The China Tribunal has been initiated by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC), an international not for profit organisation, with headquarters in Australia and National Committees in the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. ETAC is a coalition of lawyers, academics, ethicists, medical professionals, researchers and human rights advocates dedicated to ending forced organ harvesting (a form of organ trafficking) in China.
Whilst ETAC initiated the Tribunal, there is a necessary and scrupulous separation between ETAC and the Tribunal. ETAC manages some of the logistics for the Tribunal (such as arranging the public hearings in London) however ETAC is not, and will not be, privy to the Tribunal’s internal deliberations and consideration of the evidence save to the extent those deliberations are revealed in the Tribunal’s final public decision.
ETAC felt compelled to establish the Tribunal given the many reports, some from very eminent bodies, that have dealt with forced organ harvesting but that have not dealt specifically with whether China’s transplant practices have amounted to – or included – commission of international criminal offences.
ETAC is an independent, non-partisan organisation that has no alignment with any political party, religious or spiritual group, government or any other national or international institution. Members are from a range of backgrounds, belief systems, religions and ethnicities.
ETAC promotes and protects human rights by:
- Undertaking, publishing and disseminating research regarding organ trafficking involving
forced organ harvesting in China - Calling for greater transparency and scrutiny of the organ-procurement system in China
- Promoting public debate regarding procurement of human tissue in China and related
international organ trafficking laws and policy - Raising public awareness regarding the importance of ending the detention, torture, and
forced organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience in China.