Examine individual changes

'{{Infobox Person |name = Gao Zhisheng<br/>高智晟 |image = GZ gaozhisheng 1jan03 300.jpg |caption = |birth_date = 1966 |birth_place = [[Shanxi]], [[China]] |death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> |death_place = |other_names = |known_for = Human rights activism |alma_mater = |occupation = Lawyer |nationality = [[People's Republic of China|Chinese]] }} '''Gao Zhisheng''' ({{zh|c=高智晟}}, b. 1966) is a [[People's Liberation Army|Chinese army]] veteran and [[self-taught]] [[lawyer]]. He was described by the ''New York Times'' as "one of China’s most high-profile human rights lawyers."<ref name=ny-missing/> He has been disbarred, detained, and allegedly tortured by the Chinese secret police after taking on human rights cases.<ref name=nyt1134536400/> Those he has defended included fellow activists, and religious minorities like [[Falun Gong]] and [[Chinese house church|Chinese underground Christians]]. He has also written open letters to Chinese leaders denouncing the treatment of Falun Gong practitioners. In 2006, he wrote a memoir on his life and work, ''[[A China More Just]]'', the English translation of which was subsequently published in 2007.<ref name=memoir>[http://www.broadpressusa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=10 “Memoir of Top Chinese Lawyer Published as His Whereabouts Unknown”] Broad Press USA (2007-10-25) Retrieved on 2008-10-08.</ref> Gao's disappearance on 4 February 2009, and the authorities disavowal of his whereabouts sparked concerns about his safety.<ref name=ny-missing/> When he resurfaced in March 2010, having been charged with subversion, he said he would no longer criticise the government.<ref name=nyt_surfaces/><ref name=RTHK8Apr10>[http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/news/englishnews/news.htm?englishnews&20100408&56&659214 China rights lawyer quits activism], RTHK, 8 April 2010</ref> He disappeared once again on 21 April 2010. == Background == [[File:FIND GaoZhisheng.jpg|thumb|right|Demonstration in Hong Kong to demand information about Gao Zhisheng's whereabouts]] Gao was born and grew up in a cave dwelling in [[Shaanxi Province]] with six siblings; his father died at the age of 40.<ref name=nyt1134536400>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/13/international/asia/13lawyer.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ei=5094&en=2603f28ce2c9c2c4&hp&ex=1134536400&partner=homepage|title=Legal Gadfly Bites Hard, and Beijing Slaps Him |last=Kahn|first=Joseph|date=December 13, 2005|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name=morejust>Gao Zhisheng, "A China More Just". Broad Press (2007)</ref> He briefly worked in a coal mine. With his family not being able to afford elementary school, Gao said he sat listening outside the classroom window. Later, an uncle helped him attend secondary school, after which he qualified to join the [[People's Liberation Army]].<ref name=nyt1134536400/> His unit was stationed at a base in Kashgar, in Xinjiang region, and he became a member of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP). Later, he left the PLA and began working as a food vendor. In 1991, inspired by a newspaper article that mentioned a plan by [[Deng Xiaoping]], then China's paramount leader, to train 150,000 new lawyers and develop the legal system, he took a course in Law. Gao credited his excellent memory of titles and clauses for passing all his exams; he passed the bar in 1995.<ref name=nyt1134536400/> === Early career === In 1989, the legislature passed the Administrative Procedure Law, which gave Chinese citizens the right to sue state agencies for the first time. In the 1990s, Gao represented the family of a Xinjiang boy who became comatose after a doctor erroneously gave him ethanol intravenously; Gao won $100,000 in damages for a boy who had lost his hearing in another [[malpractice]] case.<ref name=nyt1134536400/> He acted on behalf of a private businessman who had taken control of and redressed a troubled state-owned company when the district government used force to reclaim it after it became profitable. The case went to the Supreme Court, with a verdict in favour of the businessman. However, according to Gao, he a victim of reprisals from Xinjiang leaders, who warned clients and court officials to shun him, he said.<ref name=nyt1134536400/> === Shengzhi Law Office === Gao was director, founder, and star litigator of the Beijing-based Shengzhi Law Office, having moved to Beijing in 2000. In 2001, he was recognised by China’s Ministry of Justice as "one of the country’s 10 best lawyers". Over the following years, he defended a wide range of clients who had been victims of injustice. Gao’s committed involvement with such cases, he says, is strongly bound with the emphasis of his [[Christian]] identity on morality and compassion.<ref>Finney, Richard and Ding Xiao (Sept. 4, 2007) "China's Urban Christians an Unknown Quantity For Beijing", Radio Free Asia, retrieved Oct. 7, 2007</ref> One significant cases he spearheaded was for fair compensation for a client whose home was expropriated for a building project connected with the [[2008 Summer Olympics]]. However, Gao cites an internal document drafted by the central government he had read that instructed all district courts to reject cases involving such land disputes, which he said was "blatantly illegal", but which "every court in Beijing blindly obeyed."<ref name=nyt1134536400/> Other cases include: * A land dispute case against Taishi village officials * A class-action law suit against local authorities over coercion in implementation of China’s family planning policies * Won a case for six factory workers from Guangdong province who had been detained for protesting exploitation by their employer.<ref>[http://www.china-labour.org.hk/en/node/17426 “The Stella Shoe Workers’ Protest”]. China Labor Bulletin, retrieved October 8, 2008</ref> * Appealed the sentence of Zheng Yichun, a journalist and former professor who was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in September for his on-line writings * Provided legal help for Falun Gong practitioners, including Huang Wei, who was illegally sentenced to three years of [[Laogai|re-education through labor]] in [[Shijiazhuang]].<ref>Gao Zhisheng, ''A China More Just''</ref> * Provided legal help for an illegal Chinese house church pastor Cai Zhuohua, who was sentenced to three years in prison for printing and distributing copies of the [[Bible]].<ref name=amnesty>Amnesty International, [http://www.amnesty.ca/take_action/actions/china_gao_zhisheng.php “China: Human Rights Lawyer Gao Zhisheng Survives Attempt on His Life.”] Retrieved October 8, 2008.</ref> He was named one of the 10 Best Lawyers in China, by the Ministry of Justice in 2001, for his work in defending victims of medical malpractice and fighting for just compensation for dispossessed landowners.<ref name=ny-missing>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/world/asia/03dissident.html|title=China’s Defiance Stirs Fears for Missing Dissident |last=JACOBS|first=ANDREW|work=The New York Times|accessdate=6 February 2010 | date=February 3, 2010}}</ref> Following the Beijing land compensation case, he entered what was to become a protracted battle over several hundred acres of farmland that Guangdong Province had seized to construct a university. Although Gao met with many legal impediments, he took his campaign to the people. He publicly accused Guangdong officials of their "brazen murderous schemes", which stoked public anger and helped his clients obtain more generous compensation.<ref name=nyt1134536400/> In the summer of 2005, Gao defended fellow lawyer-activist Zhu Jiuhu, who was accused of "disturbing public order" while representing private investors in oil wells that were seized by the government in Shaanxi. He secured Zhu's release several months later through an intensive publicity campaign, although Zhu was barred from practicing law.<ref name=nyt1134536400/> Gao has also taken cases on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners. The Beijing Judicial Bureau has prohibited him from acting in certain cases and clients, including Falun Gong, the Shaanxi oil case and a recent incident of political unrest in [[Taishi, Guangzhou|Taishi village in Guangdong]]. He refused to drop any of them, arguing that the bureau had no legal authority to dictate what cases he accepts or rejects.<ref name=nyt1134536400/> In 2005, he resigned from the Communist Party.<ref name=afp/> On October 18, Gao wrote an open letter to [[Hu Jintao]] and [[Wen Jiabao]] urging them to end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, detailing a wide range of abuses they suffer in custody, including torture, sexual torture, beatings, and executions.<ref>Gao Zhisheng, [http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/5-10-24/33667.html “Stop Persecuting Believers of Freedom and Mend Your Ties with the Chinese People,”] The Epoch Times Retrieved October 8, 2008</ref> Shortly after sending the letter, he received a visit from [[State Security]] agents. Gao's family was put under 24-hour police surveillance autumn 2005. On 4 November, shortly after being warned to retract a second open letter he had written about his Falun Gong cases, Gao received a new summons from the judicial bureau accusing him of a "serious violation of the Law on Managing the Registration of Law Firms" for failing to promptly register new business address following a move. He was ordered to suspend operations for a year.<ref name=nyt1134536400/> On appeal in late November, the bureau demanded that Gao hand over his personal law license as well as his firm's operating permit by 14 December, threatening use of force if he failed to comply; at that time, Gao had eluded being tailed by Security, and went to north-east China to take statements from Falun Gong practitioners who alleged torture in the hands of security forces.<ref name=nyt1134536400/> === Detentions === Amnesty International alleged on January 17, 2006 that Gao narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, planned as a traffic accident ordered by Chinese secret police.<ref name=amnesty/> On February 4, 2006, Gao, together with [[Hu Jia]] and other activists, launched a “Relay Hunger Strike for Human Rights,” whereby different activists and citizens fasted for 24 hours in rotation. The [[hunger strike]] was joined by people in 29 provinces, as well as overseas, though several participants were arrested for joining.<ref>Amnesty International, [http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA17/010/2006/en/dom-ASA170102006en.html "China: Amnesty International fears for missing hunger strike activists"] 21 February 2006: Retrieved Oct 8, 2008</ref> On August 15, 2006, after numerous death threats and continued harassment, while visiting his sister's family, Mr. Gao was abducted by the Chinese secret police without any legal proceedings.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} On September 21, 2006, he was "officially" arrested.<ref>"China lawyer held for incitement", BBC News (2006-10-13). Retrieved on 2006-10-13.</ref> On December 22, 2006, Mr. Gao was convicted of "subversion", and was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended, and placed on probation for five years. The sentence also deprives him of his political rights - the freedom to publish or speak out against the government - for one year. He had publicly confessed to a number of errors. On his liberation, Gao recanted his confession and described torture he experienced<ref name=ny-missing/><ref>[http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/press?revision_id=126661&item_id=126636 Torture Account by Missing Rights Defense Lawyer Gao Zhisheng], Human Rights in China, February 08, 2009</ref> during his 54 days<ref name=asiaone194643>AFP (26 January 2010) [http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20100126-194643.html China says unaware of rights lawyer's whereabouts], AsiaOne</ref> in custody. He also said captors threatened he would be killed if he spoke publicly about the matter.<ref name=ny-missing/> In chapter 6 of his memoirs written in 2006, Gao criticised the CCP for employing "the most savage, most immoral, and most illegal means to torture our mothers, torture our wives, torture our children, and torture our brothers and sisters…". He formally renounced his membership of "this inhumane, unjust, and evil Party", declaring it "the proudest day of my life.<ref name=memoir/> On June 2, 2007, Gao was beaten by a national security officer after he complained about officers assaulting his wife.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} On June 24, 2007, Gao was kidnapped by the [[Government of the People's Republic of China|Chinese government]] in order to prevent him from attending an award ceremony in the United States.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} The American Board of Trial Advocates selected Gao to receive the prestigious Courageous Advocacy Award; they had invited him to receive the award personally in [[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]], California on June 30, 2007.<ref>[http://www.abota.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=320 American Board Of Trial Advocates Presents Courageous Advocacy Award To Chinese Human Rights Activist Gao Zhisheng], American Board Of Trial Advocates (June 30, 2007)</ref> In the fall of 2007, Gao’s memoir ''A China More Just'' was published in English in the United States.<ref>Broad Press USA, [http://www.broadpressusa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=1 A China More Just], Retrieved Oct 8, 2008.</ref> On September 22, 2007, after writing open letters to Vice-President of the [[European Parliament]], Edward McMillan-Scott, and then to US Congress calling for a boycott of the Olympics,<ref>Gao Zhisheng, [http://www.david-kilgour.com/2007/Sep_23_2007_03.htm “Open Letter to the United States Congress,”] Retrieved Oct 8, 2008</ref> Gao was once again taken away from his home, where he had been under house arrest, by Chinese secret police.<ref>[http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a7iU0ft4oyno “Nobel Peace Prize May Go to Chinese Activist, Angering Beijing”]. [[Bloomberg L.P.]] October 6, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-10-06.</ref> A letter from Gao revealed he endured ten days of torture that involved beatings, electric prods and even toothpicks to his naked body, followed by weeks of emotional torture. Gao wrote that his torturers said his case had become personal with ''uncles'' in the state security apparatus after he had repeatedly publicised previous mistreatment.<ref name=shm20100119/> === Disappearances === In February 2009, Gao was taken away for interrogation by Chinese security agents<ref name=nyt1134536400/> and had not been seen until<ref name=asiaone194643/> he resurfaced in Shanxi in March 2010. One month prior to his disappearance, Gao's wife and two children escaped China with the help underground religious adherents. They arrived in the United States and were granted [[right of asylum]] ten days later.<ref name=ny-missing/><ref name=afp>[http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hFQaRjQMjW42oMtQteJRcaFeor4Q Chinese rights leader's family 'defects to US']. AFP. March 12, 2009</ref> During his disappearance, in response to queries from his family about his whereabouts, police claimed he lost his way and went missing in September 2009.<ref>[http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/617476 Fears grow over Chinese lawyer's disappearance], The Toronto Star, April 13, 2009</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8497992.stm|title=China stays silent on missing lawyer Gao Zhisheng |publisher=BBC News|accessdate=6 February 2010|quote="Now I wait, helpless, certain that my husband is being tortured and wondering whether I should actually hope that he has already been killed" Gao Zhisheng's wife Geng He | date=February 4, 2010}}</ref> For several months, Gao was not charged, and the Government never acknowledged his whereabouts, nor their involvement in his disappearance. His last contact with friends or family was one phone call placed to his brother in July 2009.<ref name=shm20100119>Garnaut, John (January 20, 2010) [http://www.smh.com.au/world/tip-reveals-detained-lawyer-alive-but-location-remains-a-mystery-20100119-mj7c.html Tip reveals detained lawyer alive but location remains a mystery]</ref> In January 2010, Gao's brother, Gao Zhiyi, told an interviewer that the Beijing police told him that Gao "lost his way and went missing" on 25 September 2009,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2010/01/100114_gaozhisheng.shtml|title= 中国警察说高智晟“失踪”|date=January 14, 2010|publisher=BBC Chinese|language=Chinese}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/world/asia/16china.html?ref=asia|title=Chinese Lawyer Declared ‘Missing’ After Arrest |last=Jacobs|first=Andrew|date=January 15, 2010|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> igniting fears that Gao was no longer alive.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/14/world/AP-AS-China-Missing-Lawyer.html?_r=1|title=Brother: Police Say China Lawyer 'Went Missing' |last=Associated Press|date=January 14, 2010|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/did-the-chinese-security-forces-kill-gao-zhisheng-1869532.html|title=Did the Chinese security forces kill Gao Zhisheng?|last=Coonan|first=Clifford|date=January 16, 2010|work=[[The Independent]] | location=London}}</ref> On January 21, 2010, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman issued a cryptic statement that Gao was “where he should be,” <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/0204/Gao-Zhisheng-One-year-later-China-still-mum-on-missing-lawyer |title=Gao Zhisheng: One year later, China still mum on missing lawyer / |work=The Christian Science Monitor |date= 24 January 2010|accessdate=2010-02-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bristow |first=Michael |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8482413.stm |title=Mystery of missing Chinese lawyer Gao Zhisheng |publisher=BBC News |date=2010-01-29 |accessdate=2010-02-06|quote=Even in the most politicized cases, the Chinese authorities generally claim to be complying with their own criminal procedure laws. Mr. Gao has vanished with no official accounting or legal explanation.}}</ref> and said he did not know Gao's whereabouts at a later press conference.<ref name=ny-missing/> During the visit to China by David Miliband in March, the Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, said that Gao had been sentenced on subversion charges, but denied he had been tortured. On March 28, 2010 Gao was found to be living near [[Wutai Mountain]]. Addressing a reporter by telephone, he said he was not in a position to be interviewed, but confirmed he had been sentenced and freed.<ref name=nyt_surfaces>Jacobs, Andrew. [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/world/asia/29china.html Chinese Activist Surfaces After Year in Custody.] ''[[The New York Times]].'' 28 March 2010.</ref> A few days later, he met the media, appearing thinner and more subdued than in the past and said that he had abandoned his criticism of the government in the hope of reuniting with his wife and two children, who secretly fled China early last year.<ref name=RTHK8Apr10/> Gao's family now they say they have not heard from him since he returned from a visit to Xinjiang 10 days previously.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8654900.stm "China dissident lawyer Gao Zhisheng 'missing again'"], 30 April 2010 BBC News</ref> The ''South China Morning Post'' reports that Gao left Beijing to visit his in-laws in Urumqi, carrying just a backpack between 9 and 12 April. Gao's father-in-law said Gao arrived at his house in the company of four police officers, spent just one night there before once again being taken away by police. His father-in-law called a friend of his in Beijing on 21 April to say Gao was to board a plane at 4.30&nbsp;p.m. His father-in-law said Gao had promised to call after returning home, but there was no word.<ref>Mooney, Paul (30 Apr. 2010). "Human rights lawyer disappears, again," ''South China Morning Post''</ref> Emily Lau and Albert Ho said Gao's disappearance "prov[ed] that justice and the rule of law is disappearing in communist China - if it ever existed at all".<ref>Lau, Emily and Ho, Albert (5 May 2010). "Vanishing justice", ''South China Morning Post''</ref> ==See also== {{Portal|Human rights|Arrest.svg}} *[[Human rights in the People's Republic of China]] *[[Kai fang]] *[[Law of the People's Republic of China]] *[[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] *[[Persecution of Falun Gong]] ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== *[http://www.freegao.com China Aid Association - Free Gao Campaign] *[http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/regions/asia-pacific/china Amnesty International 2008 Report] states that ''Gao Zhisheng'' was tortured in the governments custody. *[http://www.gao-zhisheng.de The German Gao Zhisheng Website] {{Human rights}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Gao, Zhisheng}} [[Category:1966 births]] [[Category:Chinese dissidents]] [[Category:Chinese soldiers]] [[Category:Chinese human rights activists]] [[Category:Chinese prisoners and detainees]] [[Category:Human rights activists| ]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the People's Republic of China]] [[cs:Kao Č'-šeng]] [[de:Gao Zhisheng]] [[fr:Gao Zhisheng]] [[it:Gao Zhisheng]] [[cdo:Gŏ̤ Dé-sêng]] [[ja:高智晟]] [[no:Gao Zhisheng]] [[pl:Gao Zhisheng]] [[fi:Gao Zhisheng]] [[sv:Gao Zhisheng]] [[zh:高智晟]]'