April 23, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Geng He, the wife of kidnapped Christian human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng released an open letter to the U.S. Congress, as Senator Bryon Dorgan, Chairman of the Congressional -Executive Commission on China (CECC), spoke on the case of Gao Zhisheng from the Senate floor. Gao was kidnapped on February 4 by Chinese officials and has not been heard from since.
In Senator Dorgan’s speech, he reminded the Senate that when Gao sent an open letter to the U.S. Congress in 2007, he was later kidnapped and severely tortured by Chinese authorities for more than 50 days. Senator Dorgan stated, “…we know this situation is extremely grave because we know what the Chinese have done to him in their prison system previously. They have not offered the slightest word about his whereabouts, despite the repeated denials by United Nations agencies. We know he was seized by ten agents of the Chinese government. And our government, foreign governments, NGOs and the media have all asked for information about this courageous human rights lawyer.”
Senator Dorgan continued, “And the Chinese government has said nothing. Chinese government has signed or ratified most of the international human rights commitments that require it to come clean about Mr. Gao. And I call on and we call on today the Chinese government to allow Mr. Gao to have access to a lawyer, access to his family and to publicly state and justify the grounds for the continued detention of this courageous person.”
Gao’s wife, Geng He was present when Senator Dorgan addressed the Senate. In her open letter released today to the U.S. Congress, she wrote, “In the past, whenever I was worried about my husband because of his challenges against tyranny, he would often console me by saying, evil cannot win over good, the ones upholding justice will always have help. He said that if one day he would be persecuted because of his ideals and sense of justice, the people in the world who believe in justice would stand by him and support him. I know that he would still harbor this light and hope in his heart while enduring various torments in prison! …
“Honorable members of the U.S. Congress, please help me support my husband, lawyer Gao Zhisheng, so that the evil forces will know that there is resistance against persecution; so that the millions of Chinese suffering this despotic rule will know that the United States is concerned about their human rights situation, and will not give up. My husband would be more resolute because of this, the Chinese people would feel inspired because of this, and China and the world would eventually transform because of this!”
More than 50,000 concerned citizens in the U.S. and around the world have signed a petition on Gao Zhisheng’s behalf requiring the Chinese government to give an account of Gao’s whereabouts and ask for his immediate release. Today, ChinaAid president Bob Fu together with Geng He presented the petition to Senator Dorgan, and copy of the petition was also delivered to the Chinese Embassy.
ChinaAid will continue the petition and calls all those concerned for Gao Zhisheng to sign the petition at www.FreeGao.com and continue to pressure the Chinese government for his release. In addition, ChinaAid calls on all concerned Americans to contact their Senators and express their concern for Gao Zhisheng at http://www.senate.gov/reference/common/faq/How_to_contact_senators.htm.
Read Geng He’s open letter to the U.S. Congress released today.
Read Senator Bryon Dorgan’s speech from the Senate floor today.
Sign a petition for Gao Zhisheng’s immediate release at www.FreeGao.com.
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