What Is This About?

What's Stop The Torture!?

My name is Timothy Howe, and I am 15 years old. I started Stop The Torture! after hearing about the horrible abuses of Chinese prisoners. What finally inspired me to create this was hearing about Prime Time Live's segment on the sale of organs from executed Chinese prisoners. Bill Clinton's apathetic response is worse than pathetic, it's criminal.

This site has received many responses, including some from Croatia, Italy, and Sweden. Together, we're starting to get some attention, and hopefully, get something done about the problem.

China's Long Record

China has a long record of human rights violations, the most famous of which is probably the 1989 crackdown in Tiananmen Square. However, even today, not-so-famous things are happening. People who the government disapproves of are thrown into labor camps for long sentences, and the slightest infractions are used as excuses to lengthen the sentences.

Prison in China means hard labor. Prisoners are worked until they drop, and then fed small meals. Small infractions are punished by torture, extension of one's sentence, or being deprived of food.

It's not just hardened criminals who end up in prison in China. Prisoners include Christians, homosexuals, pro-democracy activists, and even people who accidentally say the wrong thing about a government official. Many prisoners are forced to turn to crime after they are finally released, since they are not allowed to work.

China also has a "one-child" policy. This means that if women become pregnant with a second child, they are forced to abort the baby.

Prisoners' Organs For Sale

On October 15, 1997, ABC's Prime Time Live ran a segment in which they showed that China was executing prisoners and selling their organs. Although Harry Wu and other human rights advocates had claimed that this was happening before, people were always able to deny it.

Brian Ross, a correspondant for Prime Time Live, pretended to be ill and contacted a doctor advertising kidneys, using a hidden camera. The doctor asked for a $5,000 advance payment on the price of a kidney, $30,000. This would reserve a kidney and a hospital bed in a Chinese military hospital. When Ross brought in a camera, he immediately denied everything.

Prime Time Live obtained a Chinese military video showing the executions, which had been smuggled out of China by a group of dissidents. The video shows the executioners lining up their guns precisely at the base of the skull, making organ removal easier.

Although the Chinese government denies this practice, human rights advocates estimate that since 1990, over 10,000 kidneys have been sold, raising tens of millions of dollars for the Chinese military.

This site used to have links to pictures and videos from the Prime Time Live segment. However, ABCNEWS has removed the pertinent files from their site, probably due to periodic site updates. I am currently asking them for permission to post it to this site. Until then, please keep checking back here, or join the campaign and I will notify you when I receive a response.

The U.S. Government's Response

Even though our elected officials know about what is going on, they are not doing anything. Congress and President Clinton gave China Most Favored Nation status. During Jiang Zemin's recent visit to the United States, President Clinton removed restrictions on selling nuclear material to China. They talked about human rights, but they ended up deciding that they "just see these things from different points of view."

Government officials are doing as little as possible about the problem, since most of them are only concerned with money and power. That's why most of them just mumble about "different views". This would quickly change if they began hearing from people, especially people who could vote them out.

To her credit, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has responded in a courteous and helpful manner to my inquiries. To his shame, Bill Clinton has ignored them.

For more information, email chinaprisoners@geocities.com.