United Nations experts said they had received “credible reports” that prisoners from ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities were being forcibly removed their organs in China, which Beijing “categorically” denied and said was “disinformation”.
said Media part newspaper in a report that these experts – who are mandated by the United Nations but do not speak on its behalf – are “extremely concerned” by the information.
China is regularly accused by members of the Falun Gong sect, which is banned in the Asian country, of being involved in forcibly removing the organs of its imprisoned followers.
In a statement, the Special Rapporteurs, as well as experts from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, noted that organ removal also targets Uighurs, Tibetans, Muslims and Christians detained in China.
The experts point out that “it appears that the forced removal of organs in China targets representatives of certain ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities who are in detention, often without explaining to them the reasons for their arrest or issuing an arrest warrant against them.”
According to their interpretation, “According to the allegations received, the most common organs removed from prisoners are the heart, kidneys, liver, corneas, and rarely parts of the liver. Professionals in the health sector, including surgeons, anesthesiologists, and others, are involved in this form of medical trade. of medical professionals.
They also point out that the issue was previously raised in Beijing by other human rights experts at the United Nations in 2006 and 2007, but to no avail.
The statement said the Chinese government’s responses were insufficient due to a lack of data, including waiting time to give members or information on its source.
The press release further stated that “in this context, the lack of available data and information-sharing systems constitutes an obstacle to the identification and protection of victims (…), as well as to the effectiveness of investigations and prosecutions against traffickers.”
Liu Yuen, a spokesman for the Chinese mission in Geneva, said the experts were spreading “disinformation”, adding that they had “distorted China”, which “categorically rejects these accusations”.
He also said in a statement that the experts “disregarded the information provided by the Chinese government and chose to follow the misinformation provided by anti-China forces, as well as the Falun Gong sect.”
It is worth noting that China has long denied accusations of forcibly removing the organs of detainees. Chinese tradition dictates that a dead person be buried without mutilation, and very few Chinese accept organ removal.
For decades, the majority of operations were carried out with organs removed from death row or prisoners after their death, often without the families’ consent, say specialized NGOs, which the authorities deny.
Beijing officially banned the practice as of January 2015, but that did not allay concerns.
Beijing repeatedly denies violating human rights, and talks about being targeted in the media by the West.