MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on reports of continued organ harvesting in China
3.5.2022 - (2022/2657(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure
Željana Zovko, Peter van Dalen, Michael Gahler, David McAllister, Sandra Kalniete, Isabel Wiseler‑Lima, David Lega, Sara Skyttedal, Radosław Sikorski, Tom Vandenkendelaere, Eugen Tomac, José Manuel Fernandes, Adam Jarubas, Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska, Miriam Lexmann, Antonio López‑Istúriz White, Tomáš Zdechovský, Peter Pollák, Stanislav Polčák, Eva Maydell, Christian Sagartz, Vangelis Meimarakis, Michaela Šojdrová, Paulo Rangel, Maria Walsh, Seán Kelly, Ivan Štefanec, Luděk Niedermayer, Vladimír Bilčík, Krzysztof Hetman, Arba Kokalari, Inese Vaidere, Traian Băsescu, Romana Tomc, Gheorghe‑Vlad Nistor
on behalf of the PPE Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0250/2022
B9‑0254/2022
European Parliament resolution on reports of continued organ harvesting in China
The European Parliament,
- having regard to its resolution of 12 December 2013 on organ harvesting in China,
- having regard to the statement by the UN Commissioner for Human Rights of 14 June 2021 on reports of alleged organ harvesting targeting minorities in China,
- having regard to the final judgment of the Independent Tribunal into Forced Organ Harvesting from Prisoners of Conscience in China (China Tribunal) of 1 March 2020,
- 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 Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,
- whereas UN human rights experts in June 2021 have raised concern about alarming reports of the alleged continued forced harvesting of organs in China, especially targeting minorities including Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Muslims and Christians[1];
- whereas forced organ harvesting must be understood as the killing of a person without their consent so that their organs may be removed and transplanted into another person; whereas this practice must be considered an egregious and intolerable violation of the fundamental right to life;
- whereas there is reason to belief that prisoners are still being executed with the specific goal of harvesting their organs; whereas this practice also targets prisoners that are detained for political reasons and/or non-violent crimes;
- whereas the non-governmental “Independent Tribunal Into Forced Organ Harvesting from Prisoners Of Conscience in China” in its judgment of 1 March 2020 stated that the forced harvesting of organs by the Chinese state has been proved beyond reasonable doubt[2]; whereas the tribunal based its claims on evidence collected from the testimonies of relatives of deceased prisoners, fellow internees of deceased prisoners, detainees who were being forced into undergoing medical tests; whereas the Chinese government did refuse to testify before the Tribunal[3];
- Calls on the Member States that have not yet done so to sign, ratify and implement the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs;
- Calls on the Government of China to respond to the allegations of organ harvesting by providing transparent and reliable information on the sources of organs delivered for transplantation and by allowing independent research and monitoring by international human rights mechanisms, including the Office of the UN Commissioner for Human Rights;
- Calls on Member States to request the International Criminal Court to investigate cases of forced organ harvesting in China, based on the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide to which China is a signatory;
- Calls on Member States to take the necessary actions to prevent transplant tourism to China by their citizens; calls on medical and research institutions in Europe to reconsider how any direct or indirect involvement with forced organ harvesting practices could be avoided, for example by ceasing collaboration with Chinese institutions on transplant medicine, research and training;
- Insists that addressing this issue, together with the treatment of Uighurs and persons belonging to ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities across China, especially in Xinjiang, Tibet and in Inner Mongolia, will be prioritized if negotiations on the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) were to be reopened;
6. 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 Affairs and Security Policy, the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese National People’s Congress.