May 19, 2013

New Appeal in Bahrain for Dr. Al-Singace A Chance for Justice, CCS Claims in Letter

Abduljalil al-Singace taking part in March of royal court in Riffa

An appeal hearing on January 7, 2013 in the case of engineer and human rights activist Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace would give Bahraini authorities a chance to reverse a life sentence that is based solely on his expression of opinion, according to CCS and other human rights groups that have been advocating for Al-Singace since his arrest in 2011.  … continue reading >>

Arrest of Environmentalist on Murder Charges May be Attempt of Further Intimidation, CCS Says

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The Committee of Concerned Scientists wrote on behalf of Russian zoologist and environmental activist Suren Gazaryan and geologist Evgeny Vitishenko in May 2012 to protest criminal charges designed to retaliate for environmental inspections. Those charges resulted in a three-year suspended sentence for Dr. Gazaryan. In August 2012, Dr. Gazaryan was charged with attempted murder of a security  … continue reading >>

Highlights of 2012 Cases

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This year, we have helped academics, human rights activists, scientists and physicians in eight countries. Here is a summary of our work. Our more detailed Annual Report will be released in February.  … continue reading >>

Harsh Sentence for Iranian Journalist Should Be Overturned

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CCS joined other human rights organizations in writing to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran urging him to overturn the harsh and degrading sentence given to  Bahman Ahamdi Amouee, a respected Iranian journalist and economist. Mr. Amouee was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison and 34 lashes for "anti-state activities."  He has been in prison  … continue reading >>

Jack Minker Gave Talk on His Memoir

Dr. Jack Minker and Sophie Cook with the cover of Scientific Freedom & Human Rights

Dr. Jack Minker, CCS Vice-Chair for Computer Science and University of Maryland Professor Emeritus, gave a talk about his recently published memoir, Scientific Freedom & Human Rights: Scientists of Conscience During the Cold War, at the University of Maryland on October 3. Minker's book documents his work in human rights with CCS and other human rights organizations from 1972 to the  … continue reading >>

South African Surgeon Arrested in Dubai For Death Twelve Years Ago of Patient

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Dr. Cyril Karabus, an eminent South African pediatric surgeon and professor of medicine, was arrested while en route home for charges stemming from the death of patient twelve years ago. He had operated on a child suffering from cancer  in the United Arab Emirates, who later died of leukemia. Although earlier charges on the same grounds (of which Dr. Karabus was never notified) had been  … continue reading >>

CCS Urges Turkish Professor’s Release from Prison for Health Reasons

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On September 2, 2012, Professor Halil Kemal Gürüz's family reported that he had suffered chest pains in his prison cell. He was transferred to intensive care in a hospital and an angiography was performed for blockage of one of his arteries. He is now back in prison. We are deeply concerned that continued imprisonment presents serious threats to a man of his age and condition. We urge  … continue reading >>

Iranian Women Banned from Many Areas of University Study

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According to an August 21 press statement by Victoria Nuland of the US Department of State, 36 universities in Iran have banned women from studying in 77 critical fields, including nuclear physics, computer science, engineering and education. The Committee of Concerned Scientists urges the Iranian government to lift these restrictions.  … continue reading >>

Sign Petition on Behalf of Kemal Gürüz

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In July, we protested the arrest of one of Turkey’s most prominent academic reformers, Kemal Gürüz, who was arrested and jailed for the second time based on charges of participation in a 1997 plot. He is a retired chemical engineer and former president of both the Turkish of Higher Education Council (YÖK) and the Turkish science-funding agency TÜBITAK. The move was condemned by human-rights  … continue reading >>

Make Bahrain Live Up to Commitments, CCS Asks President Obama in Open Letter

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In spite of past promises to provide due process to Bahraini health care professionals who were arrested, tortured and sometimes disappeared, the Government of Bahrain has continued to prosecute many of the doctors and nurses who assisted protesters in 2011. Together with other human rights organizations, CCS has been advocating on behalf of these professionals and the principle of medical  … continue reading >>