Presbyterian PoliticiaN and human rights advocate David Kilgour has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his investigations of alleged organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China.
His research partner, human rights lawyer David Matas, has also been independently nominated. They previously won the 2009 Human Rights Award from the International Society for Human Rights.
The duo coauthored Bloody Harvest: The Killing of Falun Gong Practitioners for their Organs. The book details interviews and research which suggests imprisoned practitioners have become the victims of a lucrative market for organ transplants.
Falun Gong is a system of beliefs and practices founded in China in 1992 by Li Hongzhi. The country’s Community Party banned the movement in 1999.
Kilgour was a serial MP for southeastern Edmonton between 1979 and 2006, and served as secretary of state for Latin America and Africa, and for Asia-Pacific.
The Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded Dec. 10 in Oslo, Norway. — C.Purvis
