Is The Persecution Of Falun Gong In China Tantamount To Genocide?

In April 2019, the China Organ Harvesting Research Centre issued a report, investigating allegations dating to 2006 that Falun Gong, imprisoned in China on grounds of following an unauthorized religion, were systematically having their organs harvested for use in Chinese medical institutions. The report concluded that: “the Chinese regime has attempted to systematically annihilate Falun Gong” through such means. Already in 2004, a court case against the Chinese leadership was heard in a Dutch court. The charges were genocide of followers of Falun Gong. The grisly subject-matter of organ harvesting is part and parcel of wider genocide claims, claims that are hardly news any more. The question in this opinion article is not whether Falun Gong members’ organs are being harvested in PRC; of that there is little doubt. The question is rather, is this an example of a state-committed crime of genocide.