SAN FRANCISCO—David Kilgour, a former Canadian MP, former Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, and 2010 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, will visit the San Francisco Bay Area May 23–25.
Kilgour and international human rights lawyer David Matas are the key human rights advocates who have been involved in the investigation of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China.
In July 2006, their groundbreaking report, “Bloody Harvest,” provided evidence that mass, forced organ harvesting was taking place in China, and the victims were primarily adherents of the spiritual practice of Falun Gong. This was followed in 2009 by a book by the same name. In 2016, Kilgour and Matas, with the journalist Ethan Gutmann, published online a new report, “Bloody Harvest/The Slaughter: an Update,” based on an examination of the transplant programs of hundreds of hospitals in China.
After the publication of the 2006 report, Kilgour and Matas have each traveled the world to raise awareness of the atrocities in China, testifying before the U.S. Congress and other national legislatures and parliaments, and speaking at academic seminars, human rights forums, and rallies.
Kilgour’s work with Matas led the U.S. Congress to unanimously pass H.Res.343 in June 2016 condemning China’s “practice of state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting.” Several Bay Area members of Congress are co-sponsors for this resolution.
Independently of Kilgour and Matas’ investigation, Israeli heart surgeon Dr. Jacob Lavee discovered something was amiss with transplantation in China.
“In 2005, when I was approached by a patient of mine … he was told by his medical insurance company to travel to China in two weeks’ time, as he was scheduled to undergo heart transplantation on a specific date,” said Lavee in an interview with Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH), of which Lavee is also a member. “The patient had indeed gone to China and underwent the operation on the exact date as promised ahead of time ... and the fact that one can get it on a specific pre-scheduled date was a total surprise to me and got me researching.”
Lavee subsequently lobbied for a law passed by Israel’s Knesset in 2008 that in effect prohibits reimbursement for transplantations performed in China.
Kilgour will be attending a few film screenings related to this subject during his visit. He will address his work of the last 10 years in exposing China’s state-sanctioned killing of Chinese prisoners of conscience for their organs.
- A film screening of the Peabody Award-winning documentary “Human Harvest” will take place at Stanford University at the Jordan Hall, Room 040, on May 23 at 7pm–9pm. Admission is free. RSVP at goo.gl/xiM4gP
- Film screenings of the documentary “Hard To Believe,” winner of 14 awards, by Emmy Award-winning producer Ken Stone, will take place at the two locations below. Admission is free. RSVP at http://h2b.eventbrite.com
May 25, 1:30pm–3:00pm: Millberry Union Conference Center (UCSF), 500 Parnassus Ave., San Francisco
May 25, 7pm–9pm: Opera Plaza Cinema, 601 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
The film screenings are sponsored by DAFOH, an organization with the mission to protect ethical medical practices that further human dignity.
Bay Area DAFOH representative Dr. Alejandro Centurion commented: “Mr. Kilgour’s visit will help more members of the medical community and the general public learn about these crimes. Many Americans, including health care professionals, have not yet heard about what is arguably one of the greatest violations of medical ethics of our time, and greater public awareness is essential to help bring this to an end.”
