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

Ryszard Antoni Legutko, Raffaele Fitto, Anna Fotyga, Tomasz Piotr Poręba, Charlie Weimers, Zbigniew Kuźmiuk, Adam Bielan, Angel Dzhambazki, Anna Zalewska, Hermann Tertsch, Roberts Zīle, Valdemar Tomaševski, Witold Jan Waszczykowski, Veronika Vrecionová, Carlo Fidanza, Bert‑Jan Ruissen
on behalf of the ECR Group

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

B9‑0253/2022

European Parliament resolution on reports of continued organ harvesting in China

(2022/2657(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to its previous resolutions on China, in particular that of 17 December 2020 on the forced labour and the situation of the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region[1], that of 16 September 2021 on a new EU-China strategy, that of 17 December 2020 on forced labour and the situation of the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, that of 19 December 2019 on the situation of the Uyghurs in China (China Cabled), that of 4 October 2018 on the mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and Kazakhs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and that of 12 December 2013 on organ harvesting in China,

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

–  having regard to the statement by leading MEPs following the decision by Chinese authorities to sanction the Subcommittee on Human Rights and other European entities and officials of 23 March 2021,

–  having regard to the European Parliament ENVI Committee’s study of 21 April 2015 on Organ Harvesting in China,

–  having regard to the adoption by the Council on 7 December 2020, of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime,

–  having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union of 2012, in particular Article 3 thereof on the right to the integrity of the person,

–  having regard to the EU guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief, adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council on 24 June 2013,

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

–  having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966,

–  having regard to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, ratified by China on 4 October 1988,

– having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989,

– having regard to the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief of 1981,

– having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

1. whereas reports note the on-going practice of organ harvesting in China, often from detainees belonging to Falun Gong and other prisoners of conscience, including ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities and other persons in vulnerable situations; whereas forced organ harvesting is a crime against humanity;
2. whereas in June 2021, UN human rights experts expressed concern over reports of organ harvesting carried out on minority groups, including Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Muslims and Christians, in detention in China; whereas they stated that they had received credible information that detainees from minority groups are subjected to blood tests, organ ultrasound and x-rays, without their informed consent; whereas the results of the medical tests are to facilitate organ allocation; whereas families of deceased detainees are reportedly prevented from claiming their bodies;
3. whereas the China Tribunal released a summary of judgement on 17 June 2019, finding that crimes against humanity had been committed by the Chinese government, as defined in Article 7 of the Rome Statute; whereas this includes murder, extermination, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape or any other form of sexual violence, persecution on racial, national, ethnic, cultural or religious grounds that are universally recognised as impermissible under international law;
4. whereas since President Xi Jinping assumed power in March 2013, the human rights situation in China has deteriorated; whereas the Chinese government arbitrarily detains as many as 2 million Uyghurs, and members of other Muslim minority groups in a system of extrajudicial mass internment camps, and has subjected detainees to murder, forced labour, torture, political indoctrination, and other severe human rights abuses;
5. whereas in 2016, under the “General People’s Health Examination Project”, Chinese authorities subjected all residents above the age of 12 to mandatory health checks in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; whereas these comprehensive health checks, including at the internment camps, are believed to facilitate forced organ harvesting; 
6. whereas Christians face various methods of discrimination and persecution, including church closures, bans on the sale of bibles online, the removal of crosses and the arrest of priests and worshipers; whereas the Chinese government is reportedly planning to “contextualise” the bible to make it more “culturally acceptable” and for Christian preaching to be adapted to include the core values of socialism; whereas reports have noted that China is detaining Christians in secretive, mobile ‘transformation’ facilities to make them renounce their faith; whereas testimonies describe inhumane conditions at those facilities and that they were beaten, verbally abused and mentally tortured; 
7. whereas the promotion and respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law should remain at the centre of the EU-China relationship, inline with the EU’s commitment to upholding these values in its external action;
8. whereas the US Congress passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act in 2019 and on 22 September 2020, the US House of Representatives adopted the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act that prohibits certain imports from Xinjiang and imposes sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for the human rights violations;

 

1. Strongly condemns the on-going practice of organ harvesting in the People’s Republic of China; firmly reminds the Chinese government that forced organ harvesting is a crime against humanity; calls on the Chinese government to immediately end the practice of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, religious and ethnic minorities and to release them without delay;
2. Expresses deep concern at the persistent and credible reports of a systematic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of conscience in the People’s Republic of China, including from large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned for their religious beliefs, as well as members of other religious and ethnic minority groups; condemns the grave human rights violations in China, including in the mass interment camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region;
3. Condemns the Chinese government’s policies against the Christian community, including church closures, ban on the sale of bibles online, and the arrest of priests and worshipers; strongly condemns the detaining of Christians in secretive, mobile ‘transformation’ facilities to make them renounce their faith; expresses grave concern about reported torture and beatings at those facilities and calls on the Chinese authorities to ensure their human dignity and rights and release them without delay;
4. Underlines that the promotion of human rights and the rule of law must be at the core of the EU’s engagement with China; calls on the EU and Member States to raise organ harvesting in China and to prohibit the export of organ transplant devices to entities responsible for forced organ harvesting; reminds of any legal ramifications of relationships with medical institutions and professionals who may engage in unethical organ transplantation, organ trafficking or forced organ harvesting;
5. Calls on the Council to impose targeted sanctions under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (Magnitsky Act) against Chinese officials and entities responsible for the forced organ harvesting, trafficking and grave human rights violations in China; calls on medical associations and academia to not cooperate with people and entities involved in this barbaric practice; calls on Interpol and other organisations to thoroughly investigate criminal networks of organ harvesting;
6. Encourages the EU and its Member States to reduce the import of any goods made with forced labour from the People’s Republic of China, particularly those goods mined, manufactured, or produced in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; calls on the EU and its Member States to establish a blacklist of Chinese companies implicated in Uyghur forced labour; calls for the inclusion of strong and enforceable human rights clauses in any trade agreement with China;
7. Calls on the Member States to suspend extradition treaties with the People’s Republic of China, to prevent the extradition of Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, Tibetans, or other Chinese dissidents in Europe to stand political trial in China;
8. Reiterates its call on the VP/HR, to work together with other democratic and like-minded partners such as the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, to counter China’s influence;
9. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the European External Action Service, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, and the President, Government and Parliament of the People’s Republic of China.

 

 

• [1] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0375_EN.html