Chinese authorities remove organs of Christian human rights lawyer without family's consent

Chinese authorities reportedly removed the heart and brain of Christian prisoner Peng Ming without the consent of his family.

Authorities claim that Peng collapsed and died suddenly at the age of 58 in Hubei's Xianming Prison, Radio Free Asia reported.

His relatives, who are based in the U.S., have called for an independent autopsy. His sister, Peng Xing, said that the family went through "non-stop" negotiations with the prison officials for four days, and they eventually agreed to issue visas to four relatives so that they could attend the funeral.

"However, something unexpected happened on Dec. 5; the relevant departments dissected Peng Ming's body against the family members' will and took away his brain and heart," Xing revealed in an open letter posted on the website of Christian rights group China Aid.

According to a separate statement from China Aid, Peng's brother was detained for six consecutive hours and pressured to sign an agreement. The authorities said that they needed to cut a bit of Peng's abdominal muscle for scientific experiments.

The brother refused to sign the agreement, but he later found out that Peng's brain, heart, and other organs had been removed.

Xing also stated that the authorities reversed their decision to allow four family members to go to China for the farewell ceremony. Only Peng's elder daughter was allowed to attend the funeral.

"In order to express our anger and protest, we decided unanimously that none of Peng Ming's overseas family will attend the farewell ceremony on the mainland," Xing wrote.

In 1998, Peng wrote a letter to his family telling them to be suspicious of foul play should he meet with an "accident." He fled from China soon after writing the letter, and he was able to settle in the U.S. In 2004, he was kidnapped by Chinese agents on the Thai–Myanmar border while he was visiting his parents.

On Oct. 12, 2005, Peng was sentenced to life imprisonment based on charges of "organizing and leading a terrorist organization," "kidnapping," and "possessing counterfeit money."

Officials said that he suddenly collapsed in prison on Nov.29 while watching television, and he was unresponsive to resuscitation attempts. Peng's family remains suspicious of his cause of death.