Clients
Jane Doe I
Jane Doe I was born and raised in the People’s Republic of China. In May 2000, Jane Doe I went to Beijing to appeal the arbitrary arrests, detentions, and torture of Falun Gong practitioners. While in Tienanmen Square, Jane Doe I witnessed a police officer kicking a young man who was lying on the ground. When she asked the officer to stop, she also was arrested and beaten so hard that she lost her breath. She was brought to a Beijing district detention center, and held without charge or opportunity to see a family member or lawyer for twenty days.
In the detention center, Jane Doe I was interrogated daily, repeatedly beaten, and on at least one occasion tortured with electric shocks through needles placed in her body. During this period of beatings and other torture, Jane Doe I lost her ability to eat, though she was not on a hunger strike. She was taken to another location where she was held forcibly and force-fed through a tube placed into her nose and down to her stomach. The tube was churned in her stomach, causing her unbearable pain and discomfort. After this experience, Jane Doe I began coughing blood.
After being released to her home in another city, Jane Doe I remained subject to constant surveillance, and to further arrests and interrogation. She fled China, and presently resides in the United States.
Jane Doe II
Jane Doe II was born and raised in the People’s Republic of China. In July 1999, she traveled to the city of Beijing to appeal to the Chinese government on behalf of practitioners who had been arbitrarily arrested and sentenced by their government. She was arrested without being advised of any charges against her, and was refused any opportunity to contact family or legal counsel. She was then taken to a stadium with thousands of other practitioners, where guards attempted to force the practitioners to renounce their spiritual beliefs. Jane Doe II was then returned to her hometown in handcuffs and detained there for three days, still without charge.
In May 2000, Jane Doe II returned to Beijing to appeal her government’s unlawful persecution of Falun Gong. She was arrested at a demonstration in Tienanmen Square after she called out to protest the police for beating another practitioner at the demonstration. Police officers repeatedly slapped her in the face and on her ears, causing her to temporarily lose her hearing. Over the course of several weeks, Jane Doe II was detained at police facilities and in a psychiatric hospital, where she was beaten, stripped, subjected to serial interrogation and forcibly fed through a tube inserted in the nose.
Suffering further persecution even after being released from detention, Jane Doe II fled from China, and received political asylum in the United States.
Helen Petit
Helen Petit is a citizen of France. On November 20, 2001, she was detained soon after she began to meditate with a group of other Falun Gong practitioners in Tienanmen Square. While being detained, she was strangled by a police officer. In police custody, Plaintiff Petit was physically assaulted by Chinese police officers. When officers tried to separate her and a friend from other western practitioners who also had been arrested, she and the friend were thrown down a flight of stairs. Later, after her mobile phone rang, six officers threw themselves on her, bruising her legs and arms, attempting to take the phone from her. One of the officers attempted to force his hands into her vagina while she was being held down. Ms. Petit was never advised that she had been charged with any offense, and was not permitted to contact her embassy or consult with legal counsel. After being detained for 24 hours or more, Plaintiff Petit was deported back to France.Martin Larsson
Martin Larsson is a citizen of Sweden. On November 20th, 2001, Plaintiff Larsson was detained in Tienanmen Square after beginning to meditate with other western practitioners. Plaintiff Larsson was taken with other western Falun Gong practitioners to the same police station close to Tienanmen Square. After being repeatedly interrogated and moved between different rooms and cells, the group was taken to a hotel near the Beijing airport which seemed to be operated by the police. There, Plaintiff Larsson was separated from the group and taken to a separate room. After refusing to sign a document written in Chinese, which Larsson did not understand, and resisting having his photo taken, two police officers grabbed each of his arms and bent and locked them behind his back, while a third officer pulled his hair back in an attempt to take pictures of him. They continued to grip him in this way as a forth officer placed him in a chokehold. The officers also hit and pushed Larsson as they tried several times to take his photograph. After a virtually sleepless night due to frequent interruptions by guards, Plaintiff Larsson was deported to Sweden the following day. During his detention, Plaintiff Larsson was never informed of any charges against him, and was not permitted access to legal counsel or to contact his Embassy.Leeshai Lemish
Leeshai Lemish is a citizen of Israel and the United States. Plaintiff Lemish also was arrested as he began to meditate in Tienanmen Square on November 20, 2001, and taken to the police station near Tienanmen Square. After attempting to protect one of the detainees being abused by a police officer, Plaintiff Lemish was taken to a small interrogation room and beaten by an officer. The officer hit Plaintiff Lemish across the face, grabbed his shoulders and kneed him in the crotch. The officer pinched Plaintiff Lemish’s nose between his fingers, and made threatening gestures. He then ordered Plaintiff Lemish to get down on the floor so he could be beaten with greater force. The officer relented when Plaintiff Lemish refused. Plaintiff Lemish was never charged with any offense, and was refused any contact with his Embassies upon his request, or to legal counsel. He was interrogated repeatedly during his detention, and prevented from sleeping. After having been detained for some 27 hours, Plaintiff Lemish was put on a flight to Vancouver.Roland Odar is a citizen and resident of Sweden. On November 20, 2001, soon after he and other Plaintiffs had unfurled a banner stating “Falun Dafa is Good,” they were surrounded by police cars and police officers. The officers dragged him over asphalt and placed him in a mini van. From the mini van, he watched as the officers hit another practitioner in the face as they forced him into the van. Plaintiff Odar then also was hit several times in the face, causing him to fall backwards onto the floor of the minivan. As he lay on the floor of the van, a number of officers kicked and hit him all over his body. Plaintiff Odar was taken to the police station and airport hotel and interrogated. He was never informed of any charges against him, permitted to call his Embassy, or provided access to legal counsel. He was deported the following day to Sweden.
