PRESS RELEASE FROM LAOGAI RESEARCH FOUNDATION: JOINT HEARING BETWEEN HOUSE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND HOUSE GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEES ON ORGAN HARVESTING IN COMMUNIST CHINA

chaired by: Benjamin Gilman (R-New York) and Dan Burton (R-Indiana)

date: June 4, 1998 at 10:00am

Following the February 20 arrest of two Chinese citizens in a Manhattan hotel room on charges of conspiracy to sell organs, there has been much world-wide attention paid to the issue of organ harvesting practices in China, much of it rooted in the vast body of research which concludes that the Chinese government is actively engaging in the practice of selling organs taken from executed prisoners to wealthy foreigners who can pay top-dollar to have the transplants.

The Chinese government's only response thus far has been to deny all reports of organ harvesting, despite evidence that decisively concludes just the opposite. First, a 1984 Chinese law states that organs may in fact be taken from prisoners

if the family does not collect the body, if the prisoner volunteers their organs, or upon the approval of family members. Second, interviews done by ABC in a report entitled "Blood Money" indicate that some individuals are willing to testify to say that they have received transplanted organs from prisoners in China. China's position as a world leader in executions (there are now an average of over seventeen a day) ensures that transplantable organs are abundantly available. Despite the continued atrocities of organ harvesting sanctioned by the Chinese government itself, the United States State Department remains somewhat complacent on the issue.

When asked about rumors of organ harvesting by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms, Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Pacific Affairs Stanley Roth stated in a letter dated July 27, 1997 that "the idea that anyone would murder prisoners in order to sell their body parts is repugnant...[I]f true, this would be among the grossest violations of human rights imaginable." In the face of this powerful rhetoric, however, Secretary

Roth stated in a later Foreign Relations Committee hearing on May 14, 1998 that "this is not an issue where we have made any progress since the summit [between presidents Clinton and Jiang in October of 1997], regrettably." He has simply stated that the State Department continues to "work on the issue." Meanwhile, innocent prisoners are being murdered by a government with little respect for the tradition of human rights.

In order to address the burgeoning question of organ harvesting, the joint hearing will hear testimony from a variety of sources. Chinese dissident Harry Wu, survivor of nineteen years in laogai camps, will reveal results of a recent study by the Laogai Research Foundation which analyzes internal Chinese government documents on the subject of organ transplantation. He will also ask Congress to formally demand that the Chinese government eliminate the practice of removing organs from executed prisoners for transplantation purposes. Mr. Wei will share his experience of eighteen years in Chinese prison, which indicate that the government was taking executed prisoners' organs (both living and dead) to transplant for profit as far back as 1979.

Thai organ recipient Somporn Lorgeranon will testify about how he came to receive an organ transplanted from an executed Chinese prisoner five years ago.

Also testifying are doctors Tsuyoshi Awaya of Japan, and Phaibul Jitpraphai, president of the Thai Transplantation Society. Both are considered experts in organ transplantation in their respective countries, and are prepared to answer tough questions concerning their knowledge of tranplanted organs coming from prisoners in China, how they are brokered, how much they cost, who is getting them, and how foreign laws affect the amount of transplants.

CONTACT: Lewis Harper at (202) 508.8215, by fax at (202) 955.5486, or by email at laogai@igc.org . Also contact Paul Berkowitz at (202)

226.1128, or Jason Lovell at (202) 225.2276.

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Lewis Harper phone: (202) 508-8215

Washington Office Director fax: (202) 955-5486

The Laogai Research Foundation e-mail: laogai@igc.org

888 16th Street, NW website: www.laogai.org

Suite 5310

Washington, DC 20006-4103 USA