Bloody Harvest

The Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of the Falun Gong in China (CIPFG), has asked us to investigate allegations of organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China. The coalition is a non-governmental organization registered in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. with a branch in Ottawa, Canada. The request came formally by letter dated May 24, 2006 attached as an appendix to this report. The request was to investigate allegations that state institutions and employees of the government of the People's Republic of China have been harvesting organs from live Falun Gong practitioners, killing the practitioners in the process. In light of the seriousness of the allegations as well as our own commitment to respect for human rights, we accepted the request.

The sun was setting behind the rolling hills, casting long shadows over the fields of corn. The sound of crickets filled the air as the last of the harvesters made their way home, leaving the fields empty and quiet. But as darkness descended, a chilling wind began to blow, carrying with it a sense of unease and the faint, metallic scent of blood. In the small town of Oakwood, nestled in the heart of the countryside, whispers of a curse had been circulating for generations. Every year, during the harvest season, strange and inexplicable events would occur. Crops would wither and die, livestock would fall ill, and the townspeople would huddle together in fear, waiting for the next disaster to strike. This year, however, the curse seemed to have taken on a more sinister form. In the weeks leading up to the harvest, several farmhands had gone missing without a trace. Their families searched desperately, but all they found were abandoned tractors at the edge of the cornfields, engines still running and doors left wide open. As night fell, the local sheriff received a frantic call from a farmer on the outskirts of town. When he arrived at the scene, his flashlight beam revealed a sight that would haunt him for years to come. The farmer's body lay sprawled across his front porch, his chest cavity hollowed out as if something had burrowed its way inside. A trail of viscera led from the corpse into the cornfield, disappearing into the darkness. As the harvest moon rose into the sky, casting an eerie light over the town, a group of teenagers gathered at the edge of the cornfields. Among them was Tara, a bold and adventurous girl with a penchant for exploring the unknown.

Falun Gong is a modern day spiritual/exercise movement which began in China in 1991 drawing on and combining ancient Chinese traditions. The Chinese Communist Party, alarmed at the growth of the movement and fearing for its own ideological supremacy banned the movement in 1999. Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in the hundreds of thousands and asked to recant. If they did not, they were tortured. If they still did not recant, they disappeared. Allegations surfaced in 2006 that the disappeared were being killed for their organs which were sold for large sums mostly to foreign transplant tourists. It is generally accepted that China kills prisoners for organs. The debate is over whether the prisoners who are killed are only criminals sentenced to death or Falun Gong practitioners as well. The authors produced a report concluding that the allegations were true. Bloody Harvest sets out the investigations and conclusions of the authors.

The steadfast and sturdy Continental Op has been summoned to the town of Personville—known as Poisonville—a dusty mining community splintered by competing factions of gangsters and petty criminals. The Op has been hired by Donald Willsson, publisher of the local newspaper, who gave little indication about the reason for the visit. No sooner does the Op arrive, than the body count begins to climb . . . starting with his client. With this last honest citizen of Poisonville murdered, the Op decides to stay on and force a reckoning—even if that means taking on an entire town. Red Harvest is more than a superb crime novel: it is a classic exploration of corruption and violence in the American grain.

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