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ORGANS FROM EXECUTED PRISONERS USED IN CHINESE TRANSPLANTS

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August 29, 1994



Executed prisoners in China have become a principal source of

supply for organ transplants, according to a new report issued

today by Human Rights Watch/Asia. The report coincides with the

opening of the 15th Congress of the World Transplantation Society

in Kyoto, Japan.



According to HRW/Asia, the practice of using condemned prisoners'

organs entails a wide range of human rights violations:



    the consent of prisoners, although required by law, is rarely

    sought and is in any case meaningless given the circumstances under

    which they are prepared for execution.



    the lack of judicial safeguards in China guarantees that many

    people will be wrongfully executed -- and become unwitting organ

    donors.



    some executions are known to have been deliberately botched to

    ensure that prisoners were not yet dead when their organs were

    removed.



    the use of condemned prisoners' organs involves members of the

    medical profession in the actual execution process, in violation of

    international standards of medical ethics.



In the 42-page report, "Organ Procurement and Judicial Execution in

China," HRW/Asia calls on foreign governments to bar their citizens

from obtaining organ transplants in China until Chinese authorities

demonstrate that executed prisoners are no longer being used as a

source for these transplants. It also calls on foreign funding

agencies and pharmaceutical firms to cease participation in all

government-sponsored organ-transplant research programs in China

until that evidence is forthcoming.



The Chinese government denied until recently that executed

prisoners were used as a source for organs; it now acknowledges

that they are but only occasionally and only with the consent of

the prisoner concerned.



But HRW/Asia uncovered official documents suggesting otherwise, one

of which is entitled "Temporary Rules Concerning the Utilization of

Corpses or Organs from Corpses of Executed Prisons." The full text

of the document is appended to the new report. Testimonies from

Chinese doctors and jurists indicate that, in fact, the practice of

using prisoners' organs is common.



The report clearly demonstrates how any notion of "consent" to

organ donation in China is absurd, given what it calls the

"fundamentally coercive" situation in which persons condemned to

undergo judicial execution are placed. As one example, it cites

vivid testimony from a prison guard about conditions on "death row"

in Tianjin Municipal Jail.



In addition to its appeals to foreign governments, donors and

businesses, HRW/Asia calls on the Chinese government to ban all

further use of prisoners' organs, to invite United Nations human

rights experts to investigate China's execution and organ

procurement procedures, and to reverse what it calls the "alarming

legislative and judicial trend toward increased use of the death

penalty."



                                    * * * *



Human Rights Watch/Asia (formerly Asia Watch)

Human Rights Watch is a nongovernmental organization established in

1978 to monitor and promote the observance of internationally

recognized human rights in Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Middle

East and among the signatories of the Helsinki accords.  It is

supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations

worldwide.  It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly.



Kenneth Roth is the executive director; Cynthia Brown is the

program director; Holly J. Burkhalter is the advocacy director;

Gara LaMarche is the associate director: Juan E. Mndez is general

counsel; Susan Osnos is the communications director; and Derrick

Wong is the finance and administration director.  Robert L.

Bernstein is the chair of the board and Adrian W. DeWind is vice

chair.  Its Asia division was established in 1985 to monitor and

promote the observance of internationally recognized human rights

in Asia.  Sidney Jones is the executive director; Mike Jendrzejczyk

is the Washington director; Robin Munro is the Hong Kong director;

Therese Caouette, Patricia Gossman and Jeannine Guthrie are

research associates; Cathy Yai-Wen Lee is the associate; Mickey

Spiegel is a research consultant.  Orville Schell is the vice chair

of the advisory committee.



Copies of the report are available from the Human Rights Watch

Publications Department, 485 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10017 for

$6.00 (domestic); $7.50 (foreign).



[end]



HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH/ASIA

485 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY  10017-6104

Tel: (212) 972-8400

Fax: (212) 972-0905

E-mail: hrwatchnyc@igc.apc.org





 

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