In a statement issued on February 9, 2010, Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission, asked the Chinese government to “clarify without delay the situation of Gao Zhisheng and to open a fully independent and transparent investigation into his disappearance.” Following is the full text of the statement.
| EUROPEAN UNION | Brussels, 9 February 2010 A 15/10 |
Statement by HR Catherine Ashton, on human rights in China
Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, made today the following statement:
"The EU notes with concern that on 4th February 2010, one year passed since the prominent human rights lawyer Mr Gao Zhisheng disappeared from his home town in Shaanxi province. During the last year, the EU has repeatedly called on the Chinese government, at the highest level and including during its bi-annual dialogue on Human Rights, to reveal the whereabouts of Mr Gao, to give Mr Gao access to a lawyer and to allow Mr Gao to maintain contact with his family.
The EU is especially concerned at recent reports that Mr Gao has “gone missing”. In this context, the EU urges China to clarify without delay the situation of Gao Zhisheng and to open a fully independent and transparent investigation into his disappearance."
This statement is also available online at the EU website.
For more information on Gao Zhisheng, see:
- “Wife of Disappeared Lawyer Says to Chinese Government: Give Back My Husband,” February 4, 2010
- “Wife of Abducted Rights Defense Lawyer Gao Zhisheng Requests Urgent Help from U.S. Congress in Open Letter,” April 23, 2009
- “Family of Missing Rights Defense Lawyer Gao Zhisheng Arrives in U.S.,” March 11, 2009
- “Torture Account by Missing Rights Defense Lawyer Gao Zhisheng,” February 8, 2009
- Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Human Rights in China, “Human Rights Lawyer in Arbitrary Detention,” February 2, 2009
- Kerry Brown, Review of Gao Zhisheng's A China More Just, China Rights Forum, 2008, no.1
- “HRIC Statement on Gao Zhisheng's Sentence,” December 22, 2006
- “HRIC Concerned over Gao Zhisheng’s Guilty Plea,” December 13, 2006
Gao Zhisheng’s account of his September 2007 kidnapping and torture:
- 黑夜、黑头套、黑帮绑架 (Chinese original)
- Dark Night, Dark Hood, and Kidnapping by Dark Mafia (English translation)