UN torture investigator concerned about Chinese lawyer missing for over a year

UN expert concerned about missing Chinese lawyer

GENEVA — A U.N. torture investigator said Wednesday he is very concerned about the fate of missing Chinese lawyer Gao Zhisheng and believes he has been severely tortured.

Gao, known for defending people belonging to persecuted minorities, has been missing for more than a year.

“We don’t know where he is,” said Manfred Nowak, an independent U.N. expert investigating alleged cases of torture.

“I’m very concerned,” he told reporters. “I have repeatedly asked the Chinese government to provide me with information, but I have not received any clear answer.”

Nowak said he met Gao on a visit to China in November 2005 during which they were harassed by state security officials. “He was under heavy, heavy pressure.”

Gao, who took up sensitive cases defending prominent people in Tibet, Xinyiang, Uighurs, members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual group and followers of Christian groups, had been arrested several times before, Nowak said.

“He was, according to my information, severely tortured,” Nowak said.

Separately, an international group of lawyers said the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention should declare Gao’s disappearance a violation of international law.

The U.N. panel, which has no enforcement powers, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.