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.

Iraqi Mathematician Seeks Asylum in Germany

After surviving an assassination attempt in Baghdad, internationally known mathematician Ahmad Zainy al-Yasry is petitioning the Federal Republic of Germany for asylum. CCS supports his application.

Bundesamt fur Migration und Fluchtlinge
Erkrather strasse 349
40231 Dusseldorf,
Federal Republic of Germany

February 14, 2014

Dear Sir or Madam:

We are an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues around the world. We now write to support the emigration application of Dr. Ahmad Zainy al-Yasry and his family.

Dr. al-Yasry is an internationally known mathematician who recently survived an assassination attempt in Baghdad, likely motivated by his activities in organizing exchanges between Iraqi and Western scientists. He consequently applied to emigrate to Germany with his wife Sarah al-Attraqchi and his daughter Zainab Ahmad al-Yasry.

Dr. al-Yasry completed his training in Germany, earning his PhD at the Max-Planck Institute for Mathematics and the University of Bonn in 2008, and a post-doctoral degree at the International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy. Since then, he has visited universities and research institutes in the US, Germany, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Brazil and Iraq. His intention is to continue his teaching and research and to promote collaboration between Iraq and the rest of the scientific world, work he cannot safely do in Iraq. Dr. al-Yasri’s continued efforts would be consonant with the spirit and requirements of article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Germany is a party, to promote international contacts and cooperation in science for the benefit of mankind.

Therefore, we fully support the request of his former advisor Dr. Matilde Marcolli in Bonn and of Dr. David A. Vogan Jr., President of the Mathematical Society of the US, that you grant as soon as possible Dr. al-Yasri’s request for emigration status together with his family.

Sincerely,

Sincerely,

Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich,
Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer

Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

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

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

Myles Axton, Chief Editor, Genetics and Genomics Next

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

David Gross, University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Giorgio Parisi, Roma I University La Sapienza

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, New England Biolabs*

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Former Honorary Board Members

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deseased) Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser (deceased), Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy (deceased), University of Pittsburgh

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

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

Louis Nirenberg (deceased), New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Myriam Sarachick (deceased), City College of New York

Harold Scheraga (deceased), Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Steven Weinberg (deceased), University of Texas, Austin*

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

* Nobel laureate

Committee of Concerned Scientists

c/o Alexandra R. Bender, Executive Director
P.O. Box 273
Mountainhome, PA 18342
abender@concernedscientists.org