(Beijing – April 25, 2024) The renowned human rights lawyer, Mr. Gao Zhisheng, has been forcibly disappeared for nearly 7 years. On April 20, 2024, he will turn 60 years old. For the past seven years, lawyer Gao has been held in secret detention without any news of his whereabouts. Ms. Geng He, lawyer Gao’s wife, has launched a strong appeal to the Chinese Communist authorities, demanding the release of Gao Zhisheng so that he can reunite with his family.
Mr. Gao Zhisheng came from an impoverished family. His father passed away when he was 11 years old, leaving the family in difficult circumstances. At the age of 16, he was admitted to a key county middle school, but due to his family’s poverty, he was forced to discontinue his education and return home to work in agriculture. He spent two years digging coal in a coal mine without receiving any wages. At the age of 21, in order to make a living, he enlisted in the military, where he met Geng He. The two married in 1990. After retiring from the military, Mr. Gao stayed in Xinjiang to work, selling vegetables on the streets to support himself. The idea of becoming a lawyer through self-study came to him. In 1995, he passed the bar exam and began practicing law in Urumqi the following year at the age of 32. He then began to provide legal assistance to vulnerable groups. In 2001, he was named one of the “Top Ten Outstanding Lawyers in China” by the Chinese Ministry of Justice.
Gao Zhisheng was one of the earliest human rights lawyers to emerge in the public domain in the early 2000s and was a significant leader in China’s rights defense movement. He handled cases for migrant workers and defended spiritual practitioners and Christians. Gao Zhisheng has written open letters to China’s top political leaders calling for attention to human rights abuses.
In 2006, Gao Zhisheng was sentenced to three years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power.” After being paroled, he was repeatedly forcibly disappeared and tortured by the police between 2007 and 2011. In December 2011, according to official Chinese media reports, Gao Zhisheng was detained in Xinjiang for violating the terms of his parole. He was subsequently released in August 2014 but remained under house arrest in a cave dwelling in his hometown in northern Shaanxi, where he lived with his brother and sister-in-law. On the morning of August 13, 2017, his sister-in-law went to his cave to call him for a meal, only to find him missing.
Mr. Gao has been in a state of enforced disappearance to this day.
Since 2004, Mr. Gao has been advocating for human rights and legal rights in China. He has lost his freedom for nearly 20 years, during which his life has been marked by enforced disappearance, house arrest, imprisonment, and torture.
For seven years, his wife, Ms. Geng He, has been continuously appealing to the Chinese government to provide information about Mr. Gao’s whereabouts. Her request is very simple and humble; she only hopes to know the whereabouts of her husband.
The Chinese government has not provided Ms. Geng He with even the most basic information.
UN agencies and human rights experts have repeatedly requested information from the Chinese government about Gao Zhisheng’s situation, but the Chinese government has refused to provide any clarification. The Gao Zhisheng case is one of the most famous and well-documented cases of prolonged enforced disappearance in which the Chinese government openly violates international law. The practice of enforced disappearance seriously affects core rights as stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, such as freedom from torture, arbitrary arrest or detention, and the right to life.
ChinaAid has long closely monitored the Gao Zhisheng enforced disappearance case. ChinaAid earnestly urges the Chinese government to unconditionally release Mr. Gao Zhisheng based on the basic principle of human rights; allow Ms. Geng He and other family members to visit him or communicate with him through video chat, and provide detailed information about his condition and health.
Releasing Mr. Gao will only enhance the image of Chinese leaders and their diplomatic image without causing any harm to their interests.
