Gao Zhisheng’s
letter called for a U.S. Olympic boycott over the persecution of Falun Gong
NEW YORK – Gao Zhisheng, one
of China’s most prominent human rights lawyers, was seen being taken away
by secret police from his Beijing home on Sunday according to eye-witnesses.
Gao had broken China’s biggest taboo by publicly calling for an end to the
persecution of Falun Gong.
The apparent kidnapping came
less than 48 hours after Gao published an open letter to the United States
Congress. The letter called on the U.S. to boycott the Olympics over the Communist
Party’s ongoing campaign against the Falun Gong.
The eight-year long suppression
of Falun Gong is so far the most long-lasting and the most serious human disaster
in China and in the world,” Gao, a Christian, wrote, adding that he has published
the findings of his investigation of secret torture chambers (http://en.epochtimes.com/news/5-12-16/35876.html).
Gao
wrote that he longs to see the Olympics in Beijing. “But when I think about
Chinese society’s current environment and how the Olympic Games will be used
here, my conscience and sense of justice make my heart ache.”
The
letter came the day after an international press conference about him was
held in Washington DC’s Rayburn House Office Building. Speakers at the Thursday
press event included Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), former Canadian
Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) David Kilgour, and European Union Vice-President
Edward McMillan-Scott.
There are few in the world who
are more acutely aware of Beijing’s severe shortcomings in the area of human
rights than the famed human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Mr.
Gao Zhisheng,” said Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen.
Gao’s New Book
Gao’s
abduction also comes just as his new book, A China More Just, has been published
in English. The book includes his investigative findings and exposes a wide
range of torture methods that the Chinese Communist Party has been using on
the Falun Gong. (torture
methods)
The
book also tells his remarkable personal story of growing up in a poor rural
family and eventually becoming one of China’s top lawyers, why he quit the
Communist Party after originally trusting the system, the persecution he and
his family have faced, and his faith-inspired courage to risk his life seeking
justice for a broad range of oppressed Chinese groups.
Posting date: 25/Sep/2007
Original article date: 25/Sep/2007
Category: News from China
