Research Confirms Forced Abortions, Sterilizations in New Zealand and Peru

Research Confirms Forced Abortions, Sterilizations in China and Peru

by Paul Nowak
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
July 7, 2003

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Records from investigations conducted by the Peruvian Congress, the US State Department, and the Population Research Institute (PRI) have revealed that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has been actively involved in coercive abortion and forced sterilization campaigns in several countries, despite denial of the charges by the UNFPA's supporters.

"As evidence of the UN Population Fund's complicity in coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization mounts, the embattled agency's defenders are growing increasingly strident—and increasingly out of touch with reality," said Steven Mosher, president of PRI.

In a letter stating her reasons to continue to fund UNFPA dated June 2003, Marian L. Hobbs, New Zealand's Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hobbs disputes charges made against UNFPA by the U.S. State Department and the Peruvian Congress.

The U.S. Congress will re-evaluate U.S. taxpayer funding of the UNFPA in the weeks following July 4. Congress passed the pro-life Kemp-Kasten amendment that prohibited taxpayer funding of the UNFPA. President Clinton unsuccessfully attempted to restore funding during his administration.

Pro-abortion Rep. Joe Crowley successfully added language in May to a bill in committee that would restore the $34 million originally appropriated to the UNFPA. Those funds had been diverted by President Bush in 2002 to maternal morality programs to help pregnant women.

In June 2002, an investigative commission of the Peruvian Congress released an exhaustive report on the forced sterilization campaign of ex-President Alberto Fujimori. The commission detailed how the campaign employed coercion to fill quotas for sterilizations, and how it was linked to, and financed by, international organizations. Fujimori was guilty of genocide, the commission concluded, and the UNFPA had served as "technical secretary" of the campaign.

UNFPA supporters, including Marian L. Hobbs, New Zealand's Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, deny the reports validity. In a June 2003 letter, Hobbs said that the report was "never adopted" by the Peruvian Congress, "nor any of its Congressional Committees or Sub-Committees."

The records of the Human Rights Commission of the Peruvian Congress show that on June 10, 2003, the Commission adopted the investigative report by a vote of 5-0 with one abstention.

Hobbs also claims in her letter that UNFPA's role in Fujimori's coercive sterilization campaign was limited to coordinating a now-defunct "board of donors" of population programs.

Yet the Peruvian Congress' report shows that the UNFPA provided the Fujimori government with millions of dollars to carry out forced sterilization, and funneled millions more into channels that
carried out coercive sterilization.

The report charges that the coercive sterilization campaigns "executed by the Peruvian government [under Fujimori] were induced and financed by international organizations, especially … the United Nations Population Fund."

The UNFPA was appointed the Technical Secretary of Fujimori's campaign by a special act of the Fujimori government. As the commission reports, the UNFPA "brought not only special financing but also demographic goals, for the focused reduction of the Peruvian population and the fertility of Peruvian women, especially the women of rural areas. For that end, the United Nations Population Fund act[ed] as Technical Secretary."

According to the Peruvian report, the UNFPA also served as a national clearinghouse for international funds pouring into Peru aimed at fulfilling sterilization quotas through brute coercion.

Hobbs also claimed that the U.S. State Department cleared UNFPA of charges that it supported similar programs in China.

However, in a letter from the U.S. State Dept. Delegation to China to U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell dated May 29, 2002, the delegation found "the 32 counties in which UNFPA is involved the population programs of the PRC retain coercive elements in law and practice." The State Department delegation also found that social compensation fees are imposed in UNFPA counties to coerce women to undergo abortions for "out of plan" births.

"UNFPA is helping improve the administration of the local family planning offices that are administering the very social compensation fees and other penalties that are effectively coercing women to have abortions," concluded the State Department, after reviewing the reports on July 21, 2002.

"UNFPA's support of, and involvement in, China's population planning activities allows the Chinese government to implement more effectively its program of coercive abortion," Secretary Powell stated in the State Department's conclusion on July 21, 2002. "In light of the Kemp-Kasten amendment, no funds… may be provided to UNFPA at this time."

Hobbs also complained of PRI's involvements in blocking UNFPA funding efforts worldwide.

PRI has observed the UNFPA's activities and has been active in collecting information from a first-hand perspective. PRI brought victims of the UNFPA-supported forced sterilization campaign in Peru to testify to the U.S. Congress in 1996 and 1999.

In September 2002, PRI investigators conducted interviews of forced abortion in China, a country where UNFPA operates and claims the practice coercive abortions has ended. PRI gathered testimonies from over two-dozen victims and witnesses, on record, about the current abuses including forced sterilization and mandatory contraceptive practices – with crippling fines, imprisonment of self and relatives, and even destruction of homes for non-compliance.


Enter your email address to receive news from LifeNews.com via email. Do you prefer to receive news daily or weekly? Daily Weekly Do you favor or oppose abortion? Favor Oppose Click here to make a PayPal donation to LifeNews.com!	Research Confirms Forced Abortions, Sterilizations in China and Peru by Paul Nowak LifeNews.com Staff Writer July 7, 2003 Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Records from investigations conducted by the Peruvian Congress, the US State Department, and the Population Research Institute (PRI) have revealed that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has been actively involved in coercive abortion and forced sterilization campaigns in several countries, despite denial of the charges by the UNFPA's supporters. "As evidence of the UN Population Fund's complicity in coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization mounts, the embattled agency's defenders are growing increasingly strident—and increasingly out of touch with reality," said Steven Mosher, president of PRI. In a letter stating her reasons to continue to fund UNFPA dated June 2003, Marian L. Hobbs, New Zealand's Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hobbs disputes charges made against UNFPA by the U.S. State Department and the Peruvian Congress. The U.S. Congress will re-evaluate U.S. taxpayer funding of the UNFPA in the weeks following July 4. Congress passed the pro-life Kemp-Kasten amendment that prohibited taxpayer funding of the UNFPA. President Clinton unsuccessfully attempted to restore funding during his administration. Pro-abortion Rep. Joe Crowley successfully added language in May to a bill in committee that would restore the $34 million originally appropriated to the UNFPA. Those funds had been diverted by President Bush in 2002 to maternal morality programs to help pregnant women. In June 2002, an investigative commission of the Peruvian Congress released an exhaustive report on the forced sterilization campaign of ex-President Alberto Fujimori. The commission detailed how the campaign employed coercion to fill quotas for sterilizations, and how it was linked to, and financed by, international organizations. Fujimori was guilty of genocide, the commission concluded, and the UNFPA had served as "technical secretary" of the campaign. UNFPA supporters, including Marian L. Hobbs, New Zealand's Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, deny the reports validity. In a June 2003 letter, Hobbs said that the report was "never adopted" by the Peruvian Congress, "nor any of its Congressional Committees or Sub-Committees." The records of the Human Rights Commission of the Peruvian Congress show that on June 10, 2003, the Commission adopted the investigative report by a vote of 5-0 with one abstention. Hobbs also claims in her letter that UNFPA's role in Fujimori's coercive sterilization campaign was limited to coordinating a now-defunct "board of donors" of population programs. Yet the Peruvian Congress' report shows that the UNFPA provided the Fujimori government with millions of dollars to carry out forced sterilization, and funneled millions more into channels that carried out coercive sterilization. The report charges that the coercive sterilization campaigns "executed by the Peruvian government [under Fujimori] were induced and financed by international organizations, especially … the United Nations Population Fund." The UNFPA was appointed the Technical Secretary of Fujimori's campaign by a special act of the Fujimori government. As the commission reports, the UNFPA "brought not only special financing but also demographic goals, for the focused reduction of the Peruvian population and the fertility of Peruvian women, especially the women of rural areas. For that end, the United Nations Population Fund act[ed] as Technical Secretary." According to the Peruvian report, the UNFPA also served as a national clearinghouse for international funds pouring into Peru aimed at fulfilling sterilization quotas through brute coercion. Hobbs also claimed that the U.S. State Department cleared UNFPA of charges that it supported similar programs in China. However, in a letter from the U.S. State Dept. Delegation to China to U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell dated May 29, 2002, the delegation found "the 32 counties in which UNFPA is involved the population programs of the PRC retain coercive elements in law and practice." The State Department delegation also found that social compensation fees are imposed in UNFPA counties to coerce women to undergo abortions for "out of plan" births. "UNFPA is helping improve the administration of the local family planning offices that are administering the very social compensation fees and other penalties that are effectively coercing women to have abortions," concluded the State Department, after reviewing the reports on July 21, 2002. "UNFPA's support of, and involvement in, China's population planning activities allows the Chinese government to implement more effectively its program of coercive abortion," Secretary Powell stated in the State Department's conclusion on July 21, 2002. "In light of the Kemp-Kasten amendment, no funds… may be provided to UNFPA at this time." Hobbs also complained of PRI's involvements in blocking UNFPA funding efforts worldwide. PRI has observed the UNFPA's activities and has been active in collecting information from a first-hand perspective. PRI brought victims of the UNFPA-supported forced sterilization campaign in Peru to testify to the U.S. Congress in 1996 and 1999. In September 2002, PRI investigators conducted interviews of forced abortion in China, a country where UNFPA operates and claims the practice coercive abortions has ended. PRI gathered testimonies from over two-dozen victims and witnesses, on record, about the current abuses including forced sterilization and mandatory contraceptive practices – with crippling fines, imprisonment of self and relatives, and even destruction of homes for non-compliance.