Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of petition 11/18 of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic calling "for the end of the Genocide of Falun Gong practitioners Committed by the Chinese Regime".
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have not made an assessment of this Petition in the Czech Senate. We remain concerned by all restrictions placed on freedom of religion or belief in China, including on practitioners of Falun Gong. There is credible evidence that Falun Gong practitioners are subjected to serious mistreatment in China.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Resolution 131 of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic made at the 7th meeting, held on 20 March, on the petition for ending the Chinese regime's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have not made an assessment of this Resolution in the Czech Senate. We remain concerned by all restrictions placed on freedom of religion or belief in China, including on practitioners of Falun Gong. There is credible evidence that Falun Gong practitioners are subjected to serious mistreatment in China.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 19 March (HL14297), whether they will ask the World Health Organisation to explain the basis for its view that China is implementing an ethical, voluntary organ transplant system in accordance with international standards.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The British Government continues to take these reports extremely seriously.
This includes the 2016 update to the Kilgour, Matas and Gutmann report and other information provided so far to the ongoing tribunal organised by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China and chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. We continue to scrutinise the situation carefully and review new information as it becomes available. At present, however, our assessment is that there is not a strong enough evidential base to substantiate the claim that systematic state-sponsored or sanctioned organ harvesting is taking place in China. We will continue to review any new evidence that is presented to us.
We will update the WHO via our Embassy in Beijing on the issues raised in the recent debate in Parliament, which included references to the 2016 update to the report 'Bloody Harvest/The Slaughter'. When doing so, my officials will ask the WHO to expand upon its assessment of China's organ transplant system. It would not be appropriate for us to ask the WHO to publish a statement on the evidence presented in the report 'Bloody Harvest/the Slaughter', although this does not preclude the authors of the report from doing so.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 19 March (HL14297), whether they will ask the World Health Organisation to (1) assess the report Bloody Harvest/the Slaughter: An update, published on 22 June 2016, and (2) publish a statement on the evidence presented in that report.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The British Government continues to take these reports extremely seriously.
This includes the 2016 update to the Kilgour, Matas and Gutmann report and other information provided so far to the ongoing tribunal organised by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China and chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. We continue to scrutinise the situation carefully and review new information as it becomes available.
We will update the WHO via our Embassy in Beijing on the issues raised in the recent debate in Parliament, which included references to the 2016 update to the report ‘Bloody Harvest/The Slaughter’. When doing so, my officials will ask the WHO to expand upon its assessment of China’s organ transplant system. It would not be appropriate for us to ask the WHO to publish a statement on the evidence presented in the report ‘Bloody Harvest/the Slaughter’, although this does not preclude the authors of the report from doing so.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the evidence presented in the report by David Kilgour, David Matas and Ethan Gutmann Bloody Harvest / the Slaughter: An update, published on 22 June 2016; and whether they have made any representations to the government of China about that evidence.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted.
We consider the Kilgour, Gutmann and Matas report to be important sources of information about China’s organ transplant system. These reports rightly question the lack of transparency in China’s organ transplant system, whilst acknowledging that it is very difficult to identify the source of those organs and verify the number of organ transplants conducted in China.
However, as the Minister for Europe and the Americas said in a Westminster Hall debate in October 2016: “Although I do not doubt the need to maintain close scrutiny of organ transplant practices in China, we believe that the evidence base is not sufficiently strong to substantiate claims about the systematic harvesting of organs from minority groups. Indeed, based on all the evidence available to us, we cannot conclude that this practice of “organ harvesting” is definitely happening in China.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) collates global data on organ donations and works with China. The WHO view is that China is implementing an ethical, voluntary organ transplant system in accordance with international standards, although the WHO does have concerns about overall transparency.
We will continue to review any new evidence that is presented to us.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have conducted any investigations into the allegations of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted.
We consider the Kilgour, Gutmann and Matas report to be important sources of information about China’s organ transplant system. These reports rightly question the lack of transparency in China’s organ transplant system, whilst acknowledging that it is very difficult to identify the source of those organs and verify the number of organ transplants conducted in China.
However, as the Minister for Europe and the Americas said in a Westminster Hall debate in October 2016: “Although I do not doubt the need to maintain close scrutiny of organ transplant practices in China, we believe that the evidence base is not sufficiently strong to substantiate claims about the systematic harvesting of organs from minority groups. Indeed, based on all the evidence available to us, we cannot conclude that this practice of “organ harvesting” is definitely happening in China.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) collates global data on organ donations and works with China. The WHO view is that China is implementing an ethical, voluntary organ transplant system in accordance with international standards, although the WHO does have concerns about overall transparency.
We will continue to review any new evidence that is presented to us.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any representations to international partners in relation to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China who have been subjected to torture, mass imprisonment, and forced organ extraction.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of reports claiming that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted.
We consider the Kilgour, Gutmann and Matas report to be important sources of information about China’s organ transplant system. These reports rightly question the lack of transparency in China’s organ transplant system, whilst acknowledging that it is very difficult to identify the source of those organs and verify the number of organ transplants conducted in China.
However, as the Minister for Europe and the Americas said in a Westminster Hall debate in October 2016: “Although I do not doubt the need to maintain close scrutiny of organ transplant practices in China, we believe that the evidence base is not sufficiently strong to substantiate claims about the systematic harvesting of organs from minority groups. Indeed, based on all the evidence available to us, we cannot conclude that this practice of “organ harvesting” is definitely happening in China.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) collates global data on organ donations and works with China. The WHO view is that China is implementing an ethical, voluntary organ transplant system in accordance with international standards, although the WHO does have concerns about overall transparency.
We will continue to review any new evidence that is presented to us.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of advice from the World Health Organization that China is implementing an ethical and voluntary organ transplant system.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of reports that allege that a process of involuntary organ removal may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The British Government fully supports the Declaration of Istanbul (May 2008), which encourages all countries to draw up legal and professional frameworks to govern organ donation and transplantation activities.
As the Minister for Europe and the Americas said in a Westminster Hall debate in October 2016: "Although I do not doubt the need to maintain close scrutiny of organ transplant practices in China, we believe that the evidence base is not sufficiently strong to substantiate claims about the systematic harvesting of organs from minority groups. Indeed, based on all the evidence available to us, we cannot conclude that this practice of "organ harvesting" is definitely happening in China."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) collates global data on organ donations and works with China. The WHO view is that China is implementing an ethical, voluntary organ transplant system in accordance with international standards, although the WHO does have concerns about overall transparency.
We have not discussed the role of Dr Jiefu Huang with the WHO.
We will continue to review any new evidence that is presented to us.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, or intend to have, with the World Health Organisation about the possible conflict of interest of Dr Jiefu Huang in his role as a senior transplant official in China and as a member of the World Health Organisation’s Task Force for Donation and Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of reports that allege that a process of involuntary organ removal may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The British Government fully supports the Declaration of Istanbul (May 2008), which encourages all countries to draw up legal and professional frameworks to govern organ donation and transplantation activities.
As the Minister for Europe and the Americas said in a Westminster Hall debate in October 2016: "Although I do not doubt the need to maintain close scrutiny of organ transplant practices in China, we believe that the evidence base is not sufficiently strong to substantiate claims about the systematic harvesting of organs from minority groups. Indeed, based on all the evidence available to us, we cannot conclude that this practice of "organ harvesting" is definitely happening in China."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) collates global data on organ donations and works with China. The WHO view is that China is implementing an ethical, voluntary organ transplant system in accordance with international standards, although the WHO does have concerns about overall transparency.
We have not discussed the role of Dr Jiefu Huang with the WHO.
We will continue to review any new evidence that is presented to us.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government Switzerland about the complaint made by Action of Christians Against Torture against the Lausanne Real Human Bodies exhibition suggesting that the bodies used in that exhibition were likely to be those of Chinese prisoners who were tortured or executed members of the Falun Gong movement.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The British Government is aware of the technique to plastinate human bodies exported from China for exhibition and for medical research. We have not made inquiries with the Chinese or other governments on this matter but continue to monitor media coverage.
We have no evidence to suggest that the exhibition contained the cadavers of political or other prisoners from China.