Gao Zhisheng: Christian Chinese Human Rights lawyer ominously missing
This is worrying news. Click here for a profile of this fearless Christian man.
Has brave Gao Zhisheng been “disappeared”?
GAO ZHISHENG is, or now more likely was, “one of China’s ten best lawyers”, and that was the judgment of the Chinese government, his nemesis. For courage, he ranks at the top. Mr Gao, self-taught in law after being discharged from the People’s Liberation Army, took up the cases of dispossessed farmers, persecuted Christians and members of the Falun Gong cult whom few lawyers were brave enough to represent. After documenting in great detail the state’s barbaric persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, in 2005 Mr Gao wrote an open letter to President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao calling for an end to practitioners’ detention, torture and humiliation. He then quit the Chinese Communist Party, calling it “the proudest day of my life”.
That was when his own persecution intensified. His Shengzhi law office in Beijing was shut down. State goons attempted to run him down. He was taken into custody, beaten and charged with subversion. One torture session lasted 50 days, with police revelling in his pain and applying electric batons to his genitals. Mr Gao later published the details of this session in another open letter.
And
Police Officer Says Human Rights Attorney Gao Zhisheng “Went Missing on a Walk”
Since mid-December, 2009, ominous rumors have circulated about Gao Zhisheng, hinting that he has died after brutal torture in prison. However, no reports have been confirmed, and the Chinese government continues to refuse comment on his condition and whereabouts.
A friend of ChinaAid in New York recently notified us about a serious development with Gao’s daughter, Gege. Gege had been reportedly “pale and tired-looking” for months, fearing her father would be killed in prison. After hearing a rumor of Gao’s death just before Christmas, Gege became so emotionally distraught, she was forced to be hospitalized. She remains fragile and under medical care in a New York hospital.
On Thursday, January 14th, Gao’s brother Zhiyi said he had gone to Beijing searching out the policeman who originally detained Gao Zhisheng back in February, 2009. The policeman told him that Attorney Gao allegedly “got lost and went missing while out on a walk” on September 25, 2009. Gao’s wife has refused to comment, but was reported to be extremely upset when she heard the news.
This is the first time a Chinese government official has hinted that they no longer have Gao Zhisheng in their custody, leading ChinaAid to believe Gao’s condition has taken a turn for the worse.
“It is totally unacceptable for the Chinese government to lose track of their own prisoner,” said President of ChinaAid Bob Fu. “It is absolutely clear that he was forcibly taken from his home in February 2009. Nearly a year later, the Chinese government now says they do not have him.”
Gao Zhisheng was last heard from via a phone call to Gao Zhiyi in early September, 2009. He was able to say “I’m ok” before the line went dead.
Though the rumors of death cannot be confirmed with no public statement from the Chinese government, Bob Fu remains extremely concerned. “We have every reason to suspect that the Chinese government has something very serious to hide. Gao’s family has every right to know what happened to him. It is unbelievable that a high security prisoner would go missing while “out on a walk,” without suspecting that there is a major cover up of his condition.”ChinaAid calls on the international community to hold the Chinese government accountable for their treatment of Gao Zhisheng. To join ChinaAid’s efforts to make the truth about Gao Zhisheng know, visit www.FreeGao.com.
Just before that letter came out, nearly a year ago, Mr Gao disappeared for the last time. His brother has tracked down the policeman who detained Mr Gao back then. This cop has told him that Mr Gao “went missing while out for a walk” in September. If Mr Gao has indeed been “disappeared”, may Mr Hu and Mr Wen be held to account for it.
Tags: Christian Persecution, News