A Heroic Life: David Kilgour
We are saddened to hear of David Kilgour’s passing on April 6, 2022. In 2018, Mr. Kilgour was our first Friends of Falun Gong Human Rights Award recipient, alongside his partner and co-awardee David Matas. They were among the first to publicly stand up for Falun Gong practitioners when the persecution in China was in its upswing. It is safe to say that Mr. Kilgour and Mr. Matas were the reason why we began the annual award.
Together they blew open the biggest human rights scandal of our time: that the Chinese Communist Party have, and continues to, harvest organs from prisoners of conscience. In 2009, they coauthored a painfully detailed exposé on China’s killing-for-profit organ transplant system called Bloody Harvest. Through this groundbreaking publication and the advocacy work generated from it, the world’s people have become increasingly aware of the brutal nature of the CCP.
As a former member of the Canadian parliament and secretary of state, Mr. Kilgour had consistently championed freedom and humanitarianism throughout the world. In speech and deed, Mr. Kilgour exemplified the spirit that we all need: to speak one’s mind and stand up fearlessly for one’s personal beliefs. He will forever be honored by the Falun Gong community.