I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3694 

To combat trafficking in human organs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 6, 2015 

Mr. TROTT (for himself and Mr. DEUTCH) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To combat trafficking in human organs, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strategy To Oppose 

5 Predatory Organ Trafficking Act’’ or the ‘‘STOP Organ 

6 Trafficking Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) The World Health Organization (WHO) es10 timates that approximately 10 percent of all trans11 planted kidneys worldwide are illegally obtained, 


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1 often bought from vulnerable impoverished persons 

2 or forcibly harvested from prisoners. 

3 (2) In 2004, the World Health Assembly passed 

4 a resolution urging its member-states to take meas5 ures to protect the poorest as well as vulnerable 

6 groups from exploitation by organ traffickers. 

7 (3) On February 13, 2008, the United Nations 

8 Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking 

9 (UNGIFT) hosted the ‘‘Vienna Forum to Fight 

10 Human Trafficking’’, and subsequently reported 

11 that a lack of adequate illicit organ trafficking laws 

12 has provided opportunity for the illegal trade to 

13 grow. 

14 (4) On March 21, 2011, the Council of the Eu15 ropean Union adopted rules supplementing the defi16 nition of criminal offenses and the level of sanctions 

17 in order to strengthen the prevention of organ traf18 ficking and the protection of those victims. 

19 (5) In November 2012, Erasmus University 

20 Hospital along with institutions in Romania, Swe21 den, Bulgaria, and Spain launched a 3-year study 

22 backed by Europol into illegal organ trafficking, and 

23 released a statement that, ‘‘there are more and more 

24 indicators of ‘organ tourism’, whereby a patient 

25 travels abroad with the aim of receiving a transVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Oct 09, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3694.IH H3694

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1 planted organ which may have been bought . . . do2 nors are often victims of human trafficking.’’. 

3 (6) According to organ trafficking specialists at 

4 the WHO, Moldova ranks third as a source of or5 gans for sale on the global black market, with such 

6 human organs frequently smuggled to underground 

7 clinics located in several European Union member8 states. 

9 (7) Between 2001 and 2003, a South African 

10 black market kidney transplant ring coerced over 

11 109 people, mostly from Brazil and Romania, to 

12 travel to Durban, South Africa, to forfeit a kidney 

13 for the promise of approximately $120,000, although 

14 payment was frequently withheld following the oper15 ation. 

16 (8) On May 3, 2004, Afghanistan’s Interior 

17 Minister Ali Ahmed Lakali stated that the problem 

18 of child abduction was growing and children were 

19 being taken to be sold for ‘‘sex or labor, or to pro20 vide human organs’’. 

21 (9) In March 2006, a children’s rights expert at 

22 the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, 

23 Hengameh Anwari, stated, ‘‘Other reports that 

24 cause concern indicate that a number of children are 

25 abducted because of their body organs; they become 


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1 victims of trafficking to foreign countries especially 

2 for their kidneys.’’. 

3 (10) In June 2001, Dr. Wang Guogi testified 

4 before the Subcommittee on International Organiza5 tions and Human Rights of the Committee on Inter6 national Relations of the House of Representatives 

7 that Chinese hospitals worked in collusion with state 

8 security agencies to extract organs from executed 

9 prisoners without written consent of the organ do10 nors, and that these transplants were a lucrative 

11 source of income. 

12 (11) Researcher and journalist Ethan Gutmann 

13 estimates that approximately 65,000 Falun Gong 

14 adherents may have been killed for their organs 

15 from 2000 to 2008, and that a number of other reli16 gious and ethnic minorities may also have been tar17 geted. 

18 (12) On November 20, 2004, Xin Ren from 

19 California State University stated to the Inter20 national Bureau for Children’s Rights Conference in 

21 Montreal, that, ‘‘[In India, Pakistan, and some other 

22 Asian countries in 2003] [c]hildren were often either 

23 sold by their parents for little money or kidnapped 

24 and abducted by the traffickers to have their 

25 organ(s) removed for transplant purpose . . . 


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1 [S]ome people were even murdered in the process of 

2 forcible removal of their organs.’’. 

3 (13) The website of the Organ Transplant Cen4 ter of the Armed Police General Hospital in Beijing, 

5 China touted that, ‘‘Our Organ Transplant Center is 

6 our main department for making money . . . This 

7 year (2004) there is a chance to break through 

8 30,000,000 yuan.’’. 

9 (14) Canadian researchers David Matas, human 

10 rights attorney, and David Kilgour, former Cana11 dian Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, conducted 

12 an investigation into allegations of organ harvesting 

13 from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience in 2006, 

14 and based on extensive circumstantial evidence, their 

15 report concluded that the allegations were true and 

16 that tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners 

17 may have been killed for their organs. 

18 (15) In mid-November 2006, China’s Deputy 

19 Health Minister Huang Jiefu acknowledged that 

20 condemned prisoners are sources for organ trans21 plants, and Asia News reported that Deputy Health 

22 Minister Huang had said he was cognizant of the 

23 fact that too often organs come from non-consenting 

24 parties and are sold for high fees to foreigners. 


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1 (16) In May 2006, the website for the China 

2 International Transplantation Network Assistance 

3 Centre posted the following statements in its fre4 quently asked questions section: ‘‘The First Affili5 ated Hospital of China was established in 2003 spe6 cifically for our foreign friends . . . Viscera pro7 viders can be found immediately! . . . Our organs 

8 do not come from brain death victims because the 

9 organ may not be good.’’. 

10 (17) In November 2008, the United Nations 

11 Committee on Torture reported concern over the al12 legations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong pris13 oners and called on the Government of the People’s 

14 Republic of China to increase accountability and 

15 transparency in the organ transplant system and 

16 punish those individuals responsible for abuses. 

17 (18) In 2005, the United States ratified the 

18 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Traf19 ficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, 

20 a supplement to the United Nations Convention 

21 against Transnational Organized Crime, which in22 cludes the removal of organs as a form of exploi23 tation under the definition of ‘‘trafficking in per24 sons’’. 


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1 (19) On March 30, 2006, the Police Super2 intendent of Paranaque, Philippines, arrested a sus3 pect alleged to have ties to a regional kidnapping 

4 syndicate involved with abducting children in order 

5 to remove their organs and sell them on the global 

6 black market, as in the case of a child discovered 

7 dead in Cavite, Philippines, with his internal organs 

8 missing. 

9 (20) On April 12, 2008, police raided a black 

10 market organ transplant house near Manila, Phil11 ippines, arresting three traffickers and discovering 

12 nine donors in the house, one of whom stated to au13 thorities that he had been promised $2,800 for his 

14 kidney, and he was doing it because, ‘‘I can barely 

15 provide for my wife and children.’’. 

16 (21) In November 2008, the National Bureau 

17 of Investigation’s Human Trafficking Division in the 

18 Philippines reported, ‘‘the abducted children are 

19 housed somewhere in Mindanao where victims are 

20 supplied with vitamin supplements to keep their in21 ternal organs healthy, and are then transported out22 side the country to undergo surgery for organ trans23 plants’’. 


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1 (22) In 2007, Pakistan was identified by the 

2 WHO as one of the top destinations for ‘‘transplant 

3 tourism’’. 

4 (23) Pakistani authorities in April 2007 raided 

5 a black market organ ring in Lahore that consisted 

6 of doctors, officials, and middlemen who had ab7 ducted potential donors, drugged them and removed 

8 their kidneys without consent to then sell for profit. 

9 (24) Dr. Zafar ul Ahsan, a top urologist at 

10 Fatima Jinnah Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan, stated 

11 in September 2007, ‘‘A mafia is running Pakistan’s 

12 kidney transplant business with agents paying 

13 $1,000 to poor donors and then selling their kidneys 

14 on the black market for thousands of dollars.’’. 

15 (25) In 2007, five employees of the tissue bank 

16 at the Faculty Hospital in Brno-Bohunice, the Czech 

17 Republic, were arrested and charged with illegal 

18 organ trafficking for selling more than $340,000 

19 worth of illegally obtained skin grafts to a tissue 

20 bank in the Netherlands. 

21 (26) In January 2008, the Government of In22 dia’s Health Ministry released an estimate that more 

23 than 100,000 kidney transplants are needed in India 

24 each year, but only 5,000 are performed legally. 


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1 (27) A February 2008 police raid on an organ 

2 trafficking ring in Gurgaon, India, found that men 

3 posed as doctors to remove kidneys from migrant la4 borers, and conducted approximately 500 illegal kid5 ney transplants over nine years. 

6 (28) On April 8, 2009, the Global Post in Cairo 

7 reported that the Egyptian Government was consid8 ering measures to increase the number of legal 

9 organ donations to meet demand, which included a 

10 proposal to harvest organs from executed criminals, 

11 with or without their consent, as then Ministry of 

12 Health spokesman, Dr. Abdel Rahman Shahin stat13 ed, ‘‘They are saying that when [convicts’] organs 

14 are taken, they’re compensating for the bad they 

15 did.’’. 

16 (29) In November 2010, Netcare KwaZulu, a 

17 hospital in South Africa’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal 

18 province, pleaded guilty to illegally removing kidneys 

19 from five minors between 2001 and 2003. 

20 (30) On January 12, 2011, Doctor Yusuf 

21 Sonmez, who has been dubbed the ‘‘Turkish Frank22 enstein’’, was arrested in Pristina for his alleged 

23 participation in illegal organ trafficking in Kosovo 

24 and Azerbaijan. 


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1 (31) In April 2013, a Kosovo court convicted 

2 five defendants for conducting over 30 illegal harvest 

3 operations in an organ trafficking ring at the 

4 Medicus clinic, where impoverished people from Tur5 key, Russia, Moldova, and Kazakhstan were coerced 

6 into selling their kidneys. 

7 (32) In 2011, Egypt passed a law prohibiting 

8 the exchange of money for human organs and re9 stricting human organ donations to relatives up to 

10 four degrees removed. 

11 (33) In February 2015, the Iraqi Ambassador 

12 to the United Nations alleged that the Islamic State 

13 was illegally harvesting organs from murdered civil14 ians to finance their operations. 

15 (34) According to a 2013 United Nations re16 port from the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in 

17 persons, especially women and children, the eco18 nomic and social divisions within and among coun19 tries is notably reflected in the illicit organ traf20 ficking market, in which the victims are commonly 

21 poor, unemployed, and more susceptible to deceit 

22 and extortion. 

23 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

24 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) the kidnapping or coercion of individuals for 

2 the purpose of extracting their organs for profit is 

3 in contradiction of the ideals and standards for eth4 ical behavior upon which the United States has 

5 based its laws; 

6 (2) the harvesting of organs from living chil7 dren, regardless of the level of brain activity, is a 

8 violation of the human rights of the child and is a 

9 breach of internationally accepted medical ethical 

10 standards described in WHO Assembly Resolution 

11 57.18 (May 22, 2004); 

12 (3) the illegal harvesting and trafficking of 

13 human organs violates the Universal Declaration of 

14 Human Rights, in Article 3 which states that ‘‘Ev15 eryone has the right to life, liberty and security of 

16 person.’’, and in Article 4 which states that ‘‘No one 

17 shall be held in slavery or servitude.’’; and 

18 (4) efficient national organ donation systems 

19 with effective enforcement mechanisms that ensure 

20 voluntary organ donations are the most effective way 

21 to combat trafficking in human organs. 

22 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

23 It shall be the policy of the United States to— 

24 (1) combat the international trafficking in 

25 human organs; 


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1 (2) promote the adoption of national transplan2 tation systems that ensure voluntary organ donation 

3 processes in bilateral diplomatic meetings, as well as 

4 in international health forums; and 

5 (3) promote the dignity and security of human 

6 life in accordance to the Universal Declaration of 

7 Human Rights. 

8 SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT BASIC 

9 AUTHORITIES ACT OF 1956. 

10 Section 42 of the State Department Basic Authorities 

11 Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2714) is amended— 

12 (1) in the section heading, by adding at the end 

13 the following: ‘‘AND ORGAN TRAFFICKERS’’; 

14 (2) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘convicted 

15 of an offense described in subsection (b) of this sec16 tion during the period described in subsection (c) of 

17 this section’’ and inserting ‘‘convicted of an offense 

18 described in subsection (b) or (c) of this section dur19 ing the period described in subsection (d) of this sec20 tion’’; 

21 (3) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and 

22 (e) as subsections (d), (e), and (f), respectively; and 

23 (4) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol24 lowing new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(c) HUMAN ORGAN TRAFFICKING OFFENSES.— 

2 Subsection (a) of this section applies with respect to any 

3 individual convicted of an offense under section 301 of the 

4 National Organ Transplant Act (42 U.S.C. 274e) if such 

5 individual used a passport or otherwise crossed an inter6 national border in the commission of such an offense.’’. 

7 SEC. 6. ACTIONS UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY 

8 ECONOMIC POWERS ACT AND AMENDMENTS 

9 TO THE TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION 

10 ACT OF 2000. 

11 (a) INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POW12 ERS ACT.—The President may exercise the authorities 

13 specified in section 203 of the International Emergency 

14 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702) without regard 

15 to section 202 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) in the case 

16 of travel abroad by United States citizens for the purpose 

17 of participation in any activity relating to trafficking in 

18 human organs. 

19 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 103 of the Trafficking 

20 Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (3)— 

23 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

24 at the end; 


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1 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

2 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

4 subparagraph: 

5 ‘‘(D) exploitation of a person through the 

6 promise of the granting of payments or benefits 

7 in order to compel or entice the person to con8 sent to the removal of one or more of the per9 son’s organs for a transplant operation, in a 

10 manner contrary to the standards described in 

11 WHO Assembly Resolution WHA 57.18 (May 

12 22, 2004).’’; 

13 (2) in paragraph (9)— 

14 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

15 at the end; 

16 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

17 period at the end and inserting: ‘‘; or’’; and 

18 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

19 subparagraph: 

20 ‘‘(C) trafficking in human organs (as de21 fined in paragraph (13)).’’; 

22 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (13) through 

23 (15) as paragraphs (14) through (16), respectively; 

24 (4) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol25 lowing new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(13) TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN ORGANS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘trafficking 

3 in human organs’ means— 

4 ‘‘(i) the recruitment, transportation, 

5 transfer, harboring, or receipt of a person, 

6 either living or deceased, for the purpose of 

7 removing one or more of the person’s or8 gans, by means of— 

9 ‘‘(I) coercion; 

10 ‘‘(II) abduction; 

11 ‘‘(III) deception; 

12 ‘‘(IV) abuse of power or a posi13 tion of vulnerability; or 

14 ‘‘(V) transfer of payments or 

15 benefits to achieve the consent of a 

16 person having control over a person 

17 described in the matter preceding sub18 clause (I); or 

19 ‘‘(ii) the illicit transportation and 

20 transplantation of organs in one or more 

21 other persons for profit or any other pur22 pose. 

23 ‘‘(B) ORGAN DEFINED.—In subparagraph 

24 (A), the term ‘organ’ means the human (includ25 ing fetal) kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas, 


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1 bone marrow, cornea, eye, bone, and skin or 

2 any subpart thereof and any other human 

3 organ (or any subpart thereof, including that 

4 derived from a fetus) specified by the President 

5 by regulation for purposes of this division.’’; 

6 and 

7 (5) in paragraph (15), as so redesignated, by 

8 inserting before the period at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘or (13)’’. 

10 (c) INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE TO MONITOR AND

11 COMBAT TRAFFICKING.—Section 105(d)(3) of the Traf12 ficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 

13 7103(d)(3)) is amended by inserting after the first sen14 tence the following new sentence: ‘‘Such procedures shall 

15 include collection and organization of data from human 

16 rights officers at United States embassies on host coun17 try’s laws against trafficking in human organs and any 

18 instances of violations of such laws.’’. 

19 SEC. 7. REPORTING. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than six months after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act and annually there22 after, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appro23 priate congressional committees a report that includes the 

24 following information: 


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1 (1) A list of the ten countries determined to be 

2 the greatest sources, facilitators, or recipients of 

3 trafficking in human organs during the period cov4 ered by each such report. 

5 (2) Any actions taken by each country included 

6 on a list under paragraph (1) to address and prevent 

7 trafficking in human organs. 

8 (3) Any cooperative efforts by the United 

9 States and each country included on a list under 

10 paragraph (1) to address and prevent trafficking in 

11 human organs through joint public awareness cam12 paigns. 

13 (4) Information regarding practices of traf14 ficking in human organs of each country included on 

15 a list under paragraph (1) in the Department of 

16 State’s travel advisories. 

17 (b) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—The reports re18 quired under subsection (a) shall include the collection and 

19 organization of data from human rights officers at United 

20 States diplomatic and consular posts on host countries’ 

21 laws against trafficking in human organs and any in22 stances of violations of such laws. 

23 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

4 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

5 Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

6 (2) COERCION.—The term ‘‘coercion’’ means 

7 the exploitation of a person through the promise or 

8 granting of payments or benefits in order to compel 

9 or entice such person to consent to the removal of 

10 one or more of such person’s organs for a transplant 

11 operation, in a manner contrary to the standards de12 scribed in WHO Assembly Resolution WHA 57.18 

13 (May 22, 2004). 

14 (3) HUMAN ORGAN.—The term ‘‘human organ’’ 

15 means the human (including fetal) kidney, liver, 

16 heart, lung, pancreas, bone marrow, cornea, eye, 

17 bone, and skin or any subpart thereof and any other 

18 human organ (or any subpart thereof, including that 

19 derived from a fetus). 

20 (4) TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN ORGANS.—The 

21 term ‘‘trafficking in human organs’’ means— 

22 (A) the recruitment, transportation, trans23 fer, harboring, or receipt of a person, either liv24 ing or deceased, for the purpose of removing 


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1 one or more of such person’s human organs, by 

2 means of— 

3 (i) coercion; 

4 (ii) abduction; 

5 (iii) deception; 

6 (iv) abuse of power or a position of 

7 vulnerability; or 

8 (v) transfer of payments or benefits to 

9 achieve the consent of a person having con10 trol over a person described in the matter 

11 preceding subparagraph (A); and 

12 (B) the illicit transportation and trans13 plantation of such human organs in one or 

14 more other persons for profit or any other pur15 pose. 

16 SEC. 9. LIMITATION ON FUNDS. 

17 No additional funds are authorized to be appro18 priated to carry out this Act or any amendment made by 

19 this Act. 

Æ 


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