UPDATE: In light of the recent confirmation of China’s organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners in China exposed in the Kilgour-Matas report released July 6, I urge everyone to share their views with the President of the World Transplant Congress. The WTC will be held in Boston from July 22-27 and at least 1,000 doctors from China are expected to attend. This is your/our chance to tell the WTC President Dr. Cosimi that a motion should be passed to stop this atrocity and that they should invite David Kilgour as a keynote speaker to further explain the situation. Toronto Sun Peter Worthington says this about Kilgour: A man of principles; Silence in the face of evil is not David Kilgour's way. Sadly, there are few like him in seats of power.
Your may recycle this letter if you’d like by sending to as many people in the medical profession as possible--merely to raise awareness to this ‘new form of evil on the planet’ as Matas best described it. Scroll down to sign petitions.
A. Benedict Cosimi, MD
Chief, Division of Transplantation Surgery
Massachusetts General Hospital
55 Fruit Street
White 506
Boston MA 02114-2696
wtc@ahint.com, pballinger@hint.com
Dear Dr. Cosimi:
On July 6, 2006, a 45-page independent investigative report was released that addresses allegations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong detainees. Co-authored by former Canadian Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) David Kilgour and human rights attorney David Matas, the report draws "the regrettable conclusion that the allegations are true."
Speaking with the press, Kilgour said, "I don't think anyone can have any doubt that this unbelievable practice is continuing... They take both kidneys, then the heart and the skin and the corneas and the liver, and your body is then thrown in the incinerator."
The report identifies the perpetrators specifically as "the government of China and its agencies in numerous parts of the country, in particular hospitals but also detention centres and 'people's courts'."
"The allegations here are so shocking that they are almost impossible to believe," the report states. "[They] represent a grotesque form of evil which, despite all the depravations humanity has seen, would be new to this planet. The very horror makes us reel back in disbelief. But that disbelief does not mean that the allegations are untrue."
Kilgour and Matas spent weeks gathering and verifying evidence for the report, interviewing witnesses, and attempting travel to China. The Chinese Embassy did not accede to the team's request for travel to China for investigative purposes.
The report also details at length the team's methods of investigation and the process of evaluating evidence.
"Our conclusion comes not from any one single item of evidence, but rather the piecing together of all the evidence we have considered. 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."
It’s worth mentioning that China's organ harvesting practices have been condemned by Stephen Wigmore, Ethics Committee Chairman at the British Transplantation Society, as well as by physicians at transplantation societies in AU/NZ and in several other European countries. The American Society of Transplantation has not yet commented publicly on these charges, or on the Kilgour/Matas report.
Some public officials, NGOs and medical professionals have to date not spoken out, because until recently the charges had not been supported by independent third parties. China's organ harvesting network is understood to be run by CCP military and as such is a highly secret and controlled operation, difficult to verify.
Now there is the independent Kilgour/Matas report, and an independent investigation by a European Parliament VP, Edward McMillan-Scott, who last month secretly interviewed Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing. His investigation concluded that the charges were legitimate and require immediate international investigation. Since his visit, one of the practitioners he interviewed was put under house arrest; the other has gone missing.
We hope that before or during the upcoming AST conference in Boston, Canadian and American physicians will speak out to condemn the atrocities in China, the practice of China's "organ tourism" and the use of Chinese organs from living prisoners of conscience for transplantation worldwide. We strongly feel that a motion should be passed to this effect.
It is clear that the World Transplant Congress would benefit tremendously by having David Kilour as a keynote speaker at the upcoming Congress in Boston. Mr. Kilgour is currently presenting his report to the European Parliament in Brussels, with stops in Berlin, London and then to Washington DC by the end of next week.
For the greater good of humanity, the international community needs to stop this atrocity---the truth can no longer wait to be revealed and needs to be acted upon now.
The Kilgour/Matas report can be downloaded here. More information can be found here about McMillan-Scott's independent investigation.
Related Articles:
CTV: Chinese embassy denies organ harvesting report
ABC (Australia) Report alleges Chinese Govt harvesting body organs of political prisoners
Global National: Groups claim China harvests human organs
CBC: Report claims China harvests body parts from Falun Gong for transplant
News1130: (BC) Transplant Society shocked by Chinese organ harvesting report
Washington Post: Team says China harvests Falun Gong organs
New York Times: Team Says China Harvests Falun Gong Organs
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