III 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 554 

Calling on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to facilitate 

the immediate and unconditional release of Gao Zhisheng, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mr. CORNYN) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

to facilitate the immediate and unconditional release of 

Gao Zhisheng, and for other purposes. 

Whereas Gao Zhisheng is a prominent Chinese human rights 

lawyer known for representing religious minority groups, 

factory workers, coal miners, and victims of government 

land seizures; 

Whereas, in 2001, the Ministry of Justice of the People’s Republic of China listed Gao Zhisheng as one of the top ten 

lawyers in China; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

arrested Gao Zhisheng on August 15, 2006, and prevented him from meeting with chosen legal counsel; 


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•SRES 554 IS 

Whereas, on December 22, 2006, Gao Zhisheng was convicted of inciting subversion and received a suspended 

sentence of three years subject to five years of probation; 

Whereas, in September 2007, authorities in China apprehended and detained Gao Zhisheng for 50 days; 

Whereas Gao Zhisheng claimed that during his detention, 

government officials threatened his life and tortured him, 

including beating him with electrified batons, urinating 

on him, leaving him tied up for hours, and holding lighted cigarettes close to his eyes and nose; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

arrested and detained Gao Zhisheng again on February 

4, 2009; 

Whereas Gao Zhisheng’s whereabouts were unknown until 

March 2010, when he resurfaced, only to be arrested 

once more on April 20, 2010; 

Whereas, on November 19, 2010, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined Gao 

Zhisheng’s ongoing detention to be arbitrary and in violation of international law; 

Whereas Gao Zhisheng was held for 20 months before officials in China informed his family in December 2011 that 

he was being held at the Shaya County Prison in remote 

Xinjiang, China; 

Whereas authorities allowed Gao Zhiyi to visit his brother, 

Gao Zhisheng, in the Shaya County Prison for 30 minutes on March 24, 2012, but then warned him not to 

speak to the media or he would not be allowed to visit 

his brother again; 

Whereas the arbitrary arrest and detention of attorneys who 

represent minority groups and human rights activists 


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•SRES 554 IS 

could have a chilling effect on other attorneys working 

with similar clients; 

Whereas Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and 

Political Rights, adopted at New York on December 16, 

1966, to which the Government of the People’s Republic 

of China is a signatory, states, ‘‘No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.’’; 

Whereas the International Covenant on Civil and Political 

Rights also guarantees the right to freedom of expression; 

Whereas the wife of Gao Zhisheng, Geng He, and their two 

children have been afforded protection as political asylees 

in the United States; 

Whereas the United States Government has authorized Gao 

Zhisheng to enter the United States, based on his family’s successful claim of political asylum; and 

Whereas the continued detention of Gao Zhisheng, with limited or no access to family or legal counsel, by the Government of the People’s Republic of China is a source of 

grave concern to the United States Senate: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate calls on the Government 

2 of the People’s Republic of China— 

3 (1) to immediately facilitate continued access to 

4 Gao Zhisheng by his family and lawyers; 

5 (2) to facilitate the immediate and uncondi6 tional release of Gao Zhisheng, including allowing 

7 Mr. Gao to leave China to come to the United States 


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•SRES 554 IS 

1 to be reunited with his family, should he wish to do 

2 so; and 

3 (3) to release all persons in China who have 

4 been arbitrarily detained. 

Æ 


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