Forced organ harvesting is the removal of organs from a person without their consent, typically for transplantation into a paying recipient. It is a form of human trafficking in which people are exploited for their kidneys, livers, corneas, or other organs through coercion, deception, or outright force. The practice has drawn international alarm primarily in connection with China, where evidence points to the systematic targeting of prisoners of conscience and detained minorities.
How It Differs From Organ Trafficking
The term “forced organ harvesting” is not formally defined in international law. The closest legal framework comes from the Palermo Protocol, which addresses trafficking in persons for the purpose of organ removal. In practice, the two concepts overlap significantly. Both involve exploiting vulnerable people for their organs, but forced organ harvesting specifically implies that organs are taken without any form of meaningful consent, often from people held in state custody or detention.
Kidneys are the most commonly trafficked organ because a living person can survive with one. But livers, corneas, and skin are also sought. Victims in some regions are deceived into compliance. Common lies include telling people that humans have three kidneys, that kidneys regenerate after removal, or that donation carries no lasting health effects. In reality, kidney donors can face serious lifelong medical problems and may be unable to work afterward.
China and the Targeting of Minorities
Most international concern centers on China, where multiple investigations have documented a pattern of organ harvesting from prisoners, particularly members of persecuted groups. Falun Gong practitioners have been identified as the primary victims. Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that the Chinese government banned in 1999, after which tens of thousands of practitioners were detained. More recently, allegations have expanded to include imprisoned Uyghurs, Tibetans, Christians, and other religious and ethnic minorities.
In June 2021, twelve United Nations human rights experts issued a joint statement saying they were “extremely alarmed” by reports of organ harvesting targeting these groups in Chinese detention facilities. They noted that detainees were often arrested without warrants, given no explanation for their detention, and subjected to discriminatory treatment based on their ethnicity or religion. Reports from Xinjiang described mandatory medical testing of detainees, including blood typing and organ function assessments, consistent with preparation for organ removal.
The Evidence Behind the Allegations
One of the most striking pieces of circumstantial evidence is China’s organ transplant wait times. In most countries, patients wait months or years for a matching organ. The average wait for a kidney in the United States, for example, exceeds three years. Chinese hospital websites have advertised wait times of just one to two weeks for liver transplants. One institution reported performing 647 liver transplants in roughly a year. Critics argue these extraordinarily short wait times are only possible if organs are available essentially on demand, which would require a large pool of living donors whose organs can be harvested on schedule.
China’s official transplant numbers also raise questions. The government reported over 13,000 organ transplants in 2016 and over 16,000 in 2017, making it the second-largest transplant system in the world. Yet the voluntary donation system that is supposed to supply these organs was only established in 2010 and did not become the sole official source until 2015. Independent researchers have argued that the reported number of voluntary deceased donors cannot account for the volume of transplants being performed.
In 2019, the China Tribunal, an independent people’s tribunal chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice (who previously prosecuted Slobodan Milošević at The Hague), delivered its final judgment after hearing extensive testimony and evidence. The tribunal concluded that forced organ harvesting had taken place on a substantial scale in China and that Falun Gong practitioners were the principal source.
Beyond China
Forced organ harvesting is not exclusively a Chinese problem, though China dominates the discussion due to the scale of evidence. Organ trafficking networks have been documented in parts of South Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, where poverty and weak law enforcement create conditions for exploitation. Testimony before the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee in 2024 described organ harvesting connected to cartel activity at the U.S.-Mexico border, with witnesses stating that unaccompanied migrant children are particularly vulnerable because there is no reliable way to track them once they cross the border. A counter-trafficking expert testified that cartel affiliates scout migrants for specific organs, targeting children because they are unable to fight back and their organs tend to be healthier.
International Legal Responses
Several countries have moved to criminalize participation in forced organ harvesting, even when it occurs abroad. Israel, China itself, and the Philippines have passed regulations aimed at curbing transplant tourism. Some European countries, like the Netherlands, have provisions to prosecute citizens who purchase organs overseas, though enforcement depends on whether the destination country also criminalizes the act.
In the United States, the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act passed the House of Representatives in May 2025. The bill would impose sanctions and criminal penalties on individuals involved in forced organ harvesting, including those who facilitate, finance, or benefit from the practice. It allows the president to waive sanctions on a case-by-case basis for national security reasons, in periods of up to 180 days.
The World Medical Association has condemned all forms of organ trafficking and called on national medical associations to train physicians to recognize and report suspected cases. Doctors play a dual role in this issue: they are sometimes complicit in harvesting operations, but they are also among the few people positioned to identify victims. The WMA has urged governments to create reporting frameworks so that health professionals who encounter patients with organs obtained through illicit means can alert authorities without compromising patient care.
Why Transplant Tourism Fuels the Problem
Transplant tourism, where patients travel to another country to receive an organ, is one of the primary economic drivers of forced harvesting. The global shortage of donated organs is severe. Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are on transplant waiting lists, and many die before an organ becomes available. This desperation creates a market where wealthy patients from countries with long wait times travel to places where organs can be obtained quickly, often without asking how the organ was sourced.
Over 100 transplant organizations worldwide have endorsed the Declaration of Istanbul, a set of principles designed to combat transplant tourism and promote ethical organ donation. The declaration calls on countries to be self-sufficient in organ donation and to prohibit their citizens from traveling abroad to receive trafficked organs. Despite broad endorsement, enforcement remains inconsistent, and the economic incentives on both sides of the transaction continue to sustain the practice.