by Zhang Min, reporter for Radio Free Asia
An interview report on October 30, 2010 by Zhang Min, host of program “Journey of the Soul” from Radio Free Asia.
The following is an interview with Geng He. She is eager to find her husband Lawyer Gao Zhisheng who has again been missing for over half a year.
The human rights attorney of Beijing, China went missing again in April of this year. The other day, Geng He, Gao Zhisheng’s wife, received an interview from me in the US in which she expressed her eagerness to find Gao Zhisheng.
Geng He said, “In a brief period from the end of March to the early April, there was some news of him. After that, there has been no news of him whatsoever. His eldest brother went to look for him in Beijing. My family only wants to get some news of him. When I talked with his sister, she said: “He is a member of the family. No matter what he does, such as eating the daily meals, sleeping, or even taking a walk outside, anything would make us miss him. Where on earth has he gone? The entire family of mine is puzzled and we have been looking for him ever since.”
The world we live in has a very advanced communication and transportation systems. Whatever we think, we can check it on our computers and we can talk with whomever we want. Yet, there’s an exception to this: When we want to find my husband, he is nowhere to be found and none of us in the family can find him. To me, it’s unthinkable that this kind of thing happens in a supposedly modern civilized society.
Gao Zhisheng and some brief background information on Gao’s case
From December 2004 to December 2005, Gao Zhisheng, a human rights attorney who has defended in the oil field case in Northern Shaanxi and Falun Gong cases, wrote an open letter on three occasions to the highest-ranking leaders of China, demanding that they stop persecuting Falun Gong adherents. In November 2005, Shengzhi Law Firm of Beijing where he was the director was shut down by Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice. On December 22, 2006, Lawyer Gao Zhisheng was sentenced to three years with a reprieve of five years on the charge of “inciting subversion of the state power.” He was deprived of his political rights for one year and came back home.
In September 2007, Gao Zhisheng was once again arrested. After he was released came his article “Dark Nights, Dark Hoods and Kidnapped by Dark Underworld Gangsters” in which he described the torture he suffered, including the torture when they inserted toothpicks into his genitals.
Gao Zhisheng has won “Courageous Advocacy Award” from the American Board of Trial Advocates and other human rights awards. On the early morning of February 4, 2009, Gao Zhisheng was kidnapped by the police right in front of his relatives in his native town in Shaanxi. In early 2009, Gao Zhisheng’s wife and children fled China and in March of the same year, they arrived in the US. They later obtained political asylum in the US.
After Gao Zhisheng was kidnapped by the police in his native town, there were many different versions as to his whereabouts from the press spokesman of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the police and other sources. Until March 27 of this year, the people in the outside world did not have any accurate information on him. Yet, on March 28, Gao Zhisheng’s phone number suddenly appeared on the Internet and now people could call Lawyer Gao Zhisheng.
10 days later when people in the outside called this number again, it was out of service. Since April 20, none of Gao Zhisheng’s relatives, friends or people in the outside world has ever heard any news of Lawyer Gao Zhisheng.
Geng He: “Before and after I once again lost contact with Gao Zhisheng”
While talking about the brief appearance of Lawyer Gao Zhisheng, Geng He said, “This proves he has always been in the hands of the Chinese Communists. Nothing he said was his voluntary expression. What else could we say? The truth is like this. If we the relatives still keep silent on this and don’t say a word about it…I also worry about it.”
Host: “Could you please give us a brief review of how you felt when Gao Zhisheng first appeared this year and how you lost the contact?”
Geng He: “In early April, when a lawyer in Hong Kong called to tell us the phone number of Lawyer Gao Zhisheng, we called. Because of the bad reception of his phone, we didn’t talk much. I said, ‘I saw your photo on the Internet. Your teeth are in a bad condition. Why don’t you go see a dentist?’ When he said he didn’t have a phone number, I found a phone number from 114 information directory and said, ‘You can take it down.’ He said, ‘I don’t have a pen with me.’ At this time, I heard a person beside him say in a low voice, “I can take it down.” Then he said, ‘Say it.’ Then, I told him the phone number.”
“On the second day I called him and asked, ‘Have you gone see the dentist?’ He said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘If you don’t see him, what will you do if these teeth fall off?’ He said, ‘Ah, I will see him when I can see him.’”
“This means he still didn’t have the right to choose his doctors and he didn’t have the right to see a dentist and he was not able to protect his own body. After that, we didn’t call each other very much.”
“On April 16, my daughter said, ‘Now that we have news of my dad, I can call him when I’m in a bad mood.’ April 20 is the birthday of Lawyer Gao and we would like to sing ‘Happy Birthday to You’ on that day to give him a surprise. When we called on that day, we couldn’t get through no matter how hard we tried. Then we called his sister and she said she hadn’t been able to get through to him for three or four days. Then, we haven’t heard from him ever since.”
Host: “What are your thoughts in this period since then? Why have you not continued to voice your concerns in the past six months?”
Geng He said that in the past few months, she has been busy moving and transferring schools for her kids and doing other things. “The move took three to four months and it was hard work. We moved into the new house on September 18. Transition to the new life has taken us so long. In fact, it’s not that we have not voiced our concerns. During this time, China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group and the Association of Human Rights Attorneys all know it. His brother went to Beijing as a new starting point in looking for him.
Let’s say: For example, if Gao Zhisheng were in a prison, we should know the exact location so that his family can visit him, right? The present mess…. It makes us feel as if there’s something hollow hanging there in us.
Gao Zhisheng’s daughter Grace Geng wrote a letter to Obama and asked Hu Jintao to tell her her father’s whereabouts.
Lawyer Gao Zhisheng’s 17-year-old daughter Grace Geng wrote an open letter on October 28 asking US President Obama to urge Chinese President Hu Jintao to make public Gao Zhisheng’s whereabouts when he meets Hu next month during the G20 summit meeting in Seoul. In the letter, she writes, “President Obama, as the father of two girls yourself, please ask President Hu to tell this daughter where her father is.”
She also writes, “I know my father is just one man. But I also know that if the Chinese government is allowed to blatantly violate its own law with respect to my father, it is only a matter of time before the next father disappears.”
Let’s use a recording to have a review of the recent renewed efforts made by Gao Zhisheng’s relatives and human rights activists in looking for Lawyer Gao Zhisheng.
There was a phone interview on October 21 with Gao Zhiyi who was in Beijing: “The local police station wouldn’t file a case and there was nobody at home”
On October 21, I called Gao Zhiyi, Gao Zhisheng’s eldest brother who had made a special trip to Beijing from his native town just to look for him.
Host: “Please tell us when you arrived in Beijing. How is the situation there?”
Gao Zhiyi: “I arrived here yesterday. Things are not rosy here.”
Host: “What places have you gone to? How did you ask the questions? What were their answers?”
Gao Zhiyi: “First of all, I went to the Office of Letters and Calls of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. They said their Office of Letters and Calls is only a platform of the Public Security agencies and the time for the investigation has to take two months.”
Host: “What requests did you make to them?”
Gao Zhiyi: “I knew I could meet their leaders, so I wrote a letter to their leaders. What I wanted is just to see Gao Zhisheng himself and got some information from him. The second purpose of my trip there is I wanted to see their leaders; the third thing is my son is getting married on the 10th day of the 10th month on the lunar calendar (November 15 on the Gregorian calendar) and I would like to know whether we can invite Gao Zhisheng to go back home to attend the wedding ceremony. In this way, the government may look generous in making our family happy. It turned out they even didn’t forward my letter to their leaders. All they did was to tell me to go back and there was nothing I could do about it.
Today, I went again to Xiaoguan Police Station and they said they don’t know where Gao Zhisheng has gone. When I reported the case to the local police station, they wouldn’t file the case, saying this is a special case. I asked them what makes it so special, they said he had been missing before. They told me to wait at home and there will be news in the future.
Host: “Did you go to the house of the lawyer to take a look there?”
Gao Zhiyi: “Yes, I did. I’m absolutely sure there was nobody in the house as there was dust on the door.”
Host: “Did you ask the real estate manager whether there were people who came to the house or whether there were guards at his door?”
Gao Zhiyi: “The gatekeeper said he hadn’t seen Gao Zhisheng for several months. He was absolutely sure of it.”
Host: “Do you remember how he was gone? How was the situation then?”
Gao Zhiyi: “I saw him about April in the Gregorian calendar and I haven’t seen him ever since.”
Host: “Did you go into the house of Lawyer Gao Zhisheng and take a look?”
Gao Zhiyi: “I couldn’t enter. The door was locked.”
Host: “I remember you had the key before.”
Gao Zhiyi: “Yes, but I gave it to him (Gao Zhisheng). He took it away.”
Host: “The Office of Letters and Calls of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau said the result won’t come out until two months later and told you to go back home. What do you think of this? ”
Gao Zhiyi: “What could I do? There is nothing whatsoever I can do. To tell you the harsh truth, the transportation expenses and the expenses for the last two days have cost me two or three hundred yuan. I can’t stay here anyway.”
Host: “Are the lawyers who are concerned about Lawyer Gao with you?”
Gao Zhiyi: “Teng Biao and Li Heping. They can’t do anything and they still have some inconveniences.”
Host: “Could you please tell something about your wishes to people who are concerned about Gao Zhisheng?”
Gao Zhiyi: “My wish is I could see Gao Zhisheng as soon as possible. If I could not see him, I could still feel at ease if I could hear his voice. I’m a rough and crude man and you should know how I feel. Basically…. In the letter I wrote them this time, I said: ‘Even if Gao Zhisheng had made a mistake, violated a law or committed a crime, it’s what you have determined. However, we the family members don’t understand the explanation from you officials. We the family members don’t even have the right to know. From what I feel, I can’t accept the version from the local police station that Gao’s case is special. I said to them in tears: ‘You make a living by doing this job of the state and earn money from it. You also have brothers and parents, right? If one of them were missing for several months and there’s no news of him, would you worry about him or her? In China, the Party controls everything. So who else do you think I can go to for help? ”
An interview with Teng Biao on October 21: “Things I saw and heard while accompanying Gao Zhiyi to the door of Lawyer Gao and the local police station”
Dr. Teng Biao, a human rights attorney of Beijing who has always been concerned about Lawyer Gao Zhisheng and his family said: “I got a call from Gao Zhiyi and he said he had gone to the Office of Letters and Calls of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. I told him I had class on that day and after the class I could go together with him to the local police station to report the missing case of Gao Zhisheng. Then, I asked Lawyer Li Heping to come along with us to Xiaoguan Police Station in the vicinity of Gao Zhisheng’s house. Before this, we also went to Gao Zhisheng’s house in Xiaoguanli.
There was a lot of dust on the knob of his door. We knocked on the door and there was no answer. It looks like nobody has been there in the house for several months. I asked the person in the duty room at the gate and he said he knows Gao Zhisheng but Gao hadn’t come back since he was taken away on April 9 of this year. I asked who took him away and he dared not say. It’s obvious that he was taken away by Beijing police.
Then, we went to Xiaoguan Police Station to report a missing person by telling them there has been no information on Gao Zhisheng since April and none of his family members or friends could find him. They went to ask for advice from their superiors and said later that the case of Gao Zhisheng is a special one as he had gone missing before. That’s why they told Gao Zhiyi to go home and wait for news. I asked them what makes his case special, he didn’t say anything and he no longer talked with us, nor did he accept the case or file a case. He didn’t ask for any specific circumstances and no official procedure was taken for his missing case.
Then, I sent a few messages on the Internet and left.
Host: “Did you go to anywhere else?”
Teng Biao: “No. It was already the time for people to get off work. When Gao Zhisheng went missing for 14 months the first time, Gao Zhiyi also came here. Nobody in these bureaucratic agencies could take care of that. They also know they are not able to take care of Gao Zhisheng’s case.”
“Sun Di, the head of Beijing Domestic Security Protection Squad, has gone to Gao Zhisheng’s native town many times and he knows Gao Zhiyi. When Gao Zhiyi came to Beijing this time, Sun Di simply evaded him. Gao Zhiyi worries a lot and is also very sad about it, but he can’t think of an effective way to make any agency file a case on the disappearance of Gao Zhisheng.”
Lawyer Teng Biao: “Gao Zhisheng’s deeds are heroic deeds and his case shows the status of human rights in China and the situation of human rights attorneys find themselves in are in a bad shape”
Host: “Do you have anything you particularly want to say here on Gao Zhisheng’s case as you first knew it such as the things Lawyer Gao did at first and how he was found guilty, how he was sentenced, his legal status and his present condition?”
Teng Biao: “I first got to know Gao Zhisheng in early 2005. I should say he is the most brave human rights attorney in China. He defended for Falun Gong and set the tone on many things. He made public to the entire world the persecution and various types of torture Falun Gong adherents suffered. He also accepted other types of human rights cases, including cases of persecution of house church pastors, political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. It is my belief that what he did is heroic deeds and he should be respected by the people. However, the authorities instead sentenced him to prison and subjected him to various types of torture. After they sentenced him to three years of prison with a reprieve of five years, he soon went missing.”
“His present condition is obviously a case of the ‘enforced or involuntary disappearance’ which is banned by international human rights laws. Obviously, the Chinese authorities should be held fully liable for his disappearance. I think the international community should continue to appeal and demand that the Chinese authorities release Gao Zhisheng.”
“After Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize recently, the entire world is obviously watching more closely the human rights condition in China. Gao Zhisheng is a very typical case that shows the current status of human rights in China and it also shows the environment in which the human rights attorneys find themselves in is a very dangerous one.”
An interview with Lawyer Li Heping on October 21: “The people in the real estate management said Gao Zhisheng left some rice, noodles and grocery with him on April 8 or April 9. He then got into some people’s vehicle and never came back.”
Li Heping, a human rights attorney of Beijing who has always been paying close attention to Lawyer Gao Zhisheng and his family accompanied Gao Zhiyi to several places in looking for his brother.
Lawyer Li Heping said: “This afternoon, I, Teng Biao and Brother Gao Zhiyi went to Xiaoguanbeili in Asian Games Village of Beijing and we went to Xiaoguan Police Station to report the disappearance of Gao. Several police officers asked someone to down and he said: ‘He has gone missing once before. This is not the first time he has gone missing. You go home and wait there. There’s nothing we can do. This case is very special.’ He didn’t file a case for us and we had to leave.
“Gao’s family is very worried as to what status he is in. As his friends, we also worry a lot about his current status.”
“Gao Zhisheng himself is a lawyer. We and many of his friends are also professionals in the legal community. We think that no matter what Gao Zhisheng does as a Chinese citizen, even if he has violated the law, they should let his family and his friends know where he is and how he is doing, instead of putting him in a status where nobody knows any information of him. This is extremely abnormal. I think subjecting a person to such a status is not allowed in any normal country.”
“We went to the door of Gao Zhisheng’s house and asked an old man who works as a doorkeeper for the real estate company, ‘Is Gao Zhisheng gone?’ He said Gao Zhisheng left on April 8 or April 9. Before he left, he gave some rice, noodles and grocery to this old man and then got into a vehicle. He has not been heard of ever since.”
Lawyer Li Heping: “Gao Zhisheng is suffering for his efforts in safeguarding the rule of law and human rights. The authorities are committing a crime in torturing this lawyer of conscience.”
Host: “What can you find in Gao Zhisheng’s case from its very beginning till now and what else do you want to say?”
Li Heping: “I think Lawyer Gao Zhisheng is the most conscientious lawyer in China and he is also the lawyer who has the highest moral standing and the highest sense of responsibility. He has suffered so much for safeguarding the rule of law and the human rights in China. He has my highest respect for such a sense of responsibility.”
“However, I think it is very inappropriate for the Chinese authorities to brutally torture a world-famous lawyer of conscience and a human rights lawyer in such an inhumane and non-rule-of- law manner and to make him disappear. It is also a criminal act. The relevant authorities should hand Gao Zhisheng to his family as soon as possible and restore his personal freedom and do everything from there in accordance with rule of law, instead of using this low-grade and vulgar means in violation of the rule of law in treating a Chinese lawyer.”
A phone interview with Gao Zhiyi in his native town in Northern Shaanxi on October 25: “The phone’s reception was poor. There was nothing we could do and we were so anxious that we didn’t know what to do.”
On October 25, I called the home phone of Gao Zhisheng’s eldest brother Gao Zhiyi in Northern Shaanxi and the line was always busy. Then I got through to him on his cell phone and he said he had arrived home.
Host: “When did you come back?”
Gao Zhiyi: “The day before yesterday (23rd of the month). I did my best.”
Host: “Your home phone was just now busy and I couldn’t get through.”
Gao Zhiyi: “There’s nothing I can do. I didn’t make phone calls today. How can it be busy? Absolutely not!”
Host: “Did you know that your home phone is not working well?”
Gao Zhiyi: “I’ve known for a long time that it is not working well. There’s nothing I can do.”
Host: “Before you left Beijing, did you talk with anybody about anything? Or what did they say to you?”
Gao Zhiyi: “No. I was just anxious and worried and I want to know the information of my brother. I certainly miss him a lot. How can he be in good health? Only when we see him can we know his health condition. If we don’t see him, we certainly miss him a lot.”
An interview with Gao Zhisheng’s sister in Shandong: “Where is the law now? There’s nothing we can do. We only worry a lot.”
I then called Lawyer Gao Zhisheng’s sister in Shandong and asked her whether there is any news on Gao Zhisheng. She said: “No news.”
Host: “Could you tell us when was the last time you contacted him and what he said?”
Gao’s sister: “During the Qingming Festival, he went back to our native place and visited the grave of my mother. He called me and said he had stayed in Beijing for one or two days. Then, he went to Urumqi to see his parents-in-law.”
Host: “Did he call you from there?”
Gao’s sister: “No. After he went back to Beijing (from our native place), he called me once. He said he would call me when he arrived in Xinjiang. He never called and there is no news of him at all.”
Host: “Have you got any news of him from other sources?”
Gao’s sister: “No. It is already half a year.”
Host: “We haven’t had any information of him for over half a year. What do you think of this?”
Gao’s sister: “We simply worry about him. But can we do? For ordinary people like us, what can we do except worrying? You see, my eldest brother hit upon an idea and went to Beijing. Yet, there’s still no news of him whatsoever. We only hope we can have some news of my brother as soon as possible. How can one feel at ease when there’s no news of him? We worry about his personal safety. Who knows what has become of him? We fear for his life.”
“Where is the law in this society? Whoever has the power has the law. There’s nothing we can do but worrying.”
Geng He: “People even look for their dogs and cats if they are lost. Yet, when a human being is treated like this, what can we say about human dignity?”
Geng He, Lawyer Gao Zhisheng’s wife, said, “Where is the human dignity of Gao Zhisheng? If a dog or a cat is missing in the house, we will look for them. Right? We do this because we want to have a closure to this case. Yet, a human being is treated less than a dog or a cat!”
“I’m very grateful to Lawyer Teng and Lawyer Li Heping for accompanying my eldest brother to these places!”
Dr. Fan Yafeng: “We should look at Lawyer Gao Zhisheng’s case from an overall perspective.”
On October 22, Chinese Citizens Rights Defense Alliance launched a signature campaign in jointly looking for the missing hero Gao Zhisheng. By 9 a.m. on October 30 Beijing time before the first broadcast of this episode, 227 people from various walks of life both in China and abroad had signed.
Mr. Fan Yafeng, a rights defender of Beijing and a Doctor of Law who has always been paying close attention to Lawyer Gao Zhisheng and his family, said, “I think we should approach the issue of Gao Zhisheng’s case from an overall perspective. That is to say: Doubtlessly, the brutal suppression on rights defenders since 2003 when the rights defense movement surged to a height has never stopped. The examples of such brutality include the torture Lawyer Gao Zhisheng and Mr. Guo Feixiong have suffered, the kidnapping and the beating Lawyer Li Heping has experienced and the kidnapping of Mr. Teng Biao, etc.
Overall, since the beginning of this year, there is an important characteristic in the brutality of persecuting human rights lawyers and rights defenders. We (our team) published an article last years titled “Torture Does Not Frighten Rights Defense Citizens Into Submission.” We can see that the Party state’s hope of trying to stop the trend of rights defense by the Chinese citizens through brutal deterrence has basically lost its effect in 2010. Judging by this phenomenon, we can pretty much say after the brutality associated with the two core methods of violence and lies adopted by the Party state system in controlling the country loses its deterrence, the effect of violence and lies also shows a trend of decline.
Dr. Fan Yafeng: “After the Nobel Prize, there is a more bumpy road ahead of us. Bits of actions here and there will promote the development of democracy and rule of law.”
“After the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2010, which should be the eve of the end of the “stability maintenance system,” the violence machine of the Party state is run at full throttle or we also can say it is accelerating and running in madness.”
“The words of the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu– A whirlwind cannot last all morning, nor can a rainstorm last a whole day—can be used to vividly describe the current situation in China. The deterrence of such a violence cannot last long.”
“I think the six-month disappearance of Lawyer Gao Zhisheng since April is the continuation of the brutal suppression on him and it is also a part of the overall picture of the full-scale suppression in recent days on other people such as Mr. Chen Guangcheng who has lost freedom and whose entire family has lost contact with the outside world since he was released from prison and other rights defenders and pro-democracy activists in Beijing and other areas of the country.”
“Therefore, we should view the plight of Lawyer Gao Zhisheng in the context of the overall picture of Chinese people’s fight for democracy and rule of law. Meanwhile, our concern for Mr. Chen Guangcheng and our hunger strike relay in support of him and the joint action in looking for the missing Lawyer Gao Zhisheng have repeatedly reminded us that after the winning of the ‘Nobel Prize,’ our road ahead will be more bumpy. We should not forget our comrades who have made huge sacrifices for us and for the cause of rights defense and the cause of democracy. We should do our best to help and support them. United, we build our force from like-minded people. In this way, bits by bits, we will gradually promote democracy and rule of law in China.”
Lawyer Albert Ho Chun-yan: the Chinese government should be responsible for the disappearance of Gao Zhisheng. He demands that the high-ranking officials give their opinions
Lawyer Albert Ho Chun-yan, president of China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, member of Legislative Council of Hong Kong and Chairman of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party received my interview on the re-disappearance of Lawyer Gao Zhisheng for over half a year.
“Lawyer Albert Ho Chun-yan said, “We have been watching Lawyer Gao’s case on a long-term basis and we hope we will know his present condition through various sources. However, so far we haven’t got any news of him.”
“We worry about him very much and we know his wife also worries about him very much. Up till now, not only has our China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group but also this international lawyers group of ours have done our best in hoping that the Chinese government will come up with some response on his case. At least, they should let us know through some channels as to where he is and how he is doing. In a word, there has been little progress in this respect and we are continuing to make efforts on this issue. I believe as long as people and organizations from various fields who are concerned about him continue in their efforts and continue to make demands, they will help in this case.”
Host: “When a person is in probation period, but the authorities don’t even tell people where he is, what kind of conduct do you think it is? What kind of issue is this?”
Albert Ho Chun-yan: “We certainly have reasons to believe that the Chinese government is responsible for the current disappearance of Gao Zhisheng. They should give us an explanation why he is still not free. If he is free, there is no reason why he has no contact with the outside world or at least with his family. The question now is the Chinese government still has not publicly admitted that it is responsible for Gao’s disappearance.”
Host: “Do you personally think that Gao Zhisheng is under the control of the authorities?”
Albert Ho Chun-yan: “I have reasons to believe and I absolutely believe that he is under the control of the government or his whereabouts is arranged by the government. The illegal conduct by some people has deprived Gao Zhisheng of his freedom. In a word, we still should exert pressure on the Chinese government and continue in our efforts. We also hope that we can find an opportunity to demand that the current high-profile officials of China express their opinions on this case.”
Pastor Bob Fu: “With the re-disappearance of Lawyer Gao, how can we talk about human rights and rule of law in China? We hope the Chinese government tells us the whereabouts of Gao Zhisheng as soon as possible.”
Pastor Bob Fu, president of the US-based China Aid Association who has always been paying close attention to the case of Lawyer Gao Zhisheng and has rescued his family delivered a speech on his re-disappearance that has lasted for over half a year, “Lawyer Gao Zhisheng disappeared again on April 20 of this year and there has been no news of him so far. On October 21, Lawyers Teng Biao and Li Heping accompanied Lawyer Gao Zhisheng’s brother Gao Zhiyi to report a case of a missing person at Xiaoguan Police Station in Chaoyang District of Beijing. The police at the station have not yet filed a case.”
“We are paying close attention to the disappearance of Lawyer Gao. We have been appealing for him and looking for him through the international community. I have also noticed that recently Chinese Citizens Rights Defense Alliance issued an urgent appeal, calling on the international community to launch a campaign to look for Gao Zhisheng. We are willing to respond to this call to action.”
“Since we launched the special campaign of Free Gao (Free Gao Zhisheng), about 150 thousand people from over 180 countries in the world have as of now signed and we are still making our efforts on this issue. When I delivered speeches in Europe and various places in North America this year, many ordinary Americans and Europeans asked me about Lawyer Gao Zhisheng and his family.”
“The Chinese authorities have once again made Gao Zhisheng evaporate from the world. It is really a trampling of the basic rights of Gao Zhisheng and it is also a trampling of and mockery on China’s so-called rule of law and the spirit of rule of law. If a man can simply be made to evaporate from the world and his family does not have the right to know his whereabouts, then where are the most basic personal safety and rule of law for all of us?”
Therefore, we are very concerned and we hope the Chinese government will tell us Gao Zhisheng’s whereabouts as soon as possible and let him reunite with his family.
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The above interview program “Journey of the Soul” from Radio Free Asia is made, compiled, hosted and produced by Zhang Min in Washington D.C.
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