European Parliament Passes Resolution Opposing Forced Organ Harvesting in China

Epoch Times

By Stephen Gregory, Epoch Times

European Union member countries' national flags wave in front of the European Parliament on Oct. 12, 2012 in Strasbourg, eastern France. On Dec. 12, 2013 the EU Parliament passed a resolution expressing "deep concern" over “credible reports of systematic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of conscience.” (FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images)
European Union member countries’ national flags wave in front of the European Parliament on Oct. 12, 2012 in Strasbourg, eastern France. On Dec. 12, 2013 the EU Parliament passed a resolution expressing “deep concern” over “credible reports of systematic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of conscience.” (FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images)

The European Parliament passed a resolution “expressing deep concern” over “credible reports of systematic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of conscience” on Thursday afternoon in Strasbourg, France.

The resolution calls on the EU and its member states to publicly condemn organ transplant abuses in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and to raise awareness among citizens traveling to the PRC about the issue. It also calls upon the EU to conduct a full and transparent investigation into organ transplant practices in the PRC.

The resolution also calls for the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience in China, including Falun Gong practitioners.

The resolution rejects as unacceptable China’s plan to phase out harvesting organs from executed prisoners is not acceptable and calls upon the PRC “to immediately end the practice of organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience and members of religious and ethnic minority groups.”

Tunne Kelam, a European Parliament MP from Estonia, said of the resolution, “It was long overdue, we should have done this earlier, but I think we have learn very much during this process of support. Now we are much more clear about what is going on in China, and much more determined to continue our support and express our solidarity to our Chinese friends.”

Original article