CFU PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 1, 2023, 10:30 AM ET
Sabrina Sohail: sabrina@campaignforuyghurs.org
(650) 703-4523
Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) welcomes the new bill H.R. 1154 “To combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking in persons for purposes of the removal of organs, and for other purposes” also known as the ‘‘Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2023’’, introduced by Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) and cosponsored by Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Bill Keating (D-MA), and Kathy Manning (D-NC).
The introduction of H.R. 1154 is a critical step towards addressing this issue and holding the Chinese government accountable for its actions. The Campaign for Uyghurs along with the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), and the Uyghur American Association (UAA) are the initial endorsers of this bill and are calling on the international community to take action to stop forced organ harvesting in East Turkistan and to bring those responsible to justice.
There is extensive evidence to suggest that the Chinese government has been involved in the forced organ harvesting of Uyghurs and other persecuted groups, including Tibetans and Falun Gong practitioners. The practice involves forcibly removing organs from individuals, including political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, while they are still alive and without their consent, and selling them for profit.
In a press release, published yesterday, Rep. Smith said “What has become apparent through open-source investigation and witness accounts, is that there is one country—one country in particular—which is engaged in state-sponsored harvesting of human organs from otherwise healthy human beings, on a systematic and industrial scale in absolute violation of ethics governing transplantation,”. Rep. Smith, who has chaired 77 congressional hearings on the CCP’s egregious human rights abuse said, “That country is the People’s Republic of China under Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party.”
The bill entails that “It shall be the policy of the United States — to combat international trafficking in persons for purposes of the removal of organs; to promote the dignity and security of human life in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights… and to hold accountable persons implicated, including members of the Chinese Communist Party, in forced organ harvesting and trafficking in persons for purposes of the removal of organs.” This bill also gives the President the authority to sanction persons engaged in organ harvesting and requires the State Department to report fully on this in the annual human rights report.
Executive Director Rushan Abbas said “This is a groundbreaking bill that will have a major impact on exposing and countering organ harvesting. It is common knowledge that the Chinese regime is a major harvester and trafficker of forcibly acquired organs from prisoners and concentration camp detainees. Organ harvesting is one of the many ways that the regime has profited, literally off the blood of Uyghurs by selling their organs. The CCP is not only using the Uyghurs’ body parts to its economic advantage but also using them to silence some world leaders and decision makers as they themselves or their relatives may have also benefited from Uyghur organs. This evil practice must be exposed and stopped.”
CFU calls on the US government to legislate this bill as soon as possible in order to combat organ harvesting, prohibit the export of organ transplant surgery devices to entities responsible for human organ trafficking, sanction individuals and Chinese government officials who support human organ harvesting and organ trafficking, as well as requiring mandatory reporting on human organ trafficking and foreign organ transplant surgeon training institutions.
