Epoch Times: Illegal Organ Business Booms

Translated from the Chinese edition
The Epoch Times

Aug 04, 2004

On July 17, 2004, the Scientific and Technology Museum of Taiwan held an exhibition of human anatomy. At the exhibition, all the human bodies and organs on display were provided by the Medical Association of China. Prior to the exhibition it was alleged that some of the bodies and organs were illegally obtained from executed Chinese criminals.

The trade in human organs is now a profitable venture in China. Foreigners from Southeast Asia, Taiwan or even Canada seek kidney transplants in China where Shanghai has become the main center for organ transplants. According to reliable sources within the Shanghai Police department, some police officers are conspiring with greedy doctors to sell the organs of dead criminals for large sums of money.

Between July 20, 1999 and July 1, 2004, at least 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death in China. These practitioners, 52 percent of whom were female, had an average age of 44 years. A recent report alleges that organs from some of these dead Falun Gong practitioners had been removed. This is a clear violation of human rights!

Dalian Human Anatomy Research

Recently, German Doctor Gunther von Hagens, held a human anatomy exhibition that was condemned by many human rights associations. It was revealed by the German media that some of the corpses in Dr. Hagens' exhibition were those of executed Chinese criminals. Dr. Hagens admitted that some of the bodies he exhibited had been shot in the head. Bright Mirror Weekly of Germany reported that Dr. Hagens has been trading in human corpses and organs for more than ten years. He has three sites for his business, the biggest in Dalian, located close to three Chinese labor camps. This site was formerly managed by Dr. Sui Hongjin, who hired 170 Chinese employees.

Dr. Hagens' human anatomy trade is worldwide and an extremely profitable business, receiving many orders from research departments of universities and hospitals around the world. His old manager, Dr. Sui Hongjin, left him and established another company to compete with Dr. Hagens. Many of the specimens exhibited publicly in Beijing and Hong Kong were provided by Dr. Sui Hongjin. Dr. Sui obtains the corpses of the dead criminals from the Chinese government in the same manner as Dr. Hagens.

Sale of Human Organs Condoned

In China, the removal of the organs of executed criminals is a practice condoned by the government. Many Chinese policemen, judges, and doctors are all willing to discuss how to obtain organs from dead criminals for commercial usage.

On June 27, 2001, Wang Guoqi, a doctor specializing in the burn victims unit at the Paramilitary Tianjin General Hospital in Tianjin, testified before the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights of the United States House of Representatives. He said in his testimony that he was sent by the hospital to remove skin and corneas from the corpses of over 100 executed prisoners at a crematorium.

Dr. Thomas Diflo and human rights activist Wu Hongda also testified. Dr. Diflo, who is working in the NYU Medical Center, wrote in his article, published in a May issue of the New York Village Voice that six of his patients who had kidney transplants in China came to him afterwards for medical care. These patients all told him that their new kidneys came from executed prisoners.

Organ Business Boom

Reliable sources report that kidney transplant patients from places such as Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Canada often travel to China to obtain a transplant operation. The cost is about 1 million Taiwan dollars (US$30,000). The usual arrangements are that after they receive the notification of an available kidney, they immediately travel to China. After spending a week in the hospital, they are provided with a suitable kidney.

On December 12, 2000, The Union Evening News of Singapore carried a detailed report for patients who were considering travelling to China to obtain kidney transplants.

On June 12, 2001, the Voice of America quoted a report from the Globe Post News of Canada that a businessman in Vancouver, arranged for Canadian patients to obtain kidney transplants in Shanghai. The report also pointed out that Shanghai had already become the main location for providing kidney transplants in China.

The Chinese media has reported that, at the beginning of this year, there were many advertisements for transplant kidneys and corneas in hospitals of Shanghai and Liaoning. Some advertisements listed the blood type and age of the donor, and the phone number of the contact person. According to the report, a kidney costs 100,000 yuan (US$12,000) in Shanyang.

Officials Steal And Trade In Organs From Executed Criminals
On February 16, 2004, the District Court for the City of Huludao in Liaoning Province held a hearing for a lawsuit against the local police station for stealing organs from a corpse. On August 4, 2002, Qiu Pigou coal miner Fang Yanjun, accidentally lost his life in the mine. On the next day, a post mortem examination was conducted by the Nanpiao Medical Examiner.

When Fang Yanjun's family members arrived, part of his organs were already missing. This had been done without the permission of his family members. The family of Fang Yanjun sued the Police Department of Hulutao City for illegal dissection of the corpse and stealing the organs. They sought compensation of 300,000 yuan (US$36,000).

On September 21, 2003, The Lanzhou Morning News posted an article, "Should The Family Members Have The Right to Know That The Organs Of Dead Criminals Are Missing?" The article reported in detail that on April 2, 2003, the District Court for the City of Dunhuang in Gansu Province stole and sold organs of three dead criminals without permission from their family members. The District Court argued that their behaviour was totally legal. They only gave 2,000 yuan (US$240) to the family members for compensation.

The Chinese Human Rights and Democratic Activities Information Center of Hong Kong disclosed on August 2, 2001, that the News Director of the Metropolitan Information News in Jiangxi Province, Yao Xiaohong, had been fired. She had reported that the District Court for Pingsiang city in Jiangxi Province had stolen the kidneys from corpses without permission. This action had incurred the wrath of the local government.

China is the country conducting most of the trade in human organs. Organs obtained from the corpses of executed criminals, if healthy, are being sold to hospitals or patients directly. If the organs are unsuitable for transplant, they are sold to companies such as the ones owned by Dr. Hagens and Dr. Sui. They are displayed all over the world.

Organs of Dead Falun Gong Practitioners "Missing"

In June 2004, Falun Gong practitioners charged that some Falun Gong practitioners, who had been tortured to death in jails, labor camps or police stations, had their organs illegally stolen and sold for transplant usage. Inspection of the corpses of some Falun Gong practitioners, who had been tortured to death, revealed the bodies had been dissected without the authority of their family members. Some of the corpses were missing organs. A source inside the Drug Rehabilitation Center of Guangzhou City reported that doctors there instructed the people inflicting torture, "do not hit the waist, the kidney is useful."

Ren Pengwu, 33, was distributing Falun Gong literature February 16, 2001. He was arrested by the Hulan County police and detained in the Hulan County Second Detention Center. Before dawn, Feb. 21, only five days after his detention, he was dead after being tortured. Without obtaining the family's permission, and under the guise of a "post mortem examination," the Hulan County authorities completely removed all of Ren Pengwu's organs, from his pharynx and larynx to his penis, then hastily cremated his body.

Zuo Zhigang, 33, and worked at a computer store in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. On May 30, 2001, police from the Public Security Bureau of Shijiazhuang City took him from his work place to the Qiaoxi District Police Station in Shijiazhuang. The police interrogated Zuo Zhigang, using various torture methods, and he was beaten to death the same day. His mutilated corpse revealed that one of his ears was dark purple and there were two big square-shaped holes on the back of his torso, revealing removal of organs. There was a mark on his neck showing that a cord had been pulled tightly around it.

Hao Runjuan of Guangzhou City was the very healthy mother of a two-year-old boy before she was arrested. After being continuously tortured for 22 days by police in the Baiyun Detention Center, she died. Upon her death, the police authorities conducted a post mortem examination without her family member's knowledge, even though the law requires the signature of a family member to approve an autopsy. When the family was told to identify the body, it was completely unrecognizable, but there were still fresh bloodstains on it. Because the body was so disfigured, none of her family members believed it was Hao Runjuan, even after viewing the body twice. The family had to take the two-year-old son for a DNA blood test to confirm the body was truly his mother's.

Yang Ruiyu of Fuzhou City was an employee at the Real Estate Bureau of Taijiang District. On July 19, 2001, Yang was taken away from her work. Only three days later, Yang died as a result of the abuse. After her death, the Fuzhou police warned Yang's family not to discuss the event with anyone. Yang's colleagues were not allowed to see her body or say goodbye, and no funeral was permitted. When the body was sent to be cremated, it was guarded by police cars, and cremated immediately upon arrival. Yang's husband and daughter were not allowed to view the body. They suspect her organs were harvested from her body.

Sun Ruijian, 29, left home on November 7, 2000, to appeal on behalf of Falun Gong in Beijing. He was arrested by Beijing police. On December 1, his family was told that he had died. They claimed that two Fujian police were sent to bring him back from Beijing and that he died after jumping out of the train at 4:00 p.m. on November 29, somewhere between the cities of Shunchang and Xiayang.

A man who was detained in the Drug Rehabilitation Center of Guangzhou City said that he saw some jailed drug addicts beating a Falun Gong practitioner while a doctor of the center was standing nearby. The doctor said, "Don't hit the waist, the kidney is useful." He heard doctors at the center tell the detained drug addicts that if they wanted to assault Falun Gong practitioners, they should not hit the waist or the eyes.

This man also saw several young male Falun Gong practitioners from northern China who did not return after being dragged from a detention room. Those Falun Gong practitioners had no families and relatives in Guangzhou and even though they went missing, nobody would ask after them. His observation in the Guangzhou City Drug Rehabilitation Center is that the Falun Gong practitioners from outside areas were often beaten by jailed drug addicts at the request of the center doctors. They also asked the drug addicts to avoid injuring internal organs.

Minghui.net, a website that reports Falun Gong news and information, urgently appeals to the international community to take action about the missing organ incidents, especially those of the Falun Gong practitioners. Also, Minghui.net asked the friends and relatives of the dead Falun Gong practitioners to collect and maintain any and all the evidence for these crimes, so that we may file lawsuit against all the criminal behavior in the future.

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