A/HRC/4/33/Add.1 Page 62 Para Country Date Type Mandate Allegations transmitted Government Response the statement in 2005 of the Vice Minister of Health Mr Huang Jiefu; willing donor family members, who for cultural reasons, are often reluctant to donate their organs after death; and brain-dead donors. Moreover, the reportedly short waiting times that have been advertised for perfectly-matched organs would suggest the existence of a computerized matching system for transplants and a large bank of live prospective donors. It is alleged that the discrepancy between available organs and numbers from identifiable sources is explained by organs harvested from Falun Gong practitioners, and that the rise in transplants from 2000 coincides and correlates with the beginning of the persecution of these persons. On organ transplants, in general, it has been reported that in March 2006, legislation was introduced which bans the sale of human organs and requires the donor to give written permission. The legislation also limits transplants to certain institutions, which must verify the source of the organs. This law came into force on 1 July 2006. Contrary to the Government assertion that human organs have been prohibited from sale, in accordance with the 1991 WHO guiding principles, it has been reported that up to this time Chinese law has allowed the buying and selling of organs; has not required that donors give written permission for their organs to be transplanted; there has been no restriction on the institutions which could engage in organ harvesting or transplants; there was no requirement that the institutions engaged in transplants had to verify out human organ transplants must have the capacity to ensure medical quality and safety in accordance with ethical principles. The goal of these regulations is to standardize and improve the management of clinical practice of human organ transplant operations in order to safeguard medical quality and safety. Presently, the relevant government agencies are drafting human organ transplant regulations in order to create the necessary regulation of human organ donation, registration, matching, and transplant. China absolutely does not allow forced donation or trafficking in the corpses or organs of executed criminals, which are used in strict accordance with the relevant regulations. Notably: written consent must be received from the criminal to be executed and his family; approval must be received from the provincial-level health authority and the provincial-level higher people’s court; and the unit using the organs must have the authority/capacity to conduct medical science research or transplant operations. The question of organ donation is not part of the inquiries made at the time of execution. Those death-row criminals who wish to donate their corpse or organs after they are executed must express this voluntarily in writing. Mobile execution vehicles are used solely by the courts to carry out execution by lethal injection. They do not, and are strictly forbidden to, transport organs. According to Chinese laws and regulations, individuals who