Organ Transplants in China:Developments and Controversies
In the past year, allegations of organ harvesting from nonconsenting Falun Gong prisoners have emerged again, further raising concerns about possible abuses in China’s organ transplant industry. In December 2008, the UN Committee against Torture (UNCAT) indicated in its report on China that the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak, had noted ‘‘an increase in
organ transplant operations coincides with the ‘beginning of the persecution of [Falun Gong practitioners],’ ’’ and had urged the Chinese government to provide ‘‘a full explanation of the source of organ transplants.’’