Criminal Complaint Charges Chinese Surgeons with Complicity in=
 Organ Removal

BOSTON=97A U.S. attorney filed a criminal complaint against two=
 Chinese doctors 
attending a World Transplantation Congress (WTC) conference in=
 Boston Tuesday. 
The complaint accuses the two of overseeing forced organ removal=
 from living 
Falun Gong prisoners of conscience in their hospitals. 
Dr. Terri Marsh, the Executive Director of the Human Rights Law=
 Foundation 
(HRLF), filed the complaint with the U.S. Attorney's Office in=
 Boston on Tuesday 
morning. The complaint demands an urgent investigation into the=
 two doctors' 
involvement in organ removal. It also seeks a warrant for their=
 immediate arrest 
in order to prevent their fleeing back to China while the=
 investigation is 
conducted. 
"I will do anything I have to do to stop the removal of organs=
 from Falun Gong 
practitioners," said Marsh. "This is a ripple in a wave of=
 criminal lawsuits 
that we will file in every country against officials and surgeons=
 in China who 
are involved." 
The defendants, Zhonghua Klaus Chen and Tongyu Zhu, are the=
 directors of organ 
transplant departments in Wuhan and Shanghai hospitals,=
 respectively. 
According to the complaint, the defendants, "knowingly and=
 willfully 
participated in and/or aided and abetted the practice of illegal=
 removal of body 
organs from Falun Gong practitioners and other detainees." They=
 also "personally 
and financially benefited from this practice." 
Marsh bases these charges on recorded phone conversations in=
 which doctors 
working in both of the defendants' hospitals openly admitted that=
 the organs 
they have available for transplants come from practitioners of=
 Falun Gong. Falun 
Gong is a popular spiritual practice that originated in China and=
 has been 
persecuted there since 1999. 
In one transcript cited in the complaint, a doctor from Zhu's=
 Shanghai hospital 
converses with an investigator pretending to be shopping for=
 organs. When the 
caller asks if any of the organs used for transplant come from=
 Falun Gong, the 
doctor replies, "all of ours are of that type." 
Later in the conversation, the doctor specifically mentions=
 kidneys, Zhu's area 
of expertise. 
The transcripts are drawn from a recent investigative report=
 published by David 
Kilgour, former Canadian Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, and=
 human rights 
lawyer David Matas earlier this month. Their independent=
 investigation supported 
earlier allegations of systematic forced organ removal from Falun=
 Gong 
practitioners in China. The Kilgour-Matas report estimates that=
 the sources of 
over 40,000 organ transplants remain unaccounted for. 
According to Marsh, because the defendants are the directors of=
 the transplant 
departments from which the phone admissions were obtained, they=
 are undoubtedly 
aware of the organ harvesting and bear responsibility for=
 overseeing it. Even if 
one cannot prove that the doctors engaged in organ removal=
 themselves, under the 
doctrine of command responsibility, they are accountable for=
 crimes committed by 
their subordinates. 
According to the complaint, the removal of organs harvested from=
 prisoners of 
conscience in Zhu and Chen's hospitals violates the United=
 Nations' Convention 
against Torture, which both China and the United States have=
 ratified. 
Marsh says that the complaint has a legal basis in U.S. law=
 according to Title 
18 section 2340. This statute grants jurisdiction to U.S. courts=
 to prosecute 
perpetrators of torture present in the United States,=
 irrespective of their 
nationality or that of their victim. 
As for what will happen next, according to Marsh, the U.S.=
 Attorney's office 
accepted the complaint and will initiate an investigation into=
 the charges. In 
the meantime, Chen was served a copy of the legal complaint on=
 Tuesday afternoon 
informing him of the investigation. There is some concern that he=
 will now 
attempt to leave the United States as soon as possible. 
"I hope the investigation will continue even if the doctors leave=
 the 
jurisdiction [to return to China]," says Marsh. "And hopefully it=
 will lead to 
an indictment." 
Just the Beginning 
Marsh says that the complaint against the two doctors is not an=
 isolated 
occurrence, but a "ripple in a wave" of criminal complaints=
 against officials 
and other Chinese citizens participating in the campaign against=
 Falun Gong. 
"Next week the HRLF will release a report that shows how=
 government departments 
at all levels in China=97central, provincial and municipal=97are=
 implicated in the 
persecution of Falun Gong, including the removal of organs=
 without voluntary 
consent," says Marsh. 
Marsh says that together with HRLF colleagues from Spain and=
 Taiwan, she will 
file complaints and initiate criminal investigations of Chinese=
 officials and 
surgeons across the globe. 
In addition to the formal complaint, a second prelude to this=
 campaign also 
occurred this week in Boston. Over 50 legal notices were served=
 to Chinese 
delegates to the WTC, warning of civil and criminal liability for=
 those 
participating in organ harvesting. The document was signed by=
 Marsh and her two 
foreign colleagues, Theresa Chu from Taiwan and Carlos Iglesias=
 from Spain. 
"The undersigned human rights attorneys are aware of the ongoing=
 nature of these 
acts," the notice concludes, "and will continue to track and=
 observe your 
conduct to determine how to proceed in this matter in the=
 interests of justice, 
human dignity and all moral principles of significance to the=
 community of Man." 


By Sarah Cook
July 26, 2006