Chinese Dissident,Gao Zhisheng, Has Just Been Freed From Prison But Remains Seriously Ill From being Tortured

Dan Wooding : Sep 9, 2014
ASSIST News Service

"Please continue to pray for Gao! Pray also for his wife and children..." -Bob Fu, ChinaAid

(Midland, TX)—Bob Fu, who now lives in exile in Midland, Texas, where he runs the nonprofit organization ChinaAid, which supports human rights in his homeland, has announced the Gao Zhisheng, the Chinese human rights attorney and dissident known for defending activists and religious minorities and documenting human rights abuses in China, has been released from prison. (Photo: AP/via BBC News)

"Since his release, Gao has been staying with his wife's sister in Xinjiang, China," said Fu in a message monitored by the ASSIST News Service. "Unfortunately, Chinese security officials keep watch over Gao around the clock.

"Worse, Gao's lawyer has publicly stated that, from the time of his reappearance in Shaya prison in December 2011 until his release, Gao was held in a small cell with minimal light at all times. Guards were strictly instructed not to speak with him and he was not allowed any reading materials, television, or other interaction.

"Once a day, he was fed a single slice of bread and piece of cabbage; as a result, he has lost roughly 50 pounds in prison and now weighs only about 130 pounds. Gao also lost many teeth from malnutrition.

"It is believed he suffered repeated physical torture."

Fu went on to say, "Today, Gao can barely talk, and then only in very short sentences; most of the time he mutters and is unintelligible. Although Gao is now suffering from a broad range of physical and mental health problems he has not been allowed to see a doctor since his release!"

After speaking with her husband and hearing from her family about Gao's immense suffering, his wife Geng He commented: "I am completely devastated by what the Chinese government has done to my husband. The only thing I feared more than him being killed was his suffering relentless and horrific torture and being kept alive." (Photo via ANS)

Gao's lawyer, Jared Genser, stated: "I am heartbroken for Geng He and her family. We knew that if Gao wasn't killed, he would have suffered immensely. But the situation is far worse than my limited imagination enabled me to contemplate. While China is a great power in the 21st century, the inhumanity and brutality that it has demonstrated by the torture of Gao Zhisheng shows its profound insecurity and fear of anyone in its population who stands up to its repression."

Fu went on to say, "Thanks to your support we have been helping Gao and his family. Now it's time to reunite the family."

Here's what Gao's wife said: "My children and I have been lucky to have had the protection of the United States since we arrived here in March 2009. We desperately need help from our adopted country and from President Obama and Secretary Kerry personally to demand the Chinese government to allow my husband to come to the United States for medical treatment. If President Xi Jinping has any sense of decency or humanity, after crushing my husband both physically and psychologically, the least he could do is allow me as a devoted wife to care for him."

Fu concluded by saying, "Please continue to pray for Gao! Pray also for his wife and children as they hope for a happy reunion."