Vancouver: Illicit Organ Harvesting and Transplant Tourism Forum

The BC Friends of Falun Gong cordially invite you to attend a public forum entitled:

Illicit Organ Harvesting and Transplant Tourism in China
Monday Nov.20^th, 7:00 pm

Simon Fraser University515 W. Hastings, Vancouver

Room: 1900, Fletcher Challenge Theater

The keynote speakers are:

• Mr. David Matas, a noted international human rights lawyer from Winnipeg. A former President of the Canadian Council of Refugees, Mr. Matas is active in such organizations as Amnesty International, Helsinki Watch and the International Commission of Jurists. He is also Honourary Legal Counsel for B'nai Brith Canada;

• acclaimed scholar and author Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka of Toronto Congregation Machzikei Hadas. He is a member of the Canadian Council for Donation and Transplantation;

• prominent human rights attorney Clive Ansley, a well-known specialist on China who has been actively involved with China and Sino-Canadian relations for more than forty years. He is the China Country Monitor for Lawyers’ Right Watch Canada (LRWC). Now a resident of Courtenay, Mr. Ansley worked and taught in China as a Canadian law specialist for 14 years.

Mr. Matas’ recent report on human organ trafficking, “Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China,” co-authored by former MP David Kilgour, came to the shocking conclusion that Falun Gong practitioners’ vital organs are being extracted while they are still alive. The organs are then sold to the highest bidder while the practitioners’ bodies are subsequently burned in a crematory to destroy all evidence. In order to halt this macabre practice, Mr. Matas has suggested that such a complex matter must be approached from both the justice side and the demand side.

If you are concerned about these allegations regarding the procurement of organs and tissues through coercive or exploitative practices in China, or practices that violate worldwide human rights standards, then this forum is for you. An organ transplant can save a life, but removing an organ from a living person for transplant and killing them in the process - such as in the case of the Falun Gong - is manslaughter.

We hope you will join us for this important forum regarding the booming and lucrative organ trade in China and its repercussions. Let us explore together how we can stop such an abhorrent practice in the 21^st century. Your participation is sure to make this forum a success. Please note that members of the Vancouver media will be invited to attend.

Mary Woo Sims & Sadie Kuehn
Co-Chairs, BC Friends of Falun Gong

BC Friends of Falun Gong is a non-for-profit organization composed of human rights advocates and activists who are appalled by the discriminatory treatment of individuals solely because of their beliefs. BCFOFG is dedicated to actively support the efforts of Falun Gong practitioners by bringing the illegal and inhumane persecution of practitioners by the Chinese Government to the attention of the Canadian people and the Canadian government. Falun Gong, a.k.a Falun Dafa, is a practice of mind and body based on the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. Many people worldwide are practitioners of Falun Dafa.