Open Letter on the Torture and Inhuman Treatment of Mr. Gao Zhisheng and His Family
April 7, 2007
Your Excellency Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-Moon, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Mr Manfred Nowak, Heads of Government and Leaders of the World Organisations on Human Rights,
We write this letter to call your attention to the brutal torture and inhuman treatment of Chinese Lawyer Mr. Gao Zhisheng and his family. Mr. Gao Zhisheng is a renowned Chinese human rights lawyer who has devoted his life to providing legal services to and defending Chinese people at the grassroots level. He wrote three open letters to the Chinese Communist leaders to end the persecution against Falun Gong adherents in China.
Mr. Gao was secretly arrested by the Beijing police in Shandong Province on 15 August 2006. According to Asia Weekly reports, Mr. Gao suffered from many forms of torture after his arrest. On 6 April 2007, noted AIDS activist and human rights defender Mr. Hu Jia published his telephone conversation with Mr. Gao Zhisheng.
Mr Gao said in the telephone conversation that he had been tied to an iron chair with chains for more than 580 hours from 15 August to 22 December, the longest continuous time being for 109 hours.
His legs still had dark scars left from the torture. He was cuffed for as long as 600 hours, had his eyes exposed to strong light from both sides for more than 590 hours and was deprived of sleep for a long period of time. He was also forced to sit on the floor with crossed legs to rethink his "crime" for around 800 hours and he was forced to scrub bed planks 385 times.
In order to compel Mr. Gao to submit, the policemen illegally forced their way into and stayed at Mr Gao's home. They harassed and controlled the life of Mr. Gao's wife and their two children. The policemen besieged Mr. Gao's family and beat them up as well as preventing them from withdrawing money from their bank account. In addition, five or six policemen followed Mr. Gao's 13-year-old daughter, Geng Ge, when she went to school, causing serious mental trauma to Geng Ge.
On 22 December, Mr. Gao was sentenced to three years in jail with delayed service for five years and one-year deprivation of political rights at a secret trial at the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court. Mr. Gao was charged with "inciting sedition against the state". Since his release, Mr Gao and his wife, their 13-year-old daughter and their 3-year-old son have all been under house arrest. The authorities warned them not to have any contact with the outside world; otherwise, they would reinforce their harassment and maltreatment of his wife and children.
At present, Mr. Gao's home (Unit 7, Building No. 11, Xiaoguan Beili, Chaoyang District, Beijing City) is under 24-hour surveillance by more than one hundred secret agents and policemen. As a matter of fact, Mr. Gao's home has been turned into a temporary jail and his family members have been turned into hostages.
The above-mentioned conduct of the Chinese Communist regime is a gross violation of the "Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment" ratified on 4 October 1988, the "Convention on the Rights of the Child" ratified on 2 March 1992 and the "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" signed on 5 October 1998.
Mr. Gao Zhisheng is China's lawyer of conscience. We strongly condemn and express our indignation at the torture and inhuman treatment that have been inflicted upon Mr. Gao and his family members, and ask the international community to strongly urge the Chinese Communist regime to immediately stop its persecution of Mr. Gao and his family.
Sponsor：China Human Rights Forum Jointly signed by:
In mainland China: 60 people
In Hong Kong and overseas: 20 people
Website: http://www.rq2007.cc/
Email Address: rq2007@gmail.com
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