Seeking an organ transplant in China could lead to the death of an innocent person, according to a Chinese woman who spent time in a labour camp.
Annie Yang was sentenced to two years in such a camp for practising Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline banned by the Chinese Government in 1999.
Deprived of her basic human rights, Ms Yang was forced to renounce her beliefs and, every couple of months, she would be subjected to health checks, including blood, liver, eye and urine tests.
Ms Yang remained unaware of why she was going through such rigorous examinations until she fled to London after her release.
I was arrested and taken to a labour camp where they made me renounce my beliefs
There she met her husband and fellow practitioner, Richard Hollis, she told Times of Malta while on holiday in Gozo.
In the UK, Ms Yang learnt of reports of torture, illegal imprisonment and organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners.
An investigative report by former Canadian MP David Kilgour and human rights lawyer David Matas into these allegations of organ harvesting from live practitioners was published just a few months before her release in 2006. The Chinese government denied the claims.
Ms Yang has since been calling on entities to put political pressure on the Chinese authorities to stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
“We want to tell the Maltese that if they choose China for an organ transplant they should be aware that an innocent person could be killed for those organs,” Ms Yang, 50, said.
According to reports, organ donors are chosen specifically for the transplant and tests are carried out on prisoners to match the receiver’s requirements.
“We are urging people to contact their governments to put pressure on the Chinese Government to stop this persecution,” Ms Yang said, recounting her 18 months in prison after she was arrested in her own home in the presence of her 16-year-old son.
“I was arrested in 2005, and taken to a labour camp where they made me renounce my beliefs. I would be given 250ml of water and three slices of bread every day.
“Sometimes, the temperatures reached 40°C.
“I was forced to sit on a stool, my knees and feet together, hands under my thighs and back straight.
“I was not allowed to close my eyes for 20 hours at a time. I was not allowed to move or shower.
“Every day I thought about suicide,” the former antiques dealer from Beijing said.
When she finally gave in and “painfully renounced” her beliefs, she was released and asked to spy on other practitioners.
But she fled to the UK, leaving her son and parents behind. Torn between her home country and the place that was offering her refuge, she settled in London.
A petition by Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting, urging the UN Human Rights High Commissioner to call for an end of forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China, can be accessed at www.dafoh.org/petition-to-the-united-nations.