Committee of Concerned Scientists

An international non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

An independent non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.
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Iranian Graduate Student at Texas U/Austin Sentenced to 10-years for Espionage in Iran

Omid Kokabee an Iranian graduate student in physics who has been imprisoned in Tehran for the past 15 months, was sentenced to 10 years in jail for “communicating with a hostile government,” according to a May 15 article in the publication “Nature.” In a group trial of 10 or 15 people, where reportedly no evidence was presented against any of the accused, Kokabee and others were convicted of a general charge of collaborating with Israel’s intelligence agency. While the other accused had “confessed” under pressure to the accusations on Iranian television, Kokabee has steadfastly denied all charges since he was first imprisoned.

Learn More

Iranian physicist sentenced to prison, Nature, May 15, 2012

Our Previous Activities

Omid Kokabee Petition Sent to Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i

Kokabee Imprisonment Creates Grave Concerns for Iranian Students in US, CCS Reports to Secretary Clinton

Petition for the Release of Omid Kokabee

CCS Requests the Release of Iranian Graduate Student

CCS has been advocating on behalf of Kokabee by an open letter to Ayatollah Khamenei and by a petition signed by 251 scholars and students that has been submitted to Iranian authorities. Other science organizations have joined CCS on behalf of Kokabee and his case has been cited as being of concern in the report of Ahmed Shaheed, the special UN rapporteur on human rights in Iran. CCS will continue its efforts to obtain justice for Omid Kokabee.

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser, Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg

David Gross, (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), Kavil Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara*

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Louis Nirenberg, New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Honorary Board Members

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, (1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine), New England Biolabs*

Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York

Harold Scheraga, Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate