Since Premier Jiang Zemin launched a crackdown on the Falun Gong in July 1999, tens of thousands of Chinese citizens have been detained. Thousands have been tortured, sent to labor "re-education" camps without trial, and illegally incarcerated in mental institutions. Several have been killed while in police custody. In early 2002, CJA joined the effort to help end the state-sponsored repression of Falun Gong practitioners by filing a civil suit against Liu Qi, the Mayor of Beijing and President of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games, for the notoriously brutal crackdown that has occurred in preparation for the Olympics. Mayor Liu was quoted in the international press as stating at a public rally in 1999 that he would "resolutely smash" the Falun Gong.

Jane Doe I, et al. v. Liu Qi
In early February 2002, CJA received information that Liu Qi would be visiting San Francisco, and that he had superior authority over police forces in Beijing responsible for brutal measures against Falun Gong practitioners. CJA quickly consulted with human rights activists working on China and, on February 7, filed a complaint against the Mayor and had him served him with the complaint at San Francisco International airport.

CJA's complaint cites Chinese law giving the Mayor executive and disciplinary authority over local police forces and charges him with responsibility for torture; cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; crimes against humanity; and violation of the right to freedom of religion and belief.

The plaintiffs are two Chinese women who obtained asylum in the U.S., and four others who are citizens of the U.S., Israel, France and Sweden.

Liu Qi has neither responded to the complaint, nor made any appearance in the case, nor has anyone acting on his behalf been in contact with CJA. Accordingly, CJA filed papers to obtain a default judgment. At a hearing on May 1st, 2002, magistrate Ed Chen requested briefing on several issues, including whether the suit was barred by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) or the act of state doctrine.

Judge Chen also invited the U.S. Department of State to comment on these issues and to solicit the views of the Chinese government. Both the Chinese government and State Department submitted statements urging that the case be dismissed. The State Department stated , among other things, that the suit risked interfering with the U.S. Government's relations with China, and raised the possibility of retaliatory suits by other countries against U.S. officials. CJA submitted a response to the State Department's concerns on October 21, 2002.

On October 28, 2004, Judge Chen issued his Report and Recommendation on CJA’s motion for default judgment against Liu Qi. In his report, Judge Chen rejected several of the arguments of the State Department, which had filed a Statement of Interest in the case. Specifically, Judge Chen found that Liu Qi did not have sovereign immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Judge Chen found that, because Liu Qi violated Chinese law, he acted outside the scope of his authority even though his acts were “authorized” by a covert unofficial government policy of torture. Liu Qi is therefore not entitled to sovereign immunity, despite State Department arguments to the contrary. In making his finding, Judge Chen relied on an affidavit by Professor Robert Berring that stated that the Chinese constitution and criminal procedure laws “specifically prohibit arbitrary detention, physical abuse and torture of detainees.”

Although giving some deference to the State Department’s claim that the suit interferes with U.S. foreign relations, Judge Chen rejected the State Department’s suggestion that the case be dismissed under the act of state doctrine. Rather, Judge Chen found that imposing declaratory relief against Liu Qi would alleviate any foreign policy concerns. He therefore recommended that District Judge Claudia Wilken enter a default judgment against Liu Qi on the torture and arbitrary detention claims of Plaintiffs Jane Doe I and Jane Doe II and, due to the sexual assault she suffered, on the cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment claim of Plaintiff Helene Petit.

Judge Wilken adopted Judge Chen’s report and recommendation on December 8, 2004. On the same day, she entered a default judgment against Liu Qi. With the judgment, Judge Wilken declared that Liu Qi had violated the rights of Jane Doe I and Jane Doe II “to be free from torture and arbitrary detention” and the right of Petit to be “free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”