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The group, Human Rights in China, said in a statement late Tuesday that Mr. Gao's younger brother and his father-in-law visited Mr. Gao on Jan. 12. The New York-based group cited Mr. Gao's wife. The older brother, Gao Zhiyi, confirmed the visit when reached by telephone on Wednesday, but said he had no further details because the younger brother had not yet returned to the family's hometown in Shaanxi Province.

Foreign human rights advocates say they fear for Mr. Gao's life since there has been no word on his well-being or whereabouts for long stretches of time. Foreign governments have condemned China for its harsh treatment of Mr. Gao over the years.

The previous family visit also took place at Shaya prison in Xinjiang, on March 24, 2012. Human Rights in China said there was no information from this latest visit on a possible release date for Mr. Gao. The group said that during the latest visit, "Mr. Gao's mind seemed clear and he spoke normally."

It said the younger brother was told by the authorities not to talk with Mr. Gao about his case or prison conditions. The two were also barred from discussing Mr. Gao's wife, Geng He, and two children, who fled to the United States in 2009 with the help of a Christian organization that spirited them from China to Thailand.

The younger brother was also told not to give any interviews to the news media after the visit. The brother asked when the family would next be permitted to see Mr. Gao and was told the family had to "follow old ways," according to the human rights group.

Mr. Gao is a rights lawyer and devout Christian who was subjected to long periods of detention and what he called torture by security forces after he took on politically delicate cases. Those included defending ordinary Chinese whose land had been taken from them and given to developers and persecuted members of Falun Gong, the banned spiritual movement. Mr. Gao was once a celebrated lawyer praised by the party and the state. He renounced his membership in the ruling Communist Party in 2005 and denounced the government.

In December 2011, the authorities revoked the suspension of the five-year prison sentence, just days before the sentence was to have been completed, and sent him to a prison in Xinjiang. The announcement said that Mr. Gao would be imprisoned for another three years for violating terms of his suspended sentence. But rights advocates called this a flimsy excuse to increase pressure on him. Mr. Gao had been in policy custody during much of the so-called suspended prison sentence, which he was given in December 2006 after being convicted of "inciting subversion of state power."

Mr. Gao said he suffered excruciating torture when he was abducted by security officers and detained for 50 days in autumn 2007, during the period of the suspended prison sentence.