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ORGANS FROM EXECUTED PRISONERS USED IN CHINESE TRANSPLANTS
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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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