Reflector (Calgary, Canada): Organs for sale

Imagine a thirteen-year-old girl lying on a stretcher in the cold corridors of an operating room. Her appearance is beyond lean due to previous weeks, perhaps months, of starvation. She has been terribly beaten and now, she is given a mild anesthetic. Though she is still conscious, a doctor hovers over her and proceeds to remove her corneas and then, moves down--next are her kidneys. Alive, though unable to fight back, her body is transferred to its fiery demise inside an incinerator.

In the past weeks, like stories have emerged, which have some wondering how, when echoes of "never again" still resound in a post-WWII air, such a horrific events could take place.

Recently, several witnesses have come forth in the Epoch Times, an independent Chinese newspaper, claiming such a scenario in China. The anonymous sources, which range from a Chinese journalist to ex-government employees, all claim that the Chinese government has detained as many as 6000 Falun Gong practitioners since 2001.

In special facilities designed to detain prisoners, they have been harvesting organs for profit - mainly corneas, kidneys and livers. Their bodies, still alive, are thrown into incinerators, destroying the evidence.

The sources also claim that two-thirds of the detainees have already been killed. One such facility is said to be located at Sujiatun hospital in Shenyang, the capital city of China's Liaoning Province.

China has been accused before

China has been notorious in harvesting the organs of criminals for many years, said David Matas, a practicing lawyer from Winnipeg who specializes in human rights, immigration and refugee law.

Matas also serves as the Director of the International Human Rights Centre and Lawyers for Social Responsibility.

"This has been a consistent problem," Matas said. "However, recent information that the phenomenon has spread to the Falun Gong is disturbing."

Falun Gong, a strain of Buddhism which employs meditative exercises, has been banned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1999. The CCP has labeled the group [and persecuted it brutally].

Thousands of practitioners are believed to be dead, while hundreds of thousands have been detained, jailed, and forced into labour camps.

Many claim to have been tortured under, what the CCP has called, their "re-education through labour system," and what former CCP leader Jiang Zemin labeled his goal to "eradicate Falun Gong."

Such allegations have sparked an investigation by UN torture investigator, Manfred Nowak, as well as the attention of Amnesty International.

As of December 2005, 61 lawsuits had been filed in about 30 countries charging Jiang and several other senior officials with genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity for their roles in the treatment of Falun Gong in mainland China.

However, the International media has remained largely silent on the issue, claiming lack of evidence.

"There are millions of stories on the persecution of Falun Gong in China", said Matas.

However, China's economic and political influence has contributed to the secrecy of the issue, he said.

Stories from the prison camps

Patrick*, 34, is a PhD student of Mechanical Engineering at the U of C. He is also a practitioner of Falun Gong.

Patrick came to Canada in August of 2005 after spending three years in a Chinese Prison.

After being caught for downloading Falun Gong information over the Internet, he was sentenced to three years, while his wife, Alice*, was sentenced to twelve.

While in prison, Patrick said he endured severe physical and mental torture by officers.

Initially, he was sent to a detention centre before being transferred to jail.

"At one point," he said, "I spent six months of solitary confinement in six square meters and utterly deprived of human contact. Often, they tortured me by keeping me awake for a days at a time."

After spending over a year in the detention centre, Patrick was transferred to a Chinese labour camp.

"At first, I was forced into heavy labour until they found out I was a graduate student at China's most famous university, Tsinghua University in Beijing," he said. "Then, they asked me to develop the prison management program."

Patrick spoke of other colleagues and friends who were also arrested, many of whom he cannot find.

"I cannot get information on them," he said, "they have been lost for years -- even their family members do not know where they are."

A short history of Falun Gong

Falun Gong was introduced to the public in 1992. The practice is based on [Master Li's] teachings of truth, compassion and tolerance. Falun Gong incorporates meditation into its practice.

The practice quickly gained popularity in China. Even high-ranking government officials were partaking in Li's lectures and readings.

In China, a strictly controlled society, mass organization without consent of the government is unheard of.

As a result, many feel that by early 1999, former leader of the CCP Jiang felt threatened. Rumors flourished that he wished to make Falun Gong illegal.

Consequently, Jiang personally denounced the practice [...]

In the next few months, large silent protests were held by Falun Gong members against Jiang. By April 1999, the CCP had declared it an [slanderous word omitted] and the campaign against the practice began.

Persecuted for their beliefs

Patrick believes that practicing Falun Gong improved his health.

"I had previously suffered from insomnia, but Falun Gong helped me recover and allowed me to do well in my research work."

Currently, he is trying to seek help from the Canadian government to rescue his wife.

"I don't know how she is," he said. "Since moving to Canada, I have been unable to contact her."

After a long pause, Patrick began again.

"During all of this, they [the CCP] tried to ask me to change my belief," he said.

"I don't understand why," he said, "we are a peaceful people."

*names have been changed to protect the identities of sources