China continues to kill detainees for organ harvesting

CHINA: An independent tribunal in London released its final report Monday morning, concluding that the Chinese government continues to kill detainees in China for organ transplants and targets religious minorities. Sir Geoffrey Nice, who was a prosecutor at the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, said the China Tribunal he chaired was “certain” that members of the outlawed Falun Gong “were used for forced organ harvesting.” Nice added that there was less evidence of the practice used against Tibetans, Uighur Muslims, and jailed Christians, but he did not rule it out.

The tribunal found that as many as 90,000 transplant operations a year are carried out in China—a far higher figure than official government records show. In the U.K., Parliament is under pressure to ban so-called transplant tourism to China. In the United States, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution (HR 343) in 2016 condemning “state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting” in China and called for a U.S. State Department investigation and new restrictions—steps not taken. At the time, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., cited detailed research showing up to 65,000 Falun Gong members were killed for their organs. Repeating that for emphasis: 65,000 people.

SUDAN: Former President Omar al-Bashir appeared for the first time in public Sunday, escorted from a maximum-security prison in Khartoum to the prosecutor’s office, where he was read charges for “possessing foreign currency and acquiring suspicious and illicit wealth.” Protesters greeted a looming court case with skepticism, seeing it as an effort to deflect attention from the interim military government’s massive ongoing crackdown. With an estimated 500 people killed, hundreds injured and arrested in demonstrations, protesters took their case online against the government with a #BlueForSudan campaign, upping global pressure against military leaders.

SYRIA: In the post-ISIS tumult, vexing questions remain about the kidnapping and death of Kayla Mueller, a 25-year-old American aid worker abducted by ISIS in 2013. U.S. authorities relied only on an ISIS account of her death, even though they discredited the source, raising alarming questions for her family and those of other Westerners who remain missing. “We want the truth, wherever that leads,” Mueller’s mom told me.

IRAQ: Leading human rights activist Hanaa Edwar is in stable condition and expected to leave the hospital after she was hit by a car on Friday in Baghdad. Initial reports suggested the controversial figure some dub the “Mother Teresa of Baghdad” had been targeted, but that was not the case.

FRANCE: About 30 clergymen and worshippers donned hard hats for the first service inside Notre Dame Cathedral since an April fire devastated the structure.

ARGENTINA: President Mauricio Macri promised a full investigation after a power failure Sunday spread across the country, disrupting local elections and halting trains. The blackout also affected Uruguay, Paraguay, and parts of Chile.

SOVIET UNION: Chernobyl does what the best stories do—details events within a specific time and place while also revealing deeper truths.

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