WINNIPEG – After joining the ranks of the Order of Canada, prosecuting war criminals, authoring numerous books, helping refugees, and combatting hate speech, antisemitism and anti-Zionism, you might think David Matas might want to take a breather – but that would be out of character.  

In fact, Matas’ human rights endeavours show no signs of slowing down. In his view, “unless people stand up for human rights in any way they can, humanity will whither away.”

Matas’ co-authored book, with David Kilgour, Bloody Harvest: The killing of Falun Gong for their organs, was launched in Toronto on Sunday and will be launched at McNally Robinson, Grant Park in Winnipeg at 8 p.m., Nov. 19.

The book discloses the shocking facts the co-authors unearthed when investigating allegations of Chinese government persecution and killing of Falun Gong practitioners.   

Falun Gong is a set of exercises with a spiritual foundation that has been banned in China since 1999. Anyone caught practising it is arrested. If they refuse to denounce it, they are thrown in jail, tortured, or worse.  

Harvesting of critical organs, like the heart and liver, are being forcibly done to Falun Gong “expendable” prisoners while they are still alive. To destroy any evidence of these murders, the prisoners are cremated.  

Matas and Kilgour were asked by the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of the Falun Gong  (CIPFG) to look into these claims.   

“I’m involved in this as an activist who speaks up for human rights issues,” said Matas.  
According to Matas, it is the doctors and hospitals in China conducting these organ harvestings, noting that the government is not innocent in the matter.  

“In China, without government sanctioning, nothing can happen,” he said.

“Since 2001, some 7,500 organs have been harvested from Falun Gong prisoners every year. The solution is for this to stop. People must campaign against it publicly and speak on the issue, then getting extra territorial legislation on organ transplanting.”

Other books written by Matas include Justice Delayed: Nazi War Criminals in Canada, No More: The Battle Against Human Rights Violations, Bloody Words: Hate and Free Speech, and Aftershock: Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism.

Matas is also on the board of NGO Beyond Borders in Winnipeg, which focuses on the international dimension of child sexual abuse and exploitation.  

In 1999 Beyond Borders was granted affiliate status with ECPAT International, the campaign to End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes.

“We’ve helped implement extraterritorial legislation,” said Matas. “So now, sexual abuse and exploitation is a crime not only in your own back yard, but internationally. Also, the age of ‘minor’ has gone up from the age of 13 to 16.”

The group’s founders are Rosalind Prober, an official observer invited by the Canadian government, and Mark Erik Hecht, a children’s rights lawyer.

Beyond Borders’ Man-to-Man campaign asks Canadian men to speak to each other – and speak out against child trafficking and sexual exploitation. The group also puts on local events like the coming Media Awards to be held at the Fort Garry Hotel on Nov. 20.  Visit www.beyondborders.org for more information.

Matas, who is B’nai Brith Canada’s senior legal counsel, has been named to the Order of Canada for his human rights and immigration/refugees work.