Christian lawyer surfaces in custody after disappearance

Beijing authorities confirmed that a renowned Christian human rights lawyer and two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee who vanished from his home a month ago was kidnapped and is currently incarcerated somewhere in the capital city.

Officials told human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng’s brother on Sept. 7 that he was “kidnapped under incarceration” by the Communist Party’s secret security agents and is being held at a secret location within Beijing. Gao disappeared a month ago from his home in Shaanxi province.

Gao has been imprisoned multiple times since 2005, when his lawyer’s license was revoked and his practice shut down after he was falsely accused of “inciting subversion of state power.” During his time in prison he was tortured by authorities multiple times, with sleep deprivation, forced stress positions, and physical violence, such as the insertion of toothpicks into his genitals.

Despite his suffering, Gao has remained an unwavering and iconic advocate for human rights and justice in the Chinese legal system and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008.

In response to Gao’s imprisonment and China’s escalating human rights and religious freedom crisis, ChinaAid president Bob Fu traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with NGO leaders and members of Congress, including Senator Jeff Flake, a prominent member of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, and organize urgent diplomatic and civil actions.

Last year, Gao published a book, Unwavering Convictions, which was penned in secret and smuggled out of China by ChinaAid. After being translated into English, it was published by the American Bar Association and the Carolina Academic Press.