MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Reports of continued organ harvesting in China

3.5.2022 - (2022/2657(RSP))

with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure

Reinhard Bütikofer, Saskia Bricmont, Eleonora Evi, Hannah Neumann, Francisco Guerreiro, Mounir Satouri, Ignazio Corrao, Jordi Solé, Alviina Alametsä
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0250/2022

B9‑0250/2022

European Parliament resolution on Reports of continued organ harvesting in China

(2022/2657(RSP))

The European Parliament,

 

-  having regard to all its previous resolutions on China, in particular those of 16 September 2021 on a new EU-China strategy and of 12 December 2013 on Organ harvesting in China,

- having regard to Statement of the EU Delegation to China on the International Human Rights Day of 10 December 2021,

 

-  having regard to the press release of the UN Human Rights Council Special Procedures on ‘organ harvesting’ allegations of 14 June 2021,

-  having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,

- having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 16 December 1966,

-  having regard to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984),

-  having regard to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (1992),

- having regard to the UN declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances (1992),

- having regard to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children supplementing the United Nations Convention against Translational Organised Crime,

- having regard to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with Regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (1997),

- having regard to the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs (2015).

-  having regard to the Declaration of Istanbul on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism (2008),

– having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,

 

A.  whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person;

B. whereas for many years China has practiced the harvesting of organs from executed prisoners and whereas in 1984 it implemented regulations legalising such a practice;

C. whereas, consequently, China declared that it had stopped using organs from executed prisoners in 2015 and had launched a national donation system, without however ever banning the practice, which still remains legal;

D. whereas execution figures, donor lists and transplant data continue being state secrets, independent verification of the data is not allowed, while the number of known donors does not come close to the number of transplants; whereas still until recently state media have estimated that two-thirds of organ donors in China are executed prisoners;

E. whereas the organ transplant system in China does not comply with the World Health Organisation’s requirements for transparency and traceability in organ procurement pathways; whereas voluntary and informed consent is a precondition for ethical organ donation;

F. Whereas the purchase of human organs, tissues and cells is illegal; whereas according to a report by Global Financial Integrity, the human organ trade is one of the world’s top ten illegal money-making activities, generating profits between USD 600 million and USD 1.2 billion per year and spanning numerous countries;

G.  whereas in China the risk of unethical organ transplantation or forced organ harvesting remains very high, as confirmed by continued reporting and testimonies; whereas religious prisoners and prisoners of conscience report regular biometric testing, collection of blood data and organ health tests, and unexplained disappearances from jails and camps;

H. whereas in June 2021, UN human rights experts stated that they had received credible information that detainees from ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities may have been forcibly subjected to blood tests and organ examinations such as ultrasound and x-rays, without their informed consent, that other prisoners had not been required to undergo such examinations and that the results of the examinations had been reportedly registered in a database of living organ sources that facilitates organ allocation; whereas there were also indications that such form of trafficking with a medical nature had allegedly involved health sector professionals, including surgeons, anaesthetists and other medical specialists;

I. whereas the UN Human Rights Experts also confirmed again earlier indications that such ‘organ harvesting’ had been targeting minorities, including Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Muslims and Christians in detention in China;

J. whereas the Chinese government has formally denied the allegations expressed by the UN experts;

 

1. Expresses its concern over the persistent reports of  forced medical examinations and organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners in China; is concerned at reports, including evidence reported by the UN, that such practice may be particularly relevant in the case of ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities;

2. Reiterates its deepest concern at all human rights violations regarding torture, unlawful detention, enforced disappearances, inhuman and degrading treatment, rape and sexual violence, forced labor in internment camps and prisons, or organ harvesting in China;

3. Recalls that China has ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which provides for the absolute and non-derogable prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment;

4. Calls on the Chinese Government to guarantee the extermination of the practice of organ harvesting;

5. Calls on the Chinese government  to immediately release all prisoners of conscience or prisoners that have been incarcerated because of their religious and ethnic identity from detention;

6. Calls on all EU Member States to desist from extraditing Chinese citizens to the PRC as human rights are not guaranteed in China and to cancel still existing extradition agreements;

7. Urges the Chinese authorities to formally ban any unauthorised transplantation of organs, as well as all forms of trafficking in persons, and adopt the necessary legislative measures, thereby following up concretely on their commitment of 2015, and to develop a fully-fledged voluntary and transparent organ donation system which also provides for an independent oversight as to whether the consent to donation and organ allocation is effectively given, fully in line with WHO standards;

8. Urges the Chinese Government to constructively engage with UN authorities and to accept strengthening the dialogue, including on the issue of organ harvesting;

9.   Calls for the EU and its Member States to raise pertinent concerns in bilateral dialogues with China;

10. Reiterates its strong opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances;

11.   Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice‑President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign and Security Policy, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, the United Nations Secretary-General, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Government of the People’s Republic of China  and the Chinese National People’s Congress.