IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 281 

Expressing concern over persistent and credible reports of systematic, statesanctioned organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of conscience, 

in the People’s Republic of China, including from large numbers of 

Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned for their religious beliefs, and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2013 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself and Mr. ANDREWS) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing concern over persistent and credible reports of 

systematic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting from nonconsenting prisoners of conscience, in the People’s Republic of China, including from large numbers of Falun 

Gong practitioners imprisoned for their religious beliefs, 

and members of other religious and ethnic minority 

groups. 

Whereas when performed in accordance with ethical standards, the medical discipline of organ transplantation is 

one of the great achievements of modern medicine; 

Whereas the People’s Republic of China performs more than 

10,000 organ transplantations per year, yet as of May 


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2013 it did not have an organized or effective public system of organ donation or distribution; 

Whereas the organ transplantation system in China does not 

comply with the World Health Organization’s requirement of transparency and traceability in organ procurement pathways, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China has resisted independent scrutiny of the 

system; 

Whereas the Department of State Country Report on Human 

Rights for China for 2011 stated, ‘‘Overseas and domestic media and advocacy groups continued to report instances of organ harvesting, particularly from Falun 

Gong practitioners and Uighurs’’; 

Whereas due in part to traditional views on the importance 

of preserving the body intact after death, China has very 

low rates of voluntary organ donations; 

Whereas the People’s Republic of China implemented regulations in 1984 that permitted the harvesting of organs 

from executed prisoners; 

Whereas in June 2001, Chinese doctor Wang Guoqi testified 

before the House of Representatives International Relations Subcommittee on International Organizations and 

Human Rights that hospitals worked in collusion with 

state security agencies to extract organs from executed 

prisoners without written consent of the organ donors, 

and that these transplants were a lucrative source of income; 

Whereas former Vice-Minister of Health Huang Jiefu admitted publicly that more than 90 percent of transplant organs extracted from deceased donors stemmed from executed prisoners in China; 


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Whereas voluntary and informed consent is the precondition 

for ethical organ donation and international medical organizations state that prisoners, deprived of their freedom, are not in the position to give free consent and that 

the practice of sourcing organs from prisoners is a violation of ethical guidelines in medicine; 

Whereas Falun Gong, a spiritual practice involving meditative 

‘‘qigong’’ exercises and centered on the values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, became immensely popular in the 1990s, with multiple estimates placing the 

number of practitioners upwards of 70,000,000; 

Whereas in July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party 

launched an intensive, nationwide persecution designed to 

eradicate the spiritual practice of Falun Gong, reflecting 

the party’s long-standing intolerance of large independent 

civil society groups; 

Whereas since 1999, hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong 

practitioners have been detained extra-legally in reeducation-through-labor camps, detention centers, and prisons, 

where torture and abuse are routine; 

Whereas in many detention facilities and labor camps, Falun 

Gong prisoners of conscience comprise the majority of the 

population, and have been said to receive the longest sentences and the worst treatment; 

Whereas in order to protect their families and associates, 

many Falun Gong prisoners of conscience refuse to provide real names or other personally identifying information to security agencies, thus making them more vulnerable to abuses; 


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Whereas the number of organ transplant operations in China 

increased significantly after 1999, corresponding with the 

onset of the persecution of Falun Gong; 

Whereas this increase does not appear to be attributable either to an overall increase in the number of death row 

inmates or to an increase in voluntary donations, and in 

fact, human rights groups and legal experts believe there 

has been a decrease in the number of executions in China 

in recent years; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

has failed to adequately account for the sources of the excess organs; 

Whereas Chinese hospitals have advertised wait times of 2 to 

4 weeks for kidney and liver transplants, and documented 

cases of scheduled heart transplantations with 3 weeks 

advanced notice; 

Whereas because organs have a very limited survival period 

outside the body, such short wait times are best explained 

by the existence of a large pool of living donors whose organs can be harvested on demand; 

Whereas interviews conducted with previously imprisoned 

Falun Gong practitioners suggest that, while in custody, 

they were targeted for medical exams, including blood 

and urine tests, x-rays, ultra-sounds, and selective physical exams; 

Whereas the targeted nature of these exams suggests they 

are intended to assess the health of the practitioners’ 

vital organs and their potential candidacy for organ harvesting; 

Whereas other prisoner groups are generally not subjected to 

such medical tests; 


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Whereas Canadian researchers David Matas, human rights 

attorney, and David Kilgour, former Canadian Secretary 

of State for Asia-Pacific, conducted an investigation into 

allegations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience in 2006, based on extensive circumstantial evidence, their report concluded that the allegations were true and that tens of thousands of Falun 

Gong practitioners may have been killed for their organs; 

Whereas in 2006, doctors from 17 Chinese hospitals admitted 

in phone calls with undercover investigators that they 

used or could obtain vital organs of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience for transplant, with some of the doctors implicating local courts and security agencies in the 

organ procurement process; 

Whereas researcher and journalist Ethan Gutmann estimates 

that approximately 65,000 Falun Gong adherents may 

have been killed for their organs from 2000 to 2008, and 

that a smaller number of other religious and ethnic minorities may also have been targeted; 

Whereas Gutmann published findings that Chinese security 

agencies began harvesting organs from members of the 

predominantly Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority group in 

the 1990s, including from Uyghur political prisoners; 

Whereas in May 2012, the World Organization to Investigate 

the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) released telephone transcripts and audio recordings of conversations 

between undercover investigators and senior Chinese 

Communist Party officials, in which several officials indicated that central authorities were aware of or involved 

in organ harvesting from Falun Gong prisoners; 


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Whereas among those implicated were former Politburo member Bo Xilai and his deputy, Wang Lijun; 

Whereas the United Nations Committee Against Torture and 

the Special Rapporteur on Torture have expressed concern over the allegations of organ harvesting from Falun 

Gong prisoners, and have called on the Government of 

the People’s Republic of China to increase accountability 

and transparency in the organ transplant system and 

punish those responsible for abuses; 

Whereas the killing of religious or political prisoners for the 

purpose of selling their organs for transplant is an egregious and intolerable violation of the fundamental right 

to life; 

Whereas the Department of Health in Taiwan urged doctors 

in Taiwan to discourage patients from undergoing commercial organ transplants in China; and 

Whereas in September 2012, experts testified before the 

House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee that 

United States patients continue to travel to China for 

organ transplants and that the medical community continues cooperation and training with Chinese colleagues, 

creating the risk that they may be indirectly aiding abusive practices: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) calls on the Government of the People’s Re3 public of China to immediately end the practice of 

4 organ harvesting from all prisoners, and particularly 

5 from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience and mem6 bers of other religious and ethnic minority groups; 


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1 (2) calls for a full and transparent investigation 

2 by the United States Department of State into 

3 organ transplant practices in the People’s Republic 

4 of China, and for the prosecution of those found to 

5 have engaged in such unethical practices; 

6 (3) demands an immediate end to the 14-year 

7 persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual practice by 

8 the Communist Party of China, and the immediate 

9 release of all Falun Gong practitioners and other 

10 prisoners of conscience; 

11 (4) recommends that the United States State 

12 Department issue a travel warning for United States 

13 citizens traveling to China for organ transplants in14 forming them that the organ source for their oper15 ation may be a prisoner of conscience; and 

16 (5) recommends that the United States Govern17 ment publicly condemn organ transplantation abuses 

18 in China and ban the entry of those who have par19 ticipated in illegal removal of human tissues and or20 gans, prosecuting such individuals should they be 

21 found on United States soil. 

Æ 


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