After briefly resurfacing in late March, prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng has once again disappeared. His case is one of the most bizarre in recent memory. A bright and promising young lawyer, Gao was initially embraced by his government, but ran afoul of the Communist regime after taking on the cases of underground Christians and Falun Gong practitioners (both of whom are considered by the government to hold "illegal" beliefs). In 2006, Gao was disbarred and imprisoned for subversion after sending a letter to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao protesting the persecution of members of the Falun Gong. Following his release from prison in 2007, Gao further enraged the government by issuing a public statement that he had been tortured while in custody.

Then in February of 2009 Gao disappeared. For over a year no one, including close friends, relatives, and international human rights groups, could confirm Gao's whereabouts. In January of this year the government told Gao's brother that Gao had "lost his way," implying they did not know where Gao was. Shortly after that pronouncement, authorities changed their tune, saying Gao was "where he should be" without elaborating on what that might mean. (Read more after the jump)

After more than a year missing, prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng made contact with international media and his family earlier this week.  Gao was abducted by police in February of 2009 and has been missing since that time.  As stated by BBC's Michael Bristow this recent development provides further confusion about Gao's current situation. 

In speaking with Gao's friend and fellow human rights lawyer, Li Heping, news outlets indicated Li felt that he was being followed or watched.  "I believe he does not have freedom," Li said. "First, when we were speaking, he sounded like he wanted to hang up. He told me that he had friends around him. I'm sure that the people around him are limiting what he can say." 

Gao told Reuters that he was living at the Buddhist landmark Wutai mountain.  When asked if the location had any significance, Gao responded, "I want to live a quiet life for a while." 

"I feel tremendously relieved that my husband is alive," said Gao's wife Geng He in a statement offered by Freedom Now.  She continued, "I am so happy that my children were able to speak to him. My children and I have not seen their father since January 2009. We urge the Chinese government to allow Zhisheng to leave the country and be reunited with us in the United States.” 

Unfortunately, Gao was not able to state the reason for his detention or when he would be able to see his family again.  "It's not that easy," he stated. 

For more information leading up to this week's update on Gao, click here. 

On Tuesday, China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, announced that Gao Zhisheng had been sentenced on subversion charges.  However, Yang’s information stopped there.  He declined to offer more details, or even to say if this was a new conviction or if he was merely referring to Gao Zhisheng’s 2006 sentencing that was suspended for five years.  According to Gao’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping, if the government did decide to cancel the suspension of his 2006 sentence, it would only require a police request and Gao would not be granted a new trial or access to lawyers.  Given Gao’s current, vague detention status, some groups, including the Dui Hua foundation, believe that he is being held outside the legal system by China’s main intelligence agency, the State Security Ministry.  Gao’s friend and fellow lawyer Teng Biao said of Yang’s pronouncement, "Gao Zhisheng's whereabouts are completely unknown. It's completely absurd."

Despite the vague nature of this revelation, at the very least, it is the first admission by the government that Gao was even detained, after he had been missing for over a year.  The announcement also comes a week after a U.N. Torture Investigator expressed concern for Gao’s fate and a group of international lawyers petitioned the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to declare Gao’s detention an international law violation. 

According to the Associated Press, on Tuesday a group of prominent lawyers from around the globe petitioned the United Nations to condemn the illegal detention of legal activist Gao Zhisheng.  The petition mentioned that not only does the current jailing violate international rights standards; it also violates China’s own legal statutes. 

Gao was taken into custody on February 4, 2009 and has not been seen or heard from since.  During his detention, Gao has never been formally charged or arrested and his family has never been informed of his whereabouts.  Under Chinese law, all of these measures should have been taken at some point during the past year. 

This arrest follows Gao’s disclosure of the torture he endured after his detention in 2007.  During that detention, the Chinese authorities threatened to kill him if he ever spoke out about the torture inflicted upon him.  As with his 2007 detention, all of his arrests have been a result of his continued activism against illegal government action including police corruption, illegal land seizures and restriction of religious freedoms.

There appear to be fewer people in China.  In a disturbing trend, the government has recently seemingly lost track of some of its most ardent critics. Most recently, the government’s inability to “locate” prominent human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng and 20 Uyghurs who were forcibly returned to China from Cambodia has become a cause for great concern in the international community. 

Despite its immense system of internal travel controls and required registration, known as the Hukou system , the CCP has an extensive history of “losing” those who are hard to ignore.  Prominent figures such as Deng Xiaoping and Li Peng were lost for significant periods of time during discord within the government, the Panchen Lama has been missing for over a decade, and, more recently, China has continued to lose NGO workers and protestors who portray the regime in a less than flattering light. 

Largely, the cases of these “missing” persons have been met with outrage in the international community.  Rosanne Rife of Amnesty International put it best when she offered, “It is a disgrace that Chinese law enforcement agencies disobey the law in such a blatant manner.”  Not only is “losing” people against Chinese domestic law, but it is a blatant violation of international law as well.  Hopefully, pressure from the international community can render these lost persons found before the CCP’s absent-mindedness continues.

According to recent reports, one of China's "most tenacious civil rights lawyers" who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, has gone "missing". Gao was detained by authorities in February 2009 and his friends and family have not heard from him since.  Gao's brother, Gao Zhiyi, traveled to Beijing late last year to find the police officer who detained Gao Zhisheng. The officer told him that "Gao Zhisheng lost his way and went missing".

That Gao has "gone missing" is troubling and may be a sign that he has died in police custody.  "Teng Biao, a lawyer and friend of Mr. Gao, said he feared the worst. 'This is the first time the police have come up with ‘went missing’ as an excuse,' he said. 'That’s impossible. Gao was in their custody and could go nowhere.'"

According to the AP, "Gao's case has drawn international attention for the unusual length of his disappearance and for his earlier reports of the torture he had faced from Chinese security forces. In a [letter], he described severe beatings, electric shocks to his genitals and cigarettes held to his eyes."