Reading Material
List of Pre-Reading Material Provided to the Tribunal Members
| CATEGORY | TITLE | DESCRIPTION/ PAGES TO VIEW | DATE | AUTHOR | LINK |
| 1.1 – Overview / Introduction | Organ Procurement and Extrajudicial Execution: A Summary of the Evidence | Overview Document. The overview of evidence and timeline from this report was provided to the Tribunal as a draft before publication. | 2018 | Matthew Robertson | Link |
| 1.2 – Introduction – Documentary Video | Hard To Believe Documentary | Hard to Believe is a multi-award winning documentary that examines the issue of forced live organ harvesting from Chinese prisoners of conscience, and the response-or lack of it-around the world. Includes interviews with numerous experts and investigators. Including interviews with Dr Enver Tohti and Prof Jacob Lavee. (a free private link was provided for Tribunal members) | 2015 | Two-time Emmy Award winning director/producer, Ken Stone and Irene Silber | Link |
| 1.3 – Introduction – Video | Medical Genocide – 10 min version (20 min version also available) | A short documentary providing information on the ‘Update’ report released in 2016. | 2017 | China Organ Harvest Research Centre | Link |
| 1.4 – Investigation | The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem | 8 year investigation – includes extensive witness testimony and provides a comprehensive overview. “The inside story of China’s organ transplant business and its macabre connection with internment camps and killing fields for arrested dissidents, especially the adherents of Falun Gong.” | 2014 | Ethan Gutmann | Link |
| 1.5 – Investigation – Video | Harvested Alive: 10 Year Investigation | Harvested Alive – includes audios of a number of telephone investigations. View Excerpts – 15 mins – Time codes to watch are: 7:00 to 8:55: 9:53 to 10:39: 11:19 to 12:03: 37:26 to 47:00; 56:43 to 58:42; | 2017 | Deer Park Productions | Link (scroll down on this page) |
| 1.6 – Investigation | A Hospital Built for Murder | Investigative report – An in-depth analysis of the transplant volume of Tianjin First Central Hospital, the self-proclaimed largest transplant center in Asia. The center is located in Tianjin city, about 100 miles southeast of Beijing. | 2016 | Matthew Robertson | Link |
| 1.7 – Investigation | “An Update” to Bloody Harvest and The Slaughter | 65 pages of essential reading submitted. (The remainder of the 680 pg report to be used as a reference document.) Volume Indicators section includes explanation of: Media reports, hospital reports on volume, multiple transplant for the same patient, multiple transplants conducted simultaneously, short waiting times for organs, all types of transplants, experience of transplant patients, donors seeking recipients, high bed utilization waiting for beds, capacity expansion, overworked doctors and nurses, continued growth since 2006. State Crime section includes a few examples of phone call evidence – audios also available. (Additional phone call examples are in Bloody Harvest, WOIPFG report and the documentary Harvested Alive: 10 Year Investigation.) View the full report online to see the number of transplant facilities in China. EXCERPTS (72 pages) – ‘Volume Indicators’ – p 279 – 318; Wang Lijun’s Human Body Experiments p 387 – 391; ‘A State Crime’ p.400 – 423; Closing Recommendations/Conclusions p. 428 – 434 (For examples of two hospitals see People’s Liberation Army No ‘309’ Hospital p.24 – 26; Shanghai Changzheng Hospital Affiliated with the Second Military Medical University p. 34 -35) |
2016 | David Kilgour, David Matas and Ethan Gutmann | Link |
| 1.8 – Documentary Investigation – Video | South Korean Documentary: The dark side of transplant tourism in China: killing to live | The “Investigative Report 7” team traveled to an unnamed hospital in Tianjin, China with the medical documents of a Korean man in need of a kidney to inquire about obtaining an organ for him. With hidden cameras they interviewed the head nurse and an elderly Korean patient who was recovering from a recent transplant operation. This documentary shows that organs are still readily available in China for transplant tourists with very short waiting times. EXCERPTS- 14 mins – Interview with Korean transplant patient 1:44 to 2:30; Nurse explains availability of organs for Koreans 9:50 to 18:15 | 2017 | TV Chosun | Link |
| 1.9 – Journal Article | Cold Genocide: Falun Gong In China | In particular, the article demonstrates that the eradication campaign against Falun Gong is distinguishable as a cold genocide as it is: (1) multi-dimensional – the destruction of Falun Gong Practitioners is not only physical but psychological, social and spiritual; (2) subtle in terms of visibility; and it is (3) normalized in the society in which it takes place. INCLUDES: information on the 610 office. Including: “The 610 Office is the primary entity responsible for organizing the eradication campaign against Falun Gong. The 610 Office operates extra-judicially; it is not an organ of the Chinese State, but rather of the Chinese Communist Party. The 610 Office directs all levels of State institutions including the judiciary, the civil service, business and education. It has overarching power and authority over all other Party entities and all State bodies. All State agencies and all other Party agencies have to comply with the 610 Office’s directives and orders.” | 2018 | Cheung, Maria; Trey, Torsten; Matas, David; and An, Richard | Link |
| 1.10 – Investigation | Bloody Harvest: The Killing of Falun Gong for their Organs | The first investigation that took place in 2006. | 2006; book 2009 | David Matas, David Kilgour | Link |
| 1.11 – Journal Article Excerpt | State Organised Forced Organ Harvesting | Journal article (p.1 – 10) An overview of organ harvesting in China. Provides information on the Ethical Guidelines in Transplant Medicine, an overview of organ trafficking, an explanation on the difference between ‘black market’ and ‘state organised’ organ trafficking in China. EXCERPT – pages 1 – 10 | 2017 | David Matas and Dr Torsten Trey | Link |
| 1.12 – Report, analysis | Profiles on Chinese surgeons/officials: Zheng Shusen, Huang Jiefu, Shen zhongyang, Chen jingyu | Backgrounders on Chinese surgeons/officials implicated in forced organ harvesting. All – 8 A4 pages | 2018 | Various | Link1 Link2
|
| CATEGORY 2: PUBLISHED REPORTS | |||||
| 2.1. Report-NGO | Transplant Abuse Continues in China Despite Claims of Reform | See Foreword, Introduction, and Chapter IX (the final chapter, from p. 164) for comment on recent developments. See the Overview (pp. 11-22) for a brief summary. | 2018 | Grace Yin et al. | Link |
| 2.2 Report – US Government | U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Report | This 2018 report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) documents ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, and discusses the Vatican summit including statements made by Huang Jiefu (page 34) | 2018 | USCIRF | Link |
| 2.3 Report -NGO | Religious Revival, Repression, and Resistance under Xi Jinping: The Battle for China’s Spirit. | Page 21: General reference to organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience SectionV (pp. 109-135,) describes the status of the persecution of the practice and its scale and significance. Estimates of 20+ million Falun Gong in China. There is also some corroborative points on organ harvesting and a piece of new evidence. | 2017 | Sarah Cook – Freedom House | Link |
| 2.4. Report – UK Political Organisation | Forced Organ Harvesting in China | A general summary of the evidence and third party reporting on the issue. | 2016 | UK Conservative Party Human Rights Commission | Link |
| 2.5 Report – UK Political Organisation | The darkest moment: The crackdown on human rights in China 2013-16 | A compilation of human rights abuses in China with a section on organ harvesting. | 2016 | UK Conservative Party Human Rights Commission | Link |
| 2.6 Congressional Inquiry/ Testimonies | Organ Harvesting: An Examination of a Brutal Practice | Lengthy testimony to US Congress by researchers and Dr. Francis Delmonico. For a guide to this episode, see “At Congressional Hearing, China’s Organ Harvesting Seen Through Rose-Colored Glasses”, Matthew Robertson, The Epoch Times (https://www.theepochtimes.com/at-congressional-hearing-chinas-organ-harvesting-seen-through-rose-colored-glasses_2103475.html also listed below) | 2016 | US Committee on Foreign Affairs Joint Hearing | Link |
| 2.7 Report – NGO | China: The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called “heretical organizations” | General background/reference material. This was one of the earliest pieces of human rights reporting on the anti-Falun Gong campaign. | 2000 | Amnesty International | Link |
| 2.8 Report – UN | Concluding observations of the Committee against Torture | This UNCAT report considers allegations presented to the Special Rapporteur on Torture regarding the increase in organ transplant operations coinciding with “the beginning of the persecution of [Falun Gong practitioners]” and calls upon the State party to immediately conduct or commission an independent investigation of the claims that some Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to torture and used for organ transplants and take measures, as appropriate, to ensure that those responsible for such abuses are prosecuted and punished. | 2008 | United Nations Committee Against Torture | Link |
| 2.9 Report – UN | Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak | Excerpts from Manfred Nowak’s key report on the anti-Falun Gong campaign and the extent of torture and other abuses. Includes references to organ harvesting. | 2006 | Manfred Nowak | Link |
| 2.10 Report – UN | Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions | pp. 63-68 have some deaths of Falun Gong in custody | 2009 | Philip Alston | Link |
| 2.11 Report – US Government | US Congressional – Executive Commission on China Annual Report | General background/reference material | 2016 | US Congressional | Link |
| 2.12 Report – NGO | The Origins and Long-Term Consequences of the Communist Party’s Campaign against Falun Gong | General background/reference material | 2012 | Sarah Cook | Link |
| 2.13 Report – NGO | Amnesty International Human Rights Report 2016/2017 | General summary of human rights issues around the world. | 2017 | Amnesty International | Link |
| 2.14 Report-UK Political Organisation | Human Rights Report on Persecution of Falun Gong in China 2013-2016 | Summary of statistics in the anti-Falun Gong campaign gathered on Minghui | 2016 | UK Conservative Party Human Rights Commission | Link |
| 2.15 Report – NGO | Human Rights in China: Part 3; Part 4 | General background/reference material | 2016 | Gao Zhisheng | Link |
| CATEGORY 3: PUBLISHED RESEARCH AND EXPERT STATEMENTS | |||||
| 3.1 Additional reporting / NGO submission | Canadian Magnitsky Act Submission | Profiles of a number of key individuals involved in the anti-Falun Gong campaign and organ transplantation in China, prepared by the Falun Dafa Association of Canada in their submission on the Canadian Magnitsky Act | 2018 | Falun Dafa Association of Canada and David Matas (with one profile prepared by Matthew Robertson included in document) | Link |
| 3.2 Additional reporting / research (documentary) | Who To Believe? Discovery: China’s Organ Transplants Episode 1 of 2 | Part 1 of a recent BBC radio documentary on the topic containing relevant witness testimony. | 2018 | Matthew Hill, Discovery | Link |
| 3.3 Additional reporting / research (documentary) | Tourism and Transparency Discovery China’s Organ Transplants Episode 2 of 2 | Part 2 of a recent BBC radio documentary on the topic containing relevant witness testimony. Interviews with Huang Jiefu and Prof Jeremy Chapman. Prof Wendy Rogers explains the Liver International retraction. | 2018 | Matthew Hill, Discovery | Link |
| 3.4 Additional reporting / published research | State Organs: Transplant Abuse in China | An important compilation of essays on the topic. | 2012 | David Matas & Torsten Trey | ISBN: 9781 9270 79119 |
| 3.5 Additional reporting / research – peer reviewed | Transplant Medicine in China: Need for Transparency and International Scrutiny Remains | A critical analysis of the debate on China’s claims of reform within the mainstream transplant profession, published in the leading international transplantation journal. | 2016 | T.Tray, A.Sharif, A.Schwarz, M. Fiatarone Singh, J Lavee | Link |
| 3.6 Additional reporting / research – peer reviewed | Engaging with China on organ transplantation | Peer-reviewed editorial reporting on Huang Jiefu’s call for two spare livers | 2017 | W Rogers, M Robertson, J Lavee | Link |
| 3.7 Additional reporting / research – peer reviewed | Cold genocide: Falun Gong in China | Paper arguing that the eradication campaign against Falun Gong is a cold genocide as it is: (1) multi-dimensional; (2) subtle in terms of visibility; and (3) normalized in the society in which it takes place. |
2018 | M Cheung, T Trey, D Matas, R An | Link |
| 3.8 Additional reporting / research – peer reviewed | Smoke and Mirrors: Unanswered questions and misleading statements obscure the truth about organ sources in China | General commentary on Chinese official lack of transparency on the issue | 2016 | W. Rogers, T. Trey, M. Fiatarone Singh, M. Bridgett, K. Bramstedt, J. Lavee | Link |
| 3.9 Additional reporting / research – peer reviewed | Engaging with China on organ transplantation | Argument about the need for more robust engagement with Chinese officials on organ sourcing practices | 2017 | Wendy Rogers, Matthew Robertson, Jacob Lavee | Link |
| 3.10 Additional reporting / research – peer reviewed | Papers based on data concerning organs from executed prisoners should not be published | Letter calling for retraction of research by Zheng Shusen | 2016 | Wendy A. Rogers, Maria A. Fiatarone Singh and Jacob Lavee | Link |
| 3.11 Additional reporting / research – peer reviewed | Papers based on data concerning organs from executed prisoners should not be published: Response to Zheng and Yan | Follow-up letter arguing that Zheng and his colleague’s response raised more questions than it answered and failed to demonstrate the ethical origin of the organs in his publication (which was eventually retracted) | 2016 | Wendy Rogers, Jacob Lavee (research by Matthew Robertson) | Link |
| 3.12 Additional reporting / research / academic dissertation | Genocide in the People’s Republic of China: Violations of international criminal law in the suppression of Falun Gong | Argument and analysis using a framework of international law that the CCP campaign against Falun Gong constitutes a genocide. | 2017 | Caylan Ford | Link |
| 3.13 Additional reporting / expert statement | The Party and the Profession: Organ Transplant Abuse in China | Summary of the history of interactions between Western transplant professionals and Chinese officials on the transplant question. | 2017 | David Matas | Link |
| 3.14 Additional reporting / expert statement | Organ sourcing in China: The official version | An analysis of the debate on China’s claims of reform within the mainstream transplant profession . | 2015 | David Matas | Link |
| 3.15 Additional reporting / expert statement | Learning about the Communist Party of China | General background/reference material | 2017 | David Matas | Link |
| 3.16 Additional reporting / expert statement | WUC President speaks on organ harvesting at roundtable in the UK Parliament | General background/reference material. Relevant for considering the potential exploitation of Uyghurs as an organ source. | 2017 | Dolkun Isa | Link |
| 3.17 Additional reporting / statement to US got’v committee | Statement of the Hon. Frank R. Wolf, a Representative in Congress from the State of Virginia Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Trade of the House Committee on Ways and Means Hearing on Renewal of Normal Trade Relations with China | Contains testimony by Wang Guoqi, former doctor at a Chinese PLA hospital recounting his involvement in removing skin from the bodies of executed prisoners. see pp. 13-15 | 2001 | Frank Wolf | Link |
| 3.18 Additional reporting / expert statement | Human Rights in China: Part 3; Part 4 | General background/reference material | 2016 | Gao Zhisheng | Link |
| 3.19 Additional reporting / research (documentary) | Human Harvest | A documentary on the topic that won the prestigious Peabody Award. (Note: the sequence of the guard has been edited slightly out of sequence.) | 2015 | Leon Lee | Link |
| 3.20 Additional reporting / expert statement | Independent Tribunal into Forced Organ Harvesting of Prisoners of Conscience in China: Why the focus on prisoners of conscience | Remarks by David Matas on the need for a focus on prisoners of conscience as organ sources | 2018 | David Matas | Link |
| CATEGORY 4: STATEMENTS AND POLICY OF TRANSPLANT COMMUNITY | |||||
| 4.1 Statements and / or policy of international transplant community | TTS Ethics Committee Policy Statement: Chinese Transplantation Program | First official statement by TTS in relation to organ harvesting from prisoners in China | 2006 | TTS Ethics Committee | Link |
| 4.2 Statements and / or policy of international transplant community | TTS Interactions with China – July 31, 2016 | The official position of TTS (updated) on organ transplantation in China question. | 2016 | Dr. Phillip J. O’Connell | Link |
| 4.3 Statements and / or policy of international transplant community members | Congressional testimony by F Delmonico | Offers a clear summary of the official TTS stance and relations with China, delivered to Congress by Dr Frances Delmonico in 2016. | 2016 | Dr. Francis Delmonico | Link |
| 4.4 Statements and / or policy of international transplant community members | Dr Frances Delmonico’s response to questions by Congress, plus his testimony | Short extract of supplementary comments by Dr Frances Delmonico (in response to Congressional questions, in 2016) | 2016 | Dr. Francis Delmonico | Link |
| CATEGORY 5: MEDIA AND BLOGS | |||||
| 5.1 Media and blogs | China’s Organ Transplant Problem | A general summary of the argument of extrajudicial organ sourcing in China. | 2017 | Dr Jacob Lavee & Matthew Robertson | Link |
| 5.2 Media and blogs | China’s Semantic Trick with Prisoner Organs | Analysis of China’s claims of transplant reform | 2015 | Kirk C Allison, Norbert W Paul, Michael E Shapiro, Charl Els, and Huige Li. | Link |
| 5.3 Media and blogs | Debate flares over China’s inclusion at Vatican organ trafficking meeting | Reporting of concerns about Chinese involvement in the Vatican’s 2017 organ trafficking meeting | 2017 | Didi Kirsten Tatlow | Link |
| 5.4 Media and blogs | At Congressional Hearing, China’s Organ Harvesting Seen Through Rose-Colored Glasses | Summary of the key points and ideas in the 2016 congressional session following release of The Update, by Kilgour, Matas and Gutmann | 2016 | Matthew Robertson | Link |
| 5.5 Media and blogs | Acrimony Mars Transplant Conference in Hong Kong | The 2016 TTS conference in Hong Kong was a controversial event; the first TTS conference after China’s claim of reform in 2015, where hundreds of Chinese surgeons were present | 2016 | Matthew Robertson | Link |
| 5.6 Media and blogs | A Transplant Conference Plays Host to China, and Its Surgeons Accused of Killing | Article presenting evidence about complicity and ignorance on the part of TTS about transplant abuse in China | 2016 | Matthew Robertson | Link |
| 5.7 Media and blogs | Call for correction to Washington Post article | Response to the Simon Denyer/Washington Post article. Denyer claimed the evidence of high transplant volumes in China is based on flawed assumptions; this assumption is rebutted in this article. | 2017 | Multiple | Link |
| 5.8 Media and blogs | “A Darkly Sinister Accusation” – response to Washington Post article by Ethan Gutmann | Gutmann’s rebuttal of Simon Denyer’s Washington Post article, together with a detailed history of interaction between the international transplant professionals and China’s organ transplant officials. | 2017 | Ethan Gutmann | Link |
| 5.9 Media and blogs / Official China media source | Various | A compilation of relevant comments made by Chinese officials, and some TTS and WHO officials | 2015- 2018 | Various | Link
|
| CATEGORY 6: PERSECUTION OF UYGHURS | |||||
| 6.1 Persecution of Uyghurs | “Eradicating Ideological Viruses” China’s Campaign of Repression Against Xinjiang’s Muslims |
Summary of a report that presents new evidence of the Chinese government’s mass arbitrary detention, torture, and mistreatment of Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang | 2018 | Human Rights Watch | Link |
| 6.2 Persecution of Uyghurs | China: Police DNA Database Threatens Privacy | General background/reference material | 2017 | Human Rights Watch | Link |
| 6.3 Persecution of Uyghurs | Uyghurs Forced to Undergo Medical Exams, DNA Sampling | General background/reference material. Relevant for considering the potential exploitation of Uyghurs as an organ source. | 2017 | Eset Sulayman, Gulchehra Hoja, and Jilil Kashgary | Link |
| 6.4 Persecution of Uyghurs | China: Minority Region Collects DNA From Millions | General background/reference material. Relevant for considering the potential exploitation of Uyghurs as an organ source. | 2017 | Human Rights Watch | Link |
| 6.5 Persecution of Uyghurs | Xinjiang Authorities Secretly Transferring Uyghur Detainees to Jails Throughout China | Recent media report of mass movements of Uyghur detainees around prisons in China | 2018 | Link | |
| CATEGORY 7: OFFICIAL STATEMENTS | |||||
| 7.1 Official statements / Government | EU Resolution | European Parliament resolution condemning forced organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience | 2013 | European Parliament | Link |
| 7.2 Official statements / Government | Written declaration on stopping organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China | An EP declaration against organ harvesting in China. | 2016 | European Parliament | Link |
| 7.3 Official statements / Government | H.Res.343 — 114th Congress (2015-2016) | A Congressional resolution against organ harvesting in China. | 2016 | Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen | Link |