Staff
Terri Marsh
Executive Director
Dr. Terri Marsh received her Ph.D. in Classics from SUNY at Buffalo in 1979. She taught at the university level for over a decade, focusing on Greek political theory and philosophy, Socrates, and women’s studies. Based on her reading of the Greek historian/political theorist Thucydides and a lifelong concern for human and civil rights issues, Dr. Marsh made a career change—graduating from the New York University School of Law in 1992 and proceeding to work as a consultant for the Clinton/Gore presidential campaign of that year. Subsequently, Dr. Marsh worked for the Center for Law and Social Policy and the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund.
From 1994 to 2004, she directed the D.C. Superior Court Youth Court for juvenile offenders in Washington D.C., practiced as a criminal defense attorney, and acted as legal counsel for members of persecuted groups in China. In 2002, she filed a landmark case against former Chinese Communist Party Chair, Jiang Zemin, and the Gestapo-like Office 610. In 2005, she formally launched the Human Rights Law Foundation (HRLF). In her capacity as Executive Director for HRLF, Dr. Marsh has continued to act as legal counsel for members of persecuted groups in China. She is currently initiating a Justice for Women Program, which will provide legal services to and coordinate litigation on behalf of women subjected to sex crimes and violence in Asia and the United States. She has been published on academic topics ranging from classical literature to gender theory to the rule of law in China, and she is currently working on a book entitled The Politics of Persecution: The Chinese Communist Party’s Crimes against Falun Gong.
Carlos Iglesias
Director (Europe)
Biography forthcoming.
Theresa Chu
Director (Asia)
Theresa Chu is Director of HRLF in Asia. In 1987, she received her LL.B. from Taiwan’s National Cheng-Chi University, and, in 1991, she completed a dual LL.M. degree program there. Ms. Chu is a member of the New York State Bar. She has worked as a Legal Specialist in the Treaties and Legal Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan, and she was invited to join the taskforce for Taiwan’s admission to the International Criminal Court. Since 2002, Ms. Chu has worked extensively on anti-Article 23 legislation to protect the fundamental rights of the Hong Kong people and has also spearheaded the effort in Taiwan to bring Jiang Zemin to justice for committing genocide and crimes against humanity. She has worked with other attorneys on the first genocide lawsuit in Taiwan: the case against Jiang Zemin, Li Lanqing, and Luo Gan, the heads of the 6-10 Office. She has played an active role in several cases filed on behalf of persecuted groups in China. Ms. Chu is currently working with Dr. Marsh on the book, The Politics of Persecution: The Chinese Communist Party’s Crimes against Falun Gong.
Yiyang Xia
Senior Director of Research and Policy (China)
Biography forthcoming.
Arianne Plasencia
Connie Smead Fellow
Arianne Plasencia graduated with high honors from Harvard College in 2006 and the Georgetown University Law Center in 2009, where she was the Managing Editor of the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law. She is first the recipient of the Connie Smead Human Rights Fellowship. As part of her fellowship, Ms. Plasencia has helped HRLF investigate and draft legal documents in conjunction with a corporate human rights case. She has also worked with other human rights attorneys outside HRLF, helping to build a network of resources and opportunities for HRLF. Ms. Plasencia is also working to initiate HRLF’s new Justice for Women Program, which will provide legal services to women and girls who have been subjected to sex crimes, torture, and violence.
Ms. Plasencia is a member of the New York State Bar and is fluent in Spanish and proficient in French.
Philip McCarthy
Attorney
Prior to arriving at HRLF, Philip McCarthy attended Georgetown University Law Center, where he was on Dean’s List, a member of the Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives, and a participant in a clinical program with the Institute for Public Representation. Mr. McCarthy earned his undergraduate degree at The College of William and Mary’s Mason School of Business where he was awarded a fellowship to study at the University of Cambridge.
Mr. McCarthy is highly proficient in Spanish. He has studied and/or lived in the Philippines, Japan, Argentina, England, and the United States.
Mr. McCarthy is pending admission to both the New York and D.C. Bars.
© Human Rights Law Foundation 2010
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