China to bring execution of prison inmates into national allocation system

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http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2014-03/07/content_17331138.htm

Govt seeks fairness in organ donor system for inmates
By Shan Juan

China is set to further strengthen the regulation of organ donations from executed prisoners and integrate it into the existing public voluntary organ donation and allocation system, according to a political adviser close to the situation.
Huang Jiefu, director of the China Organ Donation Committee and former vice-minister of health, made the remarks on Tuesday on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions.
"By doing that, organs from death-row inmates used for life-saving operations are secured in a fair, transparent, and corruption-free manner," he said.
Previously, organ donations from executed prisoners were handled inappropriately by "some doctors and law enforcement officers", which might lead to malpractice and corruption, he said.
To end that, "we will regulate the issue by including voluntary organ donations by executed prisoners in the nation's public organ donation system to help ensure an open and fair practice", he said.
China launched the system in 2010 to make it easier for the public to donate organs and ensure the organs are given based on need rather than the "highest bidders".
As of Sunday, 1,570 organ donations had been facilitated via the system, according to Huang.
Donations from executed prisoners were initially not covered by the system. Zhu Jiye, director of the liver and gallbladder surgical department of Peking University People's Hospital, called for changes to the system, to ensure that death-row inmates are not coerced into donating organs.
"We respect their right to donate, but it must be voluntary and their donated organs should be used fairly," he said.
According to Zhu, transplant surgery using organ donations from death-row inmates has declined in recent years, and there were only two such operations at his hospital last year.
Huang added: "China is gradually moving away from a long-term reliance on executed prisoners as a major source for organ donations."
In November, 38 out of the 165 transplant centers in China signed a declaration vowing to stop using donated organs from executed prisoners, according to Huang.
He expects that procedures that include the procurement and allocation of organs from inmates who have been executed will be integrated into the national system soon.
"We've reached consensus with the legal and law enforcement departments on that," he said.
To ensure that donations are voluntary, written consent from the inmate and the family is required, he said.
Another source who didn't want to be named but is close to the situation said written consent from the executed prisoner's lawyer will be added as well.
Also, only designated organ procurement organizations will be allowed to approach law enforcement departments regarding the issue, Huang said.
Most importantly, "donated organs from executed prisoners will be put into a computerized system to ensure fair allocation", he said.
"Any organ donations, including those by executed prisoners, have to go through the system and the computerized allocation process," he added.
Statistics from the National Health and Family Planning Commission show that about 300,000 Chinese people need organ transplants every year.
However, only around 10,000 eventually receive one.

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http://www.ntd.tv/en/programs/news-politics/china-forbidden-news/20140312/110295-continued-suspicion-over-organ-donations-from-executed-prisoners.html

Continued Suspicion Over Organ Donations from Executed Prisoners

"These prisoners did not donate the organs, and their families were unaware of the harvesting," Huang Jiefu told media.

The international community has brought into question the source of donors for escalating numbers of organ transplant operation in China. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has responded in various ways to allegations sourcing organs from executed prisoners.

Recently, former Vice Minister of Ministry of Health, Huang Jiefu, admitted that it is a systematic routine that the CCP harvests organs from executed prisoners. He also admitted that these prisoners did not donate the organs, and their families were unaware of the harvesting.

Hong Kong’s Ming Pao has reported about former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Health Huang Jiefu speaking to media. Huang admitted that transplantation in China, using organs from executed prisoners, has been conducted systematically. This is due to a lack of voluntary donation.

Huang Jiefu explained the executed prisoners’ organs were transferred through doctors and people within the system. This includes the courts and the armed police, and that it was hard for him to explain details. When asked if the donors and the families were informed and consulted of the donation, Huang Jiefu admitted that, “We have not been able to do that.”

Chen Yanling, Professor and physician “Under these circumstances, you cannot exchange the term ‘not informed’ with the term ‘donation’. By law, a donor must be capable of making an independent, informed, free decision. A healthy mental state must also be identified first.”

Liu Weiguo, Chinese human rights lawyer: “Organ donation is acceptable if it is a free man with full capacity, and the procedure is according to law. However, for a prisoner, who’s restricted physically and mentally, it is hard to say there is no coercion or punishment. I do not endorse this type of ‘volunteering’.”

Huang Jiefu also stressed that the authorities are committed to promoting organ donation. The number of donated organs in China has been far beyond that of executed prisoners. In this regard, Professor Chen Yanling has her doubts.

Professor Chen Yanling: “In Taiwan, organ donation has been encouraged and promoted since 1987. For 20 years, there was only an increase of less than
100. It is not so easy to change a traditional concept. Chinese culture still believes in keeping the body intact after death. Chinese people also believe humans have a soul, so giving out organ is very unlikely. Asking the relatives to agree to donation of the organs while they are grieving is very difficult.”

Huang Jiefu also said the CCP had issued regulations to organ procurement and allocation through the China Organ Transplant Response System (COTRS). This system, established in August 2013, functions to facilitate openness, fairness and transparency.

On September 16, Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting has issued a statement
to refute claims about this system. The statement said that the COTRS lacks transparency. The process of matching and information about donors are not open to the public, or an independent third party. The announced developments also do not address the body of evidence indicating organs are harvested from prisoners of conscience. The majority of prisoners of conscience who are thought to have been targeted are Falun Gong practitioners.

According to data released by China Medical Organ Transplant Association, there were around 18,500 organ transplants from 1994 to 1999. There were 60,000 cases of organ transplantation from 2000 to 2005. What are the sources for the surging 41,500 organ transplants? The CCP claimed these organs came from executed prisoners. However, according to information from Amnesty International, the annual average number of executions in China between 2000 and 2005 was only 1,616.

With growing intensity of questions from the international community, the CCP changed its formal stance of denial regarding organs from death row prisoners.
In January 2007, the CCP Ministry of Health spokesman Mao Qun'an spoke to the BBC. He said that that the majority of organs came from executed prisoners.
In August 2009, the CCP issued a message globally through its English version of the China Daily. It stated that two-thirds of organ donors in China are executed prisoners.

Chen Yanling: “They were forced to face the issue after the Epoch Times exposed live organ harvesting in China. The statements cannot hide their crimes of organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners.”

The conducting of live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners has been investigated by international human rights lawyer David Matas, and Hon. David Kilgour, former Canadian Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific. Together, they have gathered and provided considerable evidence of these crimes.