A blogger from Shanxi Province in north-central China was recently arrested for warning on Weibo (a twitter-like platform popular in China) that forced organ harvesting has been occurring in the area in which he lives.

Mr. Han, 41 years old, is from Wenshui County. He used his cellphone to blog the information of several cases of people being killed for their organs recently in Wenshui and Qingxu counties.

The information had been posted 253 times when he was apprehended. Police arrested Mr. Han, claiming the blog could cause people to panic. In September China’s top judicial authorities issued new regulations according to which someone may be jailed if a blog post is forwarded more than 500 times.

In 2006,independent investigators reported that prisoners of conscience detained in China, particularly adherents of the spiritual practice of Falun Gong, were being used as a live organ bank. When someone needing an organ presented him or herself, the needed organs would be harvested from a detainee, killing him or her.

In recent years on scattered occasions China’s state-run media have reported instances of individuals claiming to have been abducted and had a kidney removed against their will, or other instances of forced organ harvesting occurring outside the detention system.

Chinese netizens have been discussing the arrest of Mr. Han at great length, pointing out that according to the new regulations a blog post needed to be forwarded more than 500 times before an arrest could be made.

“Sadly, I could post something insignificant in the morning, and be arrested in the afternoon. The content was about highlighting corruption,” a netizen said.

“Was it [Han’s post about organ harvesting] really spreading rumors?” another netizen said. “Did it really result in disrupting public order, such as suspension of classes or production? Did it cause chaos or an event involving large group of people? How could you tell that locals were unsettled by the panic? Were there really 200 people who said they got frightened by the news?”

And another netizen said: “Because of “spreading rumors,” regardless of how many times a blog is forwarded, maintaining social stability is considered of the utmost importance. How much fear would this arrest instill in the hearts of the netizens?”

Recently efforts to stop illegal organ harvesting have increased around the world. Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting circulated a petition that was signed by nearly 1.5 million people in 53 countries, calling for an end to forced organ harvesting in China. Many governments have joined in the condemnation, with the momentum expected to increase in the New Year.

Translated by Frank Fang. Written in English by Christine Ford.



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