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Gao Zhisheng, Abducted Chinese Human Rights Lawyer, To Receive American Bar Association Award


American Bar Association
San Francisco, 5 August, 2010

Gao Zhisheng, a self-taught human rights defense lawyer who has been detained, imprisoned, tortured, and who has recently disappeared, will be receiving the 2010 International Human Rights Lawyer Award during the American Bar Association’s Annual Meeting.

The award, presented by the ABA Section of International Law, will be presented on Friday at 1 p.m. to his daughter and other supporters during a ceremony at San Francisco’s J.W. Marriott Hotel.

"Our family is grateful to the ABA for recognizing my father's important work and the persecution he continues to suffer at the hands of the Chinese government for promoting rule of law in China,“ said 17-year old Grace Geng, Gao’s daughter, who is traveling to accept the award on her father’s behalf. “We hope that someday my father will be able to thank the ABA himself for this honor."

“Fighting for what’s right is the essence of being a lawyer,” said ABA President Carolyn B. Lamm. “Gao’s sacrifices inspire all of us, and he epitomizes the criterion of this award as a ‘distinguished foreign human rights lawyer who has suffered persecution as a result of his professional activities.’ By honoring him, the ABA honors his work and hopes the cause of his disappearance will soon be positively resolved.”

Gao’s initial objective was to defend the poor and marginalized. This led him to increasingly focus his work on the Chinese government’s handling of individual human rights. Subsequently, the government revoked his license and detained him, during which time he reportedly was tortured. After a subsequent arrest in 2009, his family — who claimed additional harassment and threats — left China. After not being heard from for some time, Gao appeared in the Chinese media in March 2010, stating that he no longer wished to fight for human rights but only wanted to reunite with his family. Despite this, he disappeared again on April 20. No one outside of the government has offered any information about his current condition, and his welfare is unknown.

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

Related Links:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/40536/
http://www.ntdtv.com/xtr/b5/2010/08/07/a417458.html#video(Chinese)
http://www.ntdtv.com/xtr/b5/2010/08/07/a417460.html#video(Chinese)
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http://big5.soundofhope.org/programs/162/166249-1.asp(Chinese)
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http://epochtimes.com/gb/10/8/7/n2988516.htm(Chinese)
http://www.kanzhongguo.com/node/362377(Chinese)
http://www1.voanews.com/chinese/news/20100806-GAO-ZHISHENG-100162084.html(Chinese)

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