Apr 15, 2009 • 9:27 pm
Communication on a Victim of an Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance
To: Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
1. Identity of the disappeared person:
(a) Family name (*): Gao (高)
(b) First name (*): Zhisheng (智晟)
(c) Sex: Male
(d) Date of birth: 1966
(e) Identity document Identity card
Place of issue: Kashgar Public Security Bureau, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
2. Date on which the disappearance occurred (at least as to the month and year) (*):
Date of disappearance: February 4, 2009.
3. Place of arrest or abduction, or where the disappeared person was last seen (*):
Location (if possible street, city, province or other relevant indications): Gao’s hometown in Jingbian County, Yulin District, north Shaanxi Province
4. Forces (State or State-supported) believed to be responsible for the disappearance (*):
(a) If the perpetrators are believed to be State agents, please specify (military, police, persons in uniform or civilian clothes, agents of security services, unit to which they belong, rank and functions, etc.) and indicate why they are believed to be responsible; be as precise as possible:
Policemen of the National Security Unit under Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB) are believed to be responsible for Gao’s disappearance.
Gao is a human rights activist and former lawyer who resides in Beijing. Gao had been put under illegal detention by members of the National Security Unit, Beijing PSB since September 22, 2007. On February 4, 2009, Gao was forcibly returned to his family’s home in Shaanxi Province. Gao was guarded by at least 7 National Security Unit policemen along the way and during his stay in his home village. According to Gao’s elder brother and other relatives in his home village, Gao was taken away in a vehicle by these same policemen. Gao has never been seen since.