The brother of missing Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng (高智晟) has issued a plea for news about his whereabouts, and believes that he remains in extra-judicial detention despite recently ending a five-year probationary period.
Gao is among China’s most prominent dissidents and his case may be among the human rights issues raised by US Vice President Joe Biden, who arrives in China today.
A combative rights advocate who tackled many causes anathema to the Chinese Communist Party, Gao was sentenced to three years’ jail in 2006 for “inciting subversion of state power,” a charge often used to punish critics of one-party rule.
Gao was given five years’ probation, formally sparing him from serving the prison sentence.
However, his family was under constant surveillance, and Gao was detained on and off.
He was taken from his relative’s home in Shaanxi Province in February 2009 — his family claims by security officers — and has been missing since early last year, when he resurfaced briefly and made sporadic contact with friends and foreign reporters in April.
Gao’s older brother, Gao Zhiyi (高智義), said yesterday that he has issued missing person notices pleading for information about his brother, photographs of whom have circulated on the Internet with the help of sympathizers.
Gao Zhisheng’s family estimated that his probation period ended on Sunday, meaning that authorities have no reason to keep him in custody, if that is where he is, Gao Zhiyi said.
He said he was sure government authorities were holding his brother.
“We had to do that because we’ve had absolutely no information about him for more than a year,” Gao Zhiyi said by telephone from his home in Shaanxi.
“I don’t know where he is, but I’m 100 percent sure that they’re keeping him locked away,” Gao Zhiyi said.
Police officers have told the family that he is missing or they ignore pleas for information, Gao Zhiyi said.
“I’ve tried calling many times, but get nothing,” he added.
Gao Zhisheng’s wife and children fled to the US in March 2009, and members of Congress have pressed his case.
A US official said Biden would not flinch from raising human rights issues during his visit, but did not mention specific cases.
The UN working group on arbitrary detention said in March that Gao Zhisheng is being detained in violation of international law, and that the Chinese government should “provide for reparation of the harm caused” to him. He has claimed he was tortured in detention.
In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the UN to respect its judicial sovereignty, adding that it is a country ruled by law and was unaware of Gao Zhisheng’s whereabouts.
“I’m an ordinary citizen, and there’s nothing I can do,” Gao Zhiyi wrote in the missing person appeal.
“If anyone knows something, please tell his family, and we will certainly show our gratitude,” he wrote.
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