[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 554 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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;
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 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
    Resolved, That the Senate calls on the Government of the People's 
Republic of China--
            (1) to immediately facilitate continued access to Gao 
        Zhisheng by his family and lawyers;
            (2) to facilitate the immediate and unconditional release 
        of Gao Zhisheng, including allowing Mr. Gao to leave China to 
        come to the United States to be reunited with his family, 
        should he wish to do so; and
            (3) to release all persons in China who have been 
        arbitrarily detained.
                                 <all>