A Pasadena-based Amnesty International chapter will gather at Caltech on Monday evening to celebrate the birthdays of two human rights lawyers it has championed for years — one who has not been seen since Chinese authorities made him disappear nearly nine years ago, the other a Nobel Peace Prize laureate whose supporters say she may have suffered a heart attack in an Iranian prison last month.
The event, hosted by Amnesty International Group 22 and Caltech Women in Biology and Biological Engineering, will mark the 62nd birthday of Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng on April 20 and the 54th birthday of Iranian human rights lawyer Narges Mohammadi on April 21 with cake, tea and a screening of “Transcending Fear: The Story of Gao Zhisheng,” a 2012 documentary about Gao’s life and persecution. Group 22 has adopted both as prisoners of conscience.
Gao was once among China’s most recognized human rights attorneys. China’s Ministry of Justice named him one of the nation’s top 10 lawyers in 2001 for his pro bono work. He later defended religious minorities and documented human rights abuses — work that led to his arrest in 2006 on charges of “inciting subversion of state power,” imprisonment and repeated forced disappearances. He was last seen in August 2017, according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders. His whereabouts remain unknown.
“Chinese authorities are legally obliged to clarify Gao Zhisheng’s whereabouts, his wellbeing, and his status, and allow him to speak to his wife,” Sophie Richardson, co-executive director of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, said in a statement last August marking the eighth anniversary of Gao’s disappearance.
Gao’s wife, Geng He, fled China with their two children in 2009 and was granted asylum in the United States, according to ChinaAid, a Christian human rights organization. She has continued to advocate for him. On April 4, she spoke at the unveiling of a statue in his honor at Liberty Sculpture Park in California’s Mojave Desert. In September 2025, Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican, introduced the FREEDOM for Gao Zhisheng and All Political Prisoners Act, bipartisan legislation that would require a coordinated U.S. strategy to press for his release.
Mohammadi received the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee described as her fight against the oppression of women in Iran. She has been arrested 13 times and sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes, according to the Nobel Prize committee. An Iranian court sentenced her to an additional seven and a half years on February 8, 2026.
On March 24, fellow inmates found Mohammadi unconscious in her bed at Zanjan Prison with her eyes rolled back, according to the Free Narges Coalition, a group of human rights organizations monitoring her case. The coalition said prison authorities refused to transfer her to a hospital. Her legal team visited her on March 29 and described her health as extremely poor.
“Narges Mohammadi’s life is in imminent danger,” the coalition said in a statement, calling on Iranian authorities to grant her an immediate medical furlough.
Amnesty Group 22, a volunteer chapter that lists a Pasadena P.O. box and has met regularly at Caltech for more than two decades, has organized previous human rights film screenings at the university. Dr. Wen Chen, the event organizer, has coordinated similar screenings for the chapter, including a December 2022 showing of the film “Unsilenced.” The group maintains web pages for both Gao and Mohammadi on its Caltech-hosted website.
The event begins at 7 p.m. Monday in Chen 130 at the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Neuroscience Research Building, 1200 E. California Blvd. It is free and open to the public. An RSVP is requested. For more information, contact Dr. Wen Chen at wenchenspeaker@gmail.com or call 626-395-4652.
On Monday, no one will sing to Gao Zhisheng. No government has confirmed whether he is alive.
BIRTHDAY PARTY & DOCUMENTARY “TRANSCENDING FEAR: THE STORY OF GAO ZHISHENG” Date & Time: Monday, April 20, 2026, 7:00 p.m. |Venue: Caltech’s Chen 130, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125 | Phone Number: 626-395-4552 |Website: https://events.caltech.edu/calendar/birthday-party-documentary-transcending-fear-the-story-of-gao-zhisheng-1
