Committee of Concerned Scientists
We are scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of colleagues around the world.
Blind Chinese lawyer Chen Guangcheng, who is studying at NYU law school under asylum in the US, gave a talk on February 6, 2013, at the New School in New York City on “The Future of the Rule of Law and Human Rights in China.” CCS had advocated on behalf of granting asylum to Chen in 2012, when he fled from house arrest and mistreatment by Chinese authorities to the US Embassy in Beijing. … continue reading >>
In 2010, Olga Weisfeiler and her son Lev arrived in Chile to resubmit Boris Weisfeiler's case to the recently opened human rights commission, Comisión Asesora par la calificatión de Detenidos Desaparacidos, Ejecutados Politicos y Victimas de Prisión Politica y Tortura, in short La Comisión, for evaluation. The Commission's work was presented to the President of Chile on August 18, 2011. No … continue reading >>
Letter on behalf of Liu Xiaobo by Vaclav Havel, Pavel Landovsky, and Vaclav Maly Originally published in the Washington Post To His Excellency Hu Jintao President of the People's Republic of China Prague, Jan. 6, 2010 … continue reading >>
In August 2009, CCS assisted the human rights organization Scholars at Risk in obtaining a fellowship for 2009 at New York University Law School for Dr. Nozima Kamalova, a lawyer and human rights activist, who would be in grave danger if she returned to her native Uzbekistan. The fellowship will enable Dr. Kamalova to remanin in the United States and to continue her research on human rights. … continue reading >>
Dr. Matrouk al-Faleh, a 55-year-old Saudi political scientist and human rights advocate, was released from prison on January 10, 2009, after being held for more than seven months without charges. … continue reading >>
On May 25, 2009, India's Supreme Court granted Dr. Binayak Sen unconditional release on bail. Dr. Sen, a medical doctor, and his wife, Ilina, are at Christian Medical College in Vellore receiving medical care. Although Dr. Sen is out of prison on bail, his trial continues. After 16 months, he has not yet been allowed to present his defense and a third charge was recently filed against … continue reading >>
Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim's sentence to two years hard labor for "defaming Egypt"--based on his criticism of President Mubarak's poor human rights record--was overturned in May 2009, just before President Obama's state visit to Cairo. For the second time, CCS and others advocated on behalf of the eminent sociologist, who founded the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies in Cairo. … continue reading >>
CCS met the announcement of the trial of the physics graduate student Liu Gang on charges of "conspiracy to overthrow the Government" with cables to Premier Li Peng and leaders of Chinese science. Our message of distress at Liu's being tried for his nonviolent participation in the democracy movement fell on deaf ears as the trial proceeded and culminated in a six- year sentence. This sad … continue reading >>
When the Chinese astrophysicist Fang Li Zhi fell from grace in 1988 for allegedly fomenting student unrest, CCS sprang into action. We sent letters protesting restrictions placed on his travel for participation in scientific exchanges abroad and on contacts with his students at home. A member of our National Board visited him in Beijing to ascertain strategies he wanted pursued. At several … continue reading >>
Mathematician Irina Brailovsky's story typifies those of hundreds of Jewish scientists, engineers and physicians who applied to emigrate from the USSR in the 1970s and 1980s. In retaliation, they were dismissed (or demoted) from professional employment and were shut out from mainstream Soviet science. She, her husband Victor, a computer science expert, and family were first refused exit in … continue reading >>
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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 … continue reading >>
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