Uyghurs have praised the United States initiative “Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act” passed in the US House of Representatives which will help in combating China’s trade in organs of political prisoners, Falun Gong practitioners, and their own people, Bitter Winter reported.
The political change by UK lawmakers over new procurement legislation following Brexit has flagged up Uyghur’s vulnerability to organ harvesting. Moreover, the World Medical Association meeting recently in Nairobi singled out China’s treatment of Uyghurs for special mention.
Launched in May 2018, Bitter Winter is an online magazine on religious liberty and human rights in China.
The H.R. 1154 bill, authored by Chris Smith (R-New Jersey), was passed resoundingly by 413-2 votes. The legislation approved the US government to take steps against forced organ harvesting in China. It authorizes sanctions against individuals and entities complicit in the practice, including banning the export of organ transplant surgery equipment and a halt to the training of organ transplant surgeons. It will now pass onto the Senate for further deliberation, as per Bitter Winter.
Earlier in 1990, Uyghur exile Enver Tohti, then a young surgeon in the capital Urumqi, saw three boys for over six months with tell tale U-shaped scars on their bodies, indicating kidney theft. In 1995 he himself had been required to extract the organs from a live death row prisoner and ordered to remember that “nothing had happened that day.”The issue was raised again in 2016 when ‘free physicals for all’ required every Uyghur in Xinjiang to submit iris scans, blood typing, fingerprinting and DNA. The human rights campaigners as well as Uyghurs were scared that the data haul is being used to match organ demand at home and overseas. Fears were compounded during the so-called “People’s” China Tribunal” in 2019 when observers learned over the course of days of witness testimonies, first-hand experiences and expert research, that organs were available on demand, that special fast-track human organ lanes had been set aside at Xinjiang’s Kashgar airport, and that Uyghurs were being increasingly targeted.
Later, the dangers for Uyghurs were pointed out in the China Tribunal by the producer of South Korean TV Chosun Investigative Report 7. While investigating Korean organ tourism to Tianjin, it was discovered that Suadi nations were waiting at the same hospital for their ‘halal organs,’ all expenses paid by the government, according to Bitter Winter.
The Tribunal concluded, “In China forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience has been practiced for a substantial period of time involving a very substantial number of victims.”In 2021, ‘extreme alarm’ was registered by independent experts commissioned by the United Nations (UN) who found ‘credible evidence’ that detainees from ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities ‘may be forcibly subjected to blood tests and organ examinations such as ultrasound and x-rays, without their informed consent; while other prisoners are not required to undergo such examinations.’ The results were reportedly registered in a database of living organ sources that facilitates organ allocation.
Despite Beijing’s denials, Ethan Gutmann’s research since 2006 has given several ‘smoking guns’ adding weight to the evidence, Bitter Winter reported.
Rushan Abbas of Campaign for Uyghurs, Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) appreciated the US bill and said that her organisation has long been advocating for an end to end forced organ harvesting and people trafficking. “The forced harvesting of organs from Uyghur Muslims and other prisoners of conscience is yet another horrific crime the CCP has perpetrated,” she said.
Abbas said that “the act is a critical turning point in the fight against the Chinese Communist Party’s abhorrent atrocities towards the Uyghur community.” Uyghurs were easy targets for organ matches, she said adding that “China’s brazen advertisement for ‘halal organs’ to Muslims only adds to the horror of this unimaginable crime. The truth may be too gruesome for some to believe, but it is real, and we must hold those responsible accountable for their actions,” according to Bitter Winter.
She urged a swift passage of the bill and its eventual enactment into law.