WRITTEN QUESTION E-2397/00

by Lucio Manisco (GUE/NGL), Patricia McKenna (Verts/ALE), Elena Paciotti (PSE) and Giovanni Fava (PSE) to the Commission

(18 July 2000)

Subject: Trade in human organs removed from persons sentenced to death in the People's Republic of China

In a report from Malaysia published on 15 June 2000 in the International Herald Tribune, the respected journalist Thomas Fuller describes how in the People's Republic of China trade in organs removed from young persons sentenced to death and summarily executed is continuing under the most inhuman conditions and in Malaysia alone more than a thousand patients have travelled to Chinese state clinics and obtained kidney transplants at prices ranging from USD 10 000 to 12 000. According to Fuller, the methods used for the executions a pistol shot to the back of the neck makes these transplants particularly desirable as the organs removed are not damaged. These barbaric practices, which apparently include choosing the victim and date of an execution to meet the demand for organs, have previously been documented and condemned by Human Rights Watch, humanitarian organisations and international bodies. These appalling practices, of which rich European patients have apparently also taken advantage, were condemned in a European Parliament resolution of 14 May 1998 (Resolution B4-0496/98)(1), which called on the Commission and Council to make representations to the People's Republic of China with a view to ending the trade in human organs.

1. As a supporter of China's entry into the World Trade Organisation, albeit subject to the human rights clause, does the Commission not think that the sense of horror generated throughout the world by these inhuman practices is a serious obstacle to any further normalisation of relations with the People's Republic of China?

2. Will the Commission specify what measures it has taken or intends to take vis-à-vis the authorities of the People's Republic of China, the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation to end the trade in human organs removed from persons sentenced to death?

3. Will the Commission inform the European Parliament what has been done to implement the measures called for in its resolution of 14 May 1998 and with what results?

(1) OJ C 167, 1.6.1998, p. 224.

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(12 September 2000)

The Commission shares the concerns of the Honourable Members over the trade in human organs. Unfortunately, this is a global problem not restricted to China. There are numerous alleged incidents reported every year, but it is extremely difficult to establish facts about any individual cases.

The Honourable Members will recall that on 25 May 1998, the Chinese Ambassador to the Communities wrote to the President of the Parliament, following the Parliament's adoption, on 14 May 1998, of two resolutions that, inter alia, concerned China's alleged involvement in trading in human organs. In his letter, the Chinese Ambassador stated Any form of trade in human organs is in direct violation of Chinese Law and is strictly prohibited by the Chinese Government.

In view of the Chinese Ambassador's unequivocal statement about the Chinese Government's position on this issue, and without any hard evidence to the contrary, the Commission has not yet raised the issue with the Chinese authorities.

Should any hard evidence come to light, the Commission will certainly take up the matter. In the meantime, the Commission is continuing to study what actions the United Nations and the international community can take to ban this inhuman trade.

The Commission continues to pursue its human rights dialogue with China in order to obtain tangible improvements to the human rights situation in China. The Chinese Prime Minister re-affirmed the importance of this dialogue to China, when he visited the Commission on 11 July this year.