Sir Geoffrey Nice the chair of the tribunal and a prosecutor at the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia said: “Very many people have died indescribably hideous deaths for no reason.” The seven-member independent panel comprised of leading human rights lawyers found it was “beyond doubt” that forced organ harvesting from prisoners has taken place “on a substantial scale by state-supported or approved organisations and individuals” in an interim judgement released in December. The International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China, an independent panel, said there was clear evidence that forced and deadly organ harvesting had been taking place over at least 20 years.
The tribunal was set up by campaign group the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China and was charged with examining whether crimes had been committed as a result of China’s transplant practices.
The UK-based panel said it was “satisfied” that forced organ harvesting was still taking place after hearing evidence that members of the Falun Gong group continue to be killed in the process of having their organs extracted.
The panel said its findings were “indicative” of genocide but it had not been clear enough to make a positive ruling on that front. It recommended that international bodies investigate the issue further.
The tribunal found that detainees from the Falun Gong group were “probably the principal source” of organ harvesting for transplant.
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Jennifer Zeng, a Falun Gong practitioner previously held in detention camp, said she hoped the hoped the tribunal’s findings would prompt action.
Ms Zeng said: “I hope more countries will pass laws to forbid their own citizens from going to China to do organ transplants.
“And I do hope the international world will figure out a way to stop the killing in China right now.”
They said that China’s Uigur Muslim minority were in danger of “being used as a bank of organs”.
Former Falun Gong and Uyghur Muslim inmates report prison officials subjected them to ongoing medical checkups and blood testing.
China says it stopped harvesting the organs of executed prisoners about five years ago, and the government says the allegations are being used for political propaganda against the communist country.
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in London said that Chinese government regulations say human organ donation must be voluntary and without payment.
“We hope that the British people will not be misled by rumours,” said a spokesman in a statement sent before the tribunal’s final judgement was released on Monday.