Congressional Testimony by Geng He, Wife of Disappeared Rights Lawyer Gao Zhisheng

Geng He (耿和), wife of Gao Zhisheng (高智晟), the rights defense lawyer who was last seen in public in April 2010, testified today at a hearing before the Congressional Executive Commission on China.

In the testimony, Geng He outlines the persecution of her husband since 2005, which included revocation of his license to practice law, criminal conviction, brutal torture, and repeated disappearances. In December 2011, the authorities revoked Gao’s sentence suspension less than one week before its expiration, and announced that Gao would serve out his three-year sentence in a prison in a remote part of Xinjiang. Since then, the authorities have denied requests by family members to visit Gao in prison.

Geng He, who fled China with their two children and arrived in the United States in March 2009, appeals to the United States government “to call on the Chinese government to respect the human rights of all its citizens, including Zhisheng” and help her husband regain his freedom.

At Geng He’s request, Human Rights in China (HRIC) is releasing the Chinese text of her testimony.

For more information on Gao Zhisheng and Geng He, see:

• “Wife of Disappeared Rights Lawyer Gao Zhisheng Urges International Attention,” December 22, 2011
• “Chinese Government Should Respect Gao Zhisheng’s Rights,” April 8, 2010
• “Statement by Geng He, Wife of Gao Zhisheng,” February 17, 2010
• “Top EU Official Asks China to Account for Missing Chinese Lawyer Gao Zhisheng,” February 10, 2010
• “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
• Joint statement by 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)