【學苑專訊】香港大學將於本月十八日（明天），下午五時半假香港大學陸佑堂舉辦第190屆名譽博士學位頒授典禮（Honorary Degrees Congregation）。港大副校監李國寶博士將頒授名譽博士學位予五位人士，當中包括中共前衛生部副部長黃潔夫醫生。本刊翻查外媒報道，發現黃疑曾參與死囚器官摘取。另一方面，大學事務委員會（University Affairs Committee）今晨發表聲明，要求校方回應事件。
黃潔夫疑曾親身參與死囚器官活體摘取
BBC曾在去年四月三十日播出了一段名為「Organ Harvesting in China」 的錄音節目。節目中，加拿大前亞太事務司司長David Kilgour表示，黃曾於一次器官移植手術示範中，打電話要求兩個肝臟作備用，意味兩個人因此被殺。David Kilgour 指摘取死囚器官屬違反人道原則的罪行，有份參與人士應接受國際法庭的審訊。
另外，據澳洲廣播公司的電視新聞報道，悉尼大學醫學院教授Maria Fiatarone Singh表示，黃潔夫曾於2012年坦言每週都會進行兩次肝臟移植，即每年涉及一百多個器官，而根據黃所提供的數據，中國的移植器官有九十至九十五百份比來自囚犯。
學生事務委員會發表聲明要求校方回應
今晨，大學事務委員會就名譽博士學位頒授發表聲明，有三項要求：一、香港大學應在頒名譽博士學位前，要求黃潔夫詳細地交代事件。二、香港大學應向學生及公眾澄清獲頒名譽博士學位之選拔過程及準則，證明五位人士皆備獲頒資格。三、即使黃潔夫教授符合頒授名譽博士學位之準則，香港大學應就死囚器官摘取一事表達其立場。
【註一】BBC的錄音節目，見於：http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p017k033/Newshour_Organ_harvesting_in_China/
【註二】澳洲廣播公司的電視新聞報報道，見於：http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPVnKino1iw
【註三】大學事務委員會聲明如下：
Dear Pro-Chancellor Dr the Honorable Sir David Li Kwok Po & Members of Honorary Degrees Committee,
RE: The award of Doctor of Social Sciences Honoris Causa to Prof. Huang Jiefu in the 190th Congregation
The 190th Congregation, in which the honorary degrees will be conferred, has been scheduled on March 18, 2014. After the announcement of the laureate list, some concerns have been raised among the student community, so the Hong Kong University Students’ Union would like to receive formal responses from the University on the controversy stirred up.
The qualification of one of the laureates of Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa, Professor HUANG Jiefu, was severely challenged due to his involvement and advocacy in immoral organ retrieval in China. In terms of individual practice, he called for two backup livers in September 2005, as reported by BBC, in order to carry out an experimental liver transplantation. The source of organs and both their owners’ cause of death remained untraceable, with speculations that these are illegal actions. In the national level, there has long been speculation that death row inmates are often being pressurized, or even forced to undergo organ transplantation in China. Professor Huang, as the former Vice Minister in the Ministry of Health, could not evade the responsibility. Human rights groups estimated that China puts to death thousands of prisoners per year according to the report of BBC on 23 March, 2012. Professor Huang also admitted the existence of such systemic acquirement of organs in one of his writings.
Despite Professor Huang’s indispensable contribution to the community and outstanding academic achievement, from the perspective of students, his stance on organ transplants from the death row inmates is questionable.
The University should explain her stance on the inhumane actions of organ retrieval from death row inmates in China, alongside with granting Professor Huang the recognition. The action of awarding Professor Huang the degree might risk being misunderstood by the students and the public as the University of Hong Kong supporting the inhumane treatments.
The Union would like to demand the following actions to be carried out by the Honorary Degrees Committee:
1) Professor Huang owes the responsibility to answer the allegation of obtaining organs from illegal sources. The University should demand a detailed clarification from the laureate before confirming the award.
2) As the highest accolade on an individual and the oldest and most cherished tradition of the University, the criteria of the Honorary Degrees should be clarified to the students and the public in order to maintain its legitimacy. The University should publicize the selection procedures and the criteria as well as to prove the qualification of all individuals being awarded.
3) The University should clearly address her stance towards the inhumane organ retrieval from death row inmates, even if the award is proved to have been legitimately awarded to Professor Huang.
The Union sincerely request your consideration on taking the mentioned steps. Out of the respect to the Congregation, we wish to receive the formal written reply from the University before the ceremony takes place.
Yours sincerely,
The Hong Kong University Students’ Union
March 16, 2014
