Belgium: National Radio Interviews Falun Gong Practitioners Regarding Organ Harvesting by the CCP

After Belgian Senator Patrick Van Krunkelsven performed an investigation into organ trafficking by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and drew consistent conclusions with the Matas-Kilgour investigation, the Belgian media and people from all circles have paid close attention to this issue and the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by the CCP. On November 27th, Belgian National Radio interviewed a local Falun Gong practitioner and broadcast the interview during its popular programme “Lopende Zaken”. Below is a transcript of the interview.

Reporter: Trafficking organs harvested from executed prisoners can bring huge profits. Since this news was exposed, Senator Patrick Van Krunkelsven has been a focus of yesterday morning news. Senator Krunkelsven went on-line to search for kidneys. Through a middleman, he learned that organs were from Chinese prisoners. Tomorrow, two Canadian human rights activists will give a presentation at the Parliament on organ harvesting. They said that Falun Gong practitioners are the first-choice victims of the CCP. Today we invited Falun Gong practitioner Nicolas Schols to our studio.

Good afternoon, tells us what Falun Gong is?

Schols: Falun Gong is a Chinese cultivation method and was publicised in 1990's. Practitioners follow the “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance” principles and thus the practice is very positive to social morality. Meanwhile, practitioners become very healthy. The Chinese Communist regime views Falun Gong as a threat to its control of people's ideology because the practice was so popular.

Reporter: You said that the practice was very popular, how many practitioners does China have?

Schols: According to the CCP's official data, by 1998, there were more than eighty million practitioners. Therefore, we estimated that there were about one hundred million when the persecution started in 1999.

Reporter: Why does the CCP government view the practice as a threat?

Schols: You need to know that Falun Gong is a group with no hierarchy. The practice has no social pursuit or political agenda. Falun Gong just teaches people to live a healthy life. The spirit of free belief manifested by the practice is viewed as a threat by the CCP to its ideological control.

Reporter: Yes, Falun Gong practitioners were then persecuted, sent to prison or even worse.

Schols: Since the persecution started in July 1999, the CCP in fact has mobilised all its propaganda machine and used military and police resources to systematically persecute Falun Gong practitioners. It was roughly estimated that the CCP built concentration camps to detain Falun Gong practitioners in 2002. Reportedly, those practitioners have been used as a live organ bank.

Reporter: Live organ bank?

Schols: Yes, live organ bank.

Reporter: This issue has also been investigated by the two Canadian human rights activists. You have read the report, what did the report say?

Schols: The two investigators are David Kilgour and David Matas. David Kilgour is a former Canadian member of parliament and David Matas is human rights lawyer. They are both from Canada. They put some evidences together and effectively proved that organ trafficking does exist. As everything is under tight control by the CCP, it is very hard to obtain evidence from China and no one dares to step up to tell the truth, they organised investigators to call Chinese hospitals.

Reporter: Krunkelsven also did this.

Schols: Yes. Their conclusions were consistent. People can quickly reserve live prisoners' organ. There is important evidence: The investigators demanded healthy and fresh organs and said that they heard organs from Falun Gong practitioners were very healthy.

Reporter: Young men and women.

Schols: They don't smoke or drink.

Reporter: Yes.

Reporter: Further evidence came from the ex-wife of a surgeon. She fled to U.S., applied for asylum and lives there. Her husband was on the brink of mental collapse because he had to remove organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. Those Falun Gong practitioners’ remains were then cremated.

So, this surgeon participated in the organ harvesting and has now testified.

Schols: That surgeon was tormented by nightmares and his social life was just a mess. His wife later found out what he was doing and divorced him.

Reporter: This person is one of the witnesses that the two Canadian investigators interviewed. As we have just mentioned, they will present their report tomorrow at the Parliament. We have just heard an introduction of this issue from Mr. Nicolas Schols. Thank you, Mr. Schols.

Schols: Thank you.