Vatican organ trafficking summit issues statement
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| The Pontifical Academy of Sciences. |
(Vatican Radio) The Pontifical Academy of Sciences has
issued a statement following its summit on Organ Trafficking and Transplant
Tourism which was held in Rome this week. In it the participants resolve
"to combat these crimes against humanity through comprehensive efforts
that involve all stakeholders around the world."
Below find the English language statement
In accordance with the Resolutions of the United Nations and
the World Health Assembly, the 2015 Vatican Summit of mayors from the major
cities of the world, the 2014 joint declaration of faith leaders against modern
slavery, and the Magisterium of Pope Francis, who in June 2016, at the Judges’
Summit on Human Trafficking and Organized Crime, stated that organ trafficking
and human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal are “true crimes against
humanity [that] need to be recognized as such by all religious, political and
social leaders, and by national and international legislation ,” we, the
undersigned participants of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Summit on Organ
Trafficking, resolve to combat these crimes against humanity
through comprehensive efforts that involve all stakeholders around the world.
Poverty, unemployment, and the lack of socioeconomic
opportunities are factors that make persons vulnerable to organ trafficking and
human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal. Destitute individuals
are victimized in schemes of organ trafficking when induced to sell
their organs in a desperate search for a better life. Similarly, desperate are
the patients who are willing to pay large amounts and travel to foreign
destinations as transplant tourists to obtain an organ that may keep them
alive--- oblivious of the short and long-term health consequences
of commercial transplantation. Unscrupulous
brokers and health care professionals make
organ trafficking possible, disregarding the dignity of human
beings. The operative procedures are performed in
unauthorized facilities that clandestinely serve transplant tourists. But organ
trafficking can also occur at legitimate facilities, in
situations where individuals who are willing to sell their organs
present themselves to transplant centers as a relative or
altruistic friend of the recipient. The media have made an
important contribution to public understanding
in highlighting the plight of trafficked
individuals by publishing their independent
investigations of transplant-related crimes and corrupt healthcare
professionals and unregulated facilities.
A number of international legal instruments
define, condemn, and criminalize these practices, namely
the United Nations Protocol against Trafficking in Persons (Palermo
Protocol), the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings,
and the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs. We
support these documents, which assert that the transplant
professionals who commit or abet these crimes should be held legally
accountable whether the offenses take place domestically or abroad.
The legal instruments of the recent past are an
important link to emerging innovative policy to combat social
inequality. Trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal
and organ trafficking are contrary to the United Nations General Assembly 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development as an issue of human rights and social
justice because the poor are exploited for their organs and yet not able
to receive a transplant if they suffer organ failure. Jeffrey Sachs has written
that “Sustainable development argues that economic policy
works best when it focuses simultaneously
on three big issues: first, promoting
economic growth and decent jobs; second,
promoting social fairness to women, the poor, and minority groups; and third,
promoting environmental sustainability” . Countries in conflict and without
domestic stability can become the locations of transplant-related crimes.
Progress has been made by healthcare professionals aligned
with the Declaration of Istanbul to curtail organ trafficking.
Nevertheless, a number of destinations for transplant tourism remain
around the world where appropriate legislation to curtail these
crimes and protect the poor and vulnerable do not exist or are poorly
enforced. These practices also persist because some states have failed in their
responsibility to meet the need of their citizens to obtain an organ
transplant.
Thus, aware of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the UN
Palermo Protocol on Human Trafficking, the Resolutions of the World
Health Assembly (2004 and 2010), the
Council of Europe Convention against
Trafficking in Human Beings, the Council
of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs, the Madrid
Resolution on Organ Donation and Transplantation, and the Declaration of
Istanbul, and as a result of the data on organ trafficking presented at this
PAS Summit on Organ Trafficking, we the undersigned pledge our commitment to
combat these illicit and immoral practices as a community of stakeholders
fulfilling the directive of Pope Francis to combat human trafficking and organ
trafficking in all their condemnable forms.
The following recommendations from
the PAS Summit on Organ Trafficking
are proposed to national, regional and
municipal governments, ministries of health, to the judiciary, to the leaders
of the major religions, to professional medical organizations, and to the
general public for implementation around the world:
1. That all nations and all cultures recognize human
trafficking for the purpose of organ removal and organ trafficking, which
include
the use of organs from executed prisoners and payments to
donors or the next of kin of deceased donors, as crimes that should be
condemned worldwide and legally prosecuted at the national
and international level.
2. That religious leaders encourage
ethical organ donation and condemn human trafficking for the purpose of
organ removal and
organ trafficking.
3. That nations provide the resources to achieve
self-sufficiency in organ donation at a national level—with regional
cooperation as
appropriate—by reducing the need
for transplants through preventive measures
and improving access to national transplant
programs in an ethical and regulated manner.
4. That governments establish
a legal framework that provides an explicit basis for
the prevention and prosecution of transplantrelated crimes, and
protects the victims, regardless of the location where
the crimes may have been committed, for example by
becoming a Party to the Council of Europe Convention against
Organ Trafficking.
5. That healthcare professionals perform an
ethical and medical review of donors and recipients that takes account of their
short- and
long-term outcomes.
6. That governments establish registries
of all organ procurement and transplants
performed within their jurisdiction as well as all
transplants involving their citizens and
residents performed in another jurisdiction, and share appropriate
data with international
databanks.
7. That governments develop a legal framework
for healthcare and other professionals to communicate information about
suspected
cases of transplant-related crimes, while respecting their
professional obligations to patients.
8. That responsible authorities, with the support of
the justice system, investigate transplants that are suspected of involving a
crime
committed within their jurisdiction or committed by their
citizens or residents in another jurisdiction.
9. That responsible authorities,
insurance providers, and charities not cover the costs of
transplant procedures that involve human
trafficking for the purpose of organ removal or organ
trafficking.
10. That healthcare
professional organizations involved in
transplantation promote among their members
awareness of, and
compliance with, legal instruments and international
guidelines against organ trafficking and human trafficking for the
purpose of
organ removal.
11. That the World Health Organization, the Council of
Europe, United Nations agencies, including the United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime, and other international bodies cooperate in
enabling a comprehensive collection of information on transplant-related
crimes, to yield a clearer understanding of their nature and
scope and of the organization of the criminal networks involved.
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