Gao Zhisheng

Gao Zhisheng is a renowned Chinese human rights lawyer and has most famously defended followers of the banned religion Falun Gong. He has repeatedly been placed under surveillance, harassed, and beaten by police in connection to his work. On December 22, 2006, Gao was convicted of "inciting subversion of state power" and was sentenced to three years in prison, with a five-year suspension.

On September 12, 2007, Gao addressed an open letter harshly critical of China's human rights and the Olympics to the United States Congress. Ten days later, he was detained by state police and was not heard from again until he made a phone call to fellow activist Hu Jia in November. According to reports, police took him to a secret location and tortured him for nearly 60 days.

Chen Guangcheng

Fellow lawyer and activist Chen Guangcheng has faced similar repression. Blind since childhood, Chen is a "barefoot" (self-taught) lawyer and rural rights activist. Chen's work in exposing the forced abortions and sterilizations carried out by Linyi officials led to harsh treatment by the government. After being placed under house arrest and then taken into custody, Chen was found guilty of "intentional damage of property" and "organizing people to block traffic" in August 2006 in a trial in which his lawyers were unable to appear. On October 31, the court overturned the verdict, but Chen was once again found guilty in his second trial. Chen is currently serving out his four year and three month sentence, as his final appeal was rejected on January 9, 2007.

Wang Ling

Lawyers have not been the only ones to come under fire in China. In the run-up to the Olympics, many Beijing residents' homes were demolished to make way for Olympics-related construction projects. Five years ago, Wang Ling's property was forcibly torn down without compensation and resulted in the loss of precious family heirlooms.  She subsequently has worked alongside Ye Guozhu, gathering signatures for petitions and preparing banners for demonstrations in defense of property owners' rights. Because of her activism, Wang has been arbitrarily detained, beaten, and threatened with being sent to a mental institution.  On October 18, 2007, Wang Ling was sentenced to a 15-month sentence at the Daxing Re-Education through Labor Camp in Beijing.