Human Rights Foundation Petitions UN on Behalf of Jailed Chinese Dissident Artist Gao Zhen
The Human Rights Foundation filed an April petition with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention seeking a finding that Chinese dissident artist Gao Zhen’s detention is arbitrary under international law. Gao, 69, was arrested in 2024 in China on suspicion of “slandering China’s heroes and martyrs,” and police seized more than 100 artworks from his Sanhe City studio, including works such as Miss Mao, Mao’s Guilt, and The Execution of Christ. The foundation argued that key works cited were created at least nine years before China’s 2021 law on “heroes and martyrs,” and said Gao’s trial—delayed three times—was held in a single day on March 30, 2026, with a verdict still pending. The petition alleges violations including prolonged solitary confinement, denial of medical care despite reported stroke risk and chronic back pain, and retroactive application of a vague law; Human Rights Watch also called for charges to be dropped in October 2025.
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This story was covered in Museums Under Siege, Auctions Breaking Records