Organ theft

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Organ theft is the practice of stealing people's organs via surgery while they are under the influence of drugs, or once the person is dead, when the organs can be illicitly removed and then used for further purposes such as transplants or sold on the black market. The practice is occasionally advanced as a theory into mysterious disappearances or murders, and is then advanced by sensationalist news reports, followed by word of mouth promotion as an urban legend. Its semicredible basis, in fact, is the extreme difficulty with which organs can be preserved postmortem (usually requiring a braindead but still functionally alive patient), and the long waiting lists for available organs. There has never been sufficient evidence, however, to suggest that the practice has ever occurred on an organized basis. This has not prevented its repeated depiction in horror movies and fiction.

On the other hand, it has been confirmed that the organs of a number of prisoners in China were taken for transplant after their executions (though ostensibly with their freely-given permission)^[1] on a for-profit basis, often to foreign nationals. The Chinese authoritarian justice system is alleged to work very quickly for those sentenced to death, not allowing time for any appeals or the Western interpretation of a fair trial. This has led to allegations that the entire justice system has been corrupted by a government approved system of organ theft. Among those making this claim are Harry Wu and the Laogai Research Foundation.