalupdates/060831kilgour By Peter Biggs, Canadian Christianity VETERAN Canadian politician David Kilgour is urging various countries to boycott the 2008 Olympic games scheduled for Beijing. His purpose is to pressure Chinese communist authorities to cease alleged organ harvesting of Falun Gong followers in prison. Kilgour, a widely respected former Member of Parliament who has been quite public about his Christian faith, co-authored a high-profile report on the allegations with David Matas, senior legal counsel of B'nai Brith Canada. The document, titled 'Report Into Allegations Of Organ Harvesting Of Falun Gong Practitioners In China,' was released July 6 -- and has garnered widespread media interest. The authors stated: "We have concluded that the government of China and its agencies in numerous parts of the country, in particular hospitals but also detention centres and 'people's courts,' since 1999 have put to death a large but unknown number of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience. Their vital organs, including hearts, kidneys, livers and corneas, were virtually simultaneously seized involuntarily for sale at high prices, sometimes to foreigners, who normally face long waits for voluntary donations of such organs in their home countries." Questioning whether any of the alleged victims had been tried and convicted of any crime, the authors added: "It appears to us that many human beings belonging to a peaceful voluntary organization -- made illegal seven years ago by President Jiang, because he thought it might threaten the dominance of the Communist Party of China -- have been in effect executed by medical practitioners for their organs." They concluded: "Each portion of the evidence we have considered is, in itself, verifiable -- and, in most cases, incontestable. Put together, they paint a damning whole picture. It is their combination that has convinced us." On a recent trip to Australia, Kilgour was asked about the report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Tony Jones. "It does seem to me, reading your report in detail, there are only two possibilities here," said Jones. "One is you've uncovered a new form of evil we're yet to see; and the other is you've been taken in by an incredibly sophisticated hoax." Kilgour responded: "I'm surprised because just about everyone who has read it -- from Europe, from Brussels to Berlin to Paris to London that I've spoken to -- is persuaded any reasonable person reading the report would think that we are right." He asserted that the report had presented "18 different kinds of evidence." Kilgour emphasized what he considers "the most convincing" evidence, citing "people in these institutions telling us, essentially, that they have Falun Gong prisoners ready and available to be harvested -- and we give websites in China telling people who can come and have organ transplants within a week." He also referred to "a resident of Canberra, Chen Yang" who, he said, "was telling us how she was treated abominably while she was in a work camp -- but only the Falun Gong prisoners were examined carefully medically, with blood tests, their computer-assisted blood transplants." Kilgour said he and Matas concluded "the case is simply overwhelming . . . that this is happening on a large scale in many locations in China." He went on to suggest that governments pressure Chinese authorities by questioning involvement in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. "The lever we have, as you know, is [that] we've got the Olympic games in two years -- and if Australians will say this has to stop, and I think that if other governments do this as well, Canada, and the U.S. and Europe, I think they will stop. And at least the practice will end until the Games start. We all have to speak up on it." Others have agreed with Kilgour. Rabbi Reuven Bulka, a former Liberal cabinet minister, speaking at the World Congress of Cardio-Thoracic Surgeons on August 27, said: "If this doesn't stop, we're not going to send a team. And if enough countries don't send a team then maybe there won't be an Olympics. And that is the ultimate threat." Kilgour said he is optimistic, now that various government officials have promised to investigate the allegations made in his report. "I've actually met with the U.S. State Department and with Amnesty International in London, their head office, and with Human Rights Watch in New York . . . I'm quite encouraged that all three of those groups, along with others, are going to try to get to the bottom of this; but there is no doubt that the UN rapporteur on torture, Manfred Novak, in Vienna, is the one that should be [involved]. I'm working with him, too, so I'm optimistic that these inquiries will be done." Related stories:
China harvesting organs, Canadians say
City seeking injunction to remove Falun Gong shack, signs from front of
Chinese consulate
Falun Gong denounces mayor
Falun Gong protesters oppose injunction
Boycott Beijing Games, Canada urged
China's bloody harvest
Free speech never more needed than against evil
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