Science and Human Rights Coalition of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) prepares comprehensive list of organizations involved in the defense of scientists' human rights.
Darsi Ferrer, the director of the Juan Bruno Zayas Health and Human Rights Centre, was convicted on 22 June on spurious charges of receiving illegally obtained goods and "violence or intimidation against a state official" and sentenced to one year's imprisonment and three months' "correctional work" outside the prison. As he had already been imprisoned for almost a year he was immediately released.
According to reports from Amnesty International, Emadeddin Baghi, prominent Iranian scholar, journalist and human rights activist, was released on bail of 2,000 million Tomans (US$200,000) on Wednesday 23rd June.
University of Haifa’s Rector Jossi Ben Artzi was recently denied an Egyptian visa. Professor Ben Artzi’s request for a visa
to attend the Euro-Mediterranean University’s convention on June 11 and 12 in Alexandria was denied without any explanation. The Euro-Mediterranean University's Rector, Professor Joseph Mifsud, reportedly sent a letter of protest to Egypt's authorities.
By Jessica Wyndham
Project Director
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Science and Human Rights Program
Congressman James McGovern of Massachusetts recently introduced Resolution 953, which calls for the US to raise the issue of Uighur rights with Chinese officials, for an independent investigation in the July crackdown on Uighur protesters, as well as for the establishment of a US consulate in Urumqi and the opening of a meaningful dialogue with China’s government. We support all of these goals.
Dr. Massoud Alimohammadi was the victim of a targeted murder in Iran on January 12, 2010. The government of Iran alleges that he was assassinated by Israel and the United States due to his participation in Iran’s nuclear program. According to the journal Science, a publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Dr. Alimohammadi’s field of study was quantum physics, a field entirely distinct from nuclear physics. We believe that Professor Mohammadi was killed because he peacefully expressed his political views on Iranian elections.
Nazima Talib, assistant professor of media and journalism in the Department of Mass Communications at the University of Balochistan in Questta, Pakistan, was killed in a drive-by shooting on Tuesday, April 27, 2010, and died before she could receive medical attention. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a nationalist organization seeking secession from Pakistan, has reportedly claimed responsibility for the murder. We urged the authorities to investigate the crime without delay and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Professor Suthachai Yimprasert, assistant professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, who was arrested on May 24, sent to a provincial army camp, and went on a hunger strike, was released on May 31 in Bangkok, according to Thai sources, before we had a chance to write on his behalf.