By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
March 24, 2006
A Chinese journalist
has uncovered a secret detention center in northern China that is being used by
a hospital to harvest human organs for sale to domestic and international buyers.
Jin Zhong, a pseudonym for the journalist who fled China recently, also
said in an interview that a failed Chinese intelligence operation led to the 2004
death of a Japanese diplomat who committed suicide rather than give up secrets.
On the prisoner abuse, Mr. Jin said he first learned of the harvesting
operation between October and December and that the prisoners used were members
of the outlawed Falun Gong religious group.
"This is murder, and
murder sponsored by a state," said Mr. Jin, who in the past has been a contributor
to a Japanese news agency. "It must be stopped."
Mr. Jin said
he came across the underground detention center while researching the Chinese
government’s response to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
A Chinese official was the first person to reveal that secret medical work was
being done at the Liaoning Provincial Thrombosis Hospital of Integrated Chinese
and Western Medicine, in Sujiatun, a suburb of Shenyang, the major city in northeastern
China, he said.
Mr. Jin then said he found out that a large underground
prison was built beneath the hospital and that members of the outlawed Falun Gong
religious group were being held there. As many as 6,000 people are thought to
be held prisoner at the underground facility, he said.
The hospital is
harvesting the organs of the prisoners, including kidneys, livers, and eye parts,
he said. The organs are then sold to people, from both China and abroad, who need
medical organ transplants.
One source for Mr. Jin was the wife of a hospital
doctor who was involved in the organ harvesting. The doctor suffered psychological
problems as a result of the gruesome medical work and disclosed the secret activity.
The Chinese woman also has fled to the United States.
Several other hospital
workers also revealed details about the prisoner organ harvesting.
Mr.
Jin said he had to hide his true identity after being threatened by Chinese government
agents. He was arrested twice for his reporting and recently fled to the United
States, where he hopes to seek political asylum.
Mr. Jin said bodies
of the prisoners were burned in the boiler room of the hospital and that boiler
room workers had taken jewelry and watches from the dead and sold them. He said
he has provided information about the organ harvesting to U.S. government officials,
including members of Congress.
A Chinese Embassy spokesman could not
be reached for comment.
Regarding the Japanese diplomat, Mr. Jin said
he first learned of the intelligence operation in December. Japan’s government
protested the Chinese intelligence operation, which Beijing dismissed as a groundless
accusation.
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20060323-114842-5680r.htm
Posting
date: 25/Mar/2006
Original article date: 24/Mar/2006
Category: Media Report
