Organ Trafficking Position Paper (Russia)

Russia is a country in Northern Eurasia, bordered by the Arctic Ocean, and numerous countries such as China, Mongolia, and Georgia. The total area of Russia is 17,098,242 square kilometers (CIA.gov), making it the largest country in the world. The terrain of the country is “broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions” (CIA.gov) with a climate that ranges from humid and warm places to extremely frigid regions varying on its location. Russia is a federation country, currently under the governing of President Vladimir Putin since May 7th of 2012, and the president’s term in office is six years. Russia has a population of about 142,517,670 (July 2012 est., CIA.gov) and the majority of the population is Russian (79.8%) with some Tatar (3.8%) and Ukrainian (2%). The GDP per capita is $17,000 (2011 est., CIA.gov) which is ranked 71st and the GDP per capita shows about $800 increase every year since 2009 (CIA.gov). Russia belongs to the Group of Eight so-called, G-8 and the Group of Twenty also known as G-20. The literacy rate of the Russian Federation is 99%, and the most widely used language in Russian (81%), but some people inhabiting in remote parts of Russia speaks indigenous languages such as Bashkir (1.3%)and Chuvash (1.3%).

Topic: Organ Trafficking
Along with the spectacular progress in human organ transplantation, swift globalization has caused the creation of a new menacing market for illegal trafficking of human organs. Most of these organs that are traded in this black-market are purchased from donors of developing countries who try to clear their debt with the money they received for their organs. The customers of the organs usually come from developed nations because the process of organ transplantation is time-consuming and expensive in their home countries. Of the approximately 66,000 kidney transplants (2008) performed every year, more than 60% of the organs are from live donors who were not related to the patients. The delegate of Russia believes that this number will rapidly increase considering the fact that the demands for fresh organs are rising at an alarming level.

Although the Russian Federation has no evidence that organ trafficking is being conducted in Russia, since there has been about 700,000 (BBC) of Russian citizens trafficked to neighboring countries, the delegate of Russia believes that there is a high possibility that Russian citizens are being victims of organ trade outside the country. Furthermore, Russia is concerned that the human trafficking reported within the border will increase in the near future due to the geographical location of Russia, which is surrounded by countries involved deeply in organ trafficking such as Serbia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Belarus. In addition, due to the fact that the average GDP growth of the countries bordering Russia is -0.8% per year, (Wolfram|Alpha, 2010) the delegate of Russia predicts that the crime rate around the borders of the Russian Federation will increase due to lack of jobs in countries bordering Russia, resulting in more criminals attempting to kidnap Russian citizens.

In order to prevent the threat of organ trafficking of Russian citizens in the borders, the Russian Federation is aiding countries such as Serbia and Kosovo in tracking down organ trade brokers. Also, the Russian Federation has been an active member state of the World Health Organization and has supported various resolutions, including “Human Organ and Tissue Transplantation” (WHA 57.18) of May 2004 and “WHO Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue, and Organ Transplantation” of May 2008. The Russian Federation has already made a legislation that requires living donors to be over 18 and genetically related to the receiver (1992). Because of this legislation, paid donation using Russian donors can only happen outside Russian borders. The Russian Federation is eager to continue taking part in further conferences and discussions.

The delegate of Russia believes even though some nations like Russia are trying to get rid of organ trafficking, without the uncompromising effort of the other developed nations to ban importing trafficked organs within their own countries, it will be impossible to end this injustice. Developed countries must organize a system that would encourage an increase in legal organ donors, such as the opt-out system which has been successfully introduced in several countries, or reconsider and deregulate the present system on the basis of WHO guidelines. At the same time, laws must be organized to punish illegal trafficking groups in order to protect poor ‘donors’ from being lured into the organ trade.

The delegate of Russia strongly believes that developed nations must put effort in tackling organ trafficking by supporting organ-exporting governments by helping them stop this illicit trade, and by reinforcing laws and amendments against importing of trafficked organs. Furthermore, corruption of medical staff, police, and government officials of organ-exporting nations must be avoided and foreign aid must be used effectively to improve the lives of citizens.

Russia is anxious to bring an end to the illicit organ trade network that threatens millions of lives and is confident in becoming a successful role model for other developed countries in supporting developing countries be free of organ trafficking. The delegate of Russia believes that cooperation between developed and developing nations is mandatory to solve this complex problem. The Russian Federation is looking forward to a fruitful debate in the conference and hopes that this injustice will be solved in a manner that will benefit all.

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