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Gao Zhisheng in China, 2005, before the worst of his ordeals began. (AFP/Getty Images)
Chinese rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng has been awarded the Bindmans Law and Campaigning award at the Index on Censorship: Freedom of Expression Awards in London. Gao was being recognized for his work in representing vulnerable and persecuted groups in China.
The self-taught lawyer represented victims of medical malpractice, house Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners. In 2005, Gao publicly quit the Chinese Communist Party, and in 2007 wrote a letter to the United States Congress urging them to boycott the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, due to the Chinese regime’s abuses of human rights. The Chinese regime abducted Gao shortly afterwards, and he has been in and out of custody ever since – his current whereabouts are unknown.
Gao’s wife Geng He sent a video message to accept the award for Gao at the ceremony in London on March 24th. In her speech Geng said:
“My husband is a human rights lawyer. He resisted unbearable pressure to support his clients. He voluntarily represented the poor to the best of his ability. He never bowed to money or power; he stood up to threats from people in authority. He regarded his law profession not only a job, but also as a means to propagate fairness, to reinstate justice, and conscience. He was an attorney in great demand until the government revoked his license, closed his law firm, placed our whole family under surveillance. They even deprived my daughter of her education.”
“Since my husband’s last public appearance we have endured nearly a year of total silence. All those days, our children and I have lived with worry and anxiety. Gao’s disappearance, in the past, has synchronised with brutality and shocking torture by the state. My husband’s case is a true presentation of China’s ongoing human rights crisis.”
“On behalf of my husband Mr Gao Zhisheng, thank you Index On Censorship for this honorable award which recognizes Gao for his efforts in safeguarding human rights and freedom of speech in China.”Index on Censorship was founded in 1972 and describes itself as Britain’s leading organization promoting freedom of expression. Others who received awards on Thursday include Egyptian independent newspaper editor Ibrahim Eissa. Eissa was one of the voices calling for democratic change in the run up to the recent Egyptian revolution.
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