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."