China Tribunal

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The China Tribunal was a non-governmental "people's tribunal" to inquire into forced organ harvesting in China.[1] It was headquartered in London. The chair of the China Tribunal was Sir Geoffrey Nice KC,[1] who had also been lead prosecutor at the trial of Slobodan Milošević in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.[2] Its other members were Professor of Paediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery at University College London Martin Elliott, Malaysian lawyer Andrew Khoo, Iranian lawyer, Shadi Sadr, US lawyer Ragina Paulose, businessman Nick Vetch and historian Arthur Waldron.[1] All members of the Tribunal provided their time pro bono publico. The Judgment states: "All members of the Tribunal, Counsel to the Tribunal, volunteer lawyers and the editor of this Judgment have worked entirely pro bono publico (for the public good) which for those unfamiliar with the term or practice means completely without financial return of any kind."[3]

The Tribunal was initiated by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC), which was co-founded by David Matas, one of the leading proponents alleging forced organ harvesting in that country.[4][5]

## Relationship with other groups and organizations

[edit]

The China Tribunal was initiated by the ETAC, a non-profit registered in Australia.[6] "A minority of [the] committee members are Falun Gong practitioners".[3] The Tribunal states that it itself is independent from ETAC,[5] "none of the members of the Tribunal, Counsel to the Tribunal, the editor or the volunteer lawyers working with Counsel to the Tribunal is a Falun Gong practitioner or has any special interest in Falun Gong."[3]

## Events and history

[edit]

In 2016, ETAC asked Geoffrey Nice to write an opinion about the issues that the tribunal was later to consider; Nice advised that a body of several people would be better able to consider the facts and law, which eventually led to ETAC forming the China Tribunal.[7]

The China Tribunal held 5 days of public hearings in December 2018 and April 2019, in which over 50 fact witnesses, experts, and investigators testified.[8][9]

On 17 June 2019, the China Tribunal pronounced its "final judgment" on organ harvesting in China, concluding that the Chinese Communist Party was, beyond reasonable doubt, guilty of committing crimes against humanity against China's Uyghur Muslim and Falun Gong populations, and that removing hearts and other organs from living victims constituted one of the worst mass atrocities of this century.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16]

The China Tribunal Judgment stated: "In the long-term practice in the PRC of forced organ harvesting it was indeed Falun Gong practitioners who were used as a source – probably the principal source – of organs for forced organ harvesting."[17] Adding that there was no evidence of the practice having been stopped and that the Tribunal was satisfied that it continued.[17]

The judgment was published on 1 March 2020.[7]

## See also

[edit]

* Antireligious campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Who we are". China Tribunal. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
2. ^ "Profile: Geoffrey Nice". University of Buckingham. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
3. ^ a b c "Judgement, section 17" (PDF). China Tribunal. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
4. ^ "First Known Survivor of China's Forced Organ Harvesting Speaks Out". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
5. ^ a b "About ETAC". China Tribunal. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
6. ^ "About Us". The International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
7. ^ a b "China Tribunal Judgement" (PDF). China Tribunal. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
8. ^ Hurley, Richard (16 April 2019). "Evidence to contradict "substantial" forced organ harvesting from prisoners in China is lacking, tribunal hears". The BMJ. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
9. ^ "Hearings". China Tribunal. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
10. ^ "Forced Organ Harvesting: "One of the worst mass atrocities of this century"". www.healtheuropa.eu. 29 January 2020. Archived from the original on 11 March 2020.
11. ^ "China Tribunal: Final judgement detailed, the hearings records, submissions etc". chinatribunal.com.
12. ^ Nice, Geoffrey (2019). SHORT FORM of THE CHINA TRIBUNAL'S JUDGMENT (PDF). China Tribunal.
13. ^ Iacobucci, Gareth (3 March 2020). "Chinese doctors admitted in undercover calls that harvested organs were available, informal tribunal finds". The BMJ. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
14. ^ Elks, Sonia (17 June 2019). "China is harvesting organs from Falun Gong members, finds expert panel". Reuters. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
15. ^ Smith, Saphora (18 June 2019). "China forcefully harvests organs from detainees, tribunal concludes". NBC News. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
16. ^ Bowcott, Owen (17 June 2019). "China is harvesting organs from detainees, tribunal concludes". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
17. ^ a b "Judgement, section 461,467" (PDF). China Tribunal. Retrieved 3 March 2022.

## External links

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* Official website

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Falun Gong

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* China Tribunal
* Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong
* Kilgour–Matas report (Organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China)
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* Falun Gong: The End of Days
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