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.
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Annual Reports
    • Contact Information
    • History
    • Leadership
  • CCS Active Case Updates
  • Human Rights Resources
    • Human Rights Orgs
    • General HR Res
    • US Govt Agencies
  • Donations

Egyptian’s Criticism of NGOs Guilty Verdict
Leads to Charging Him of Insulting Judiciary

March 27, 2014

English: A cropped image showing Amr Hamzawy p...

Amr Hamzawy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dr. Amr Hamzawy, a professor of political science at Cairo University and of public policy at the American University in Cairo, faces criminal charges in Egypt for expressing his opinions on Twitter. He wrote that he found shocking and obviously political a verdict against 43 employees of Western-based civil society groups. The employees were found guilty of “receiving illegal funds” and “undermining national security.”  His trial for his offense, which might entail three years in jail, is upcoming.

CCS asks for dismissal of charges against Dr. Hamzawy’s based on his right to express his opinion.

Dr. Hazem Beblawi
Office of the Prime Minister
Maglis al-Sha’ab Street
Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt

March 21, 2014

Your Excellency:

We write to you in support of Amr Hamzawy, who was charged with insulting the Judiciary on January 19, 2014.

Prof. Hamzawy is a professor of political science at Cairo University and of public policy at the American University in Cairo. We understand from Scholars at Risk that on January 19, 2014, he was charged with the crime of insulting the judiciary, a charge which carries the potential sentence of three years in jail. The alleged basis of the charge is a public comment by Prof. Hamzawy over six months earlier. In June 2013, 43 employees of Western-backed civil society groups, including the National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute, and Freedom House, were found guilty of receiving illegal foreign funds in order to “undermine Egypt’s national security and lay out a sectarian, political map that serves United States and Israeli interests.” In a Twitter message, Prof. Hamzawy described his opinion of the verdict as “shocking, transparency lacking, facts undocumented & politicization evident.”

The facts as described suggest that Prof. Hamzawy’s comments were protected expression related to his professional competence as a political scientist. Prosecution for such comments therefore suggests retaliation against a scholar for nonviolent exercise of academic freedom and free expression, both recognized under international standards including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Egypt is a signatory.

Therefore, we urge you to investigate the circumstances of this case and to dismiss all charges against Professor Hamzawy based on his expression of opinion, as a firm and clear demonstration of Egypt’s commitment to academic freedom, free inquiry and to quality higher education, as essential elements of free, stable and prosperous societies.

Sincerely,

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

Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

Copies to:

Dr. Mohamed Fayek, President
National Council on Human Rights
Mr. Adel Abd al-Hameed, Minister of Justice

Related articles
  • Free Speech In Egypt, Where A Tweet Can Mean Indictment (npr.org)
  • INTERVIEW-Egyptian liberal finds enemies on all sides (trust.org)
  • Egyptian Liberal Finds Enemies on All Sides (nytimes.com)

Filed Under: Egypt Tagged With: Academics, Amr Hamzawy, Human Rights Activists

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 – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

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

Search Site

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Search in posts
Search in pages
Filter by Categories
Additional Information
Angola
Annual Reports
Australia
Bahrain
Belarus
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Cameroon
CCS Board
CCS Cases
Chile
China
Colombia
Cuba
Egypt
Ethiopia
France
Germany
Good News
Greece
Highlights
History
Human Rights Resources
India
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Italy
Malaysia
Morocco
North America Issues
Pakistan
Pakistan
Palestinian Territories
Peru
Petitions
Poland
Press
Previous Highlights
Prominent Cases
Related Articles
Reports
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Spain
Sudan
Swaziland
Syria
Thailand
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United Nations
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam

View Results in New Window...

Browse by Country

Archives

Join Us

Become a member of our humanitarian enterprise.

Sign up

Support CCS

Remember to register with AmazonSmiles as a donor to the Committee of Concerned Scientists. Then anytime you shop there CCS will receive a donation from Amazon. Since people spend a lot during this time of year it can benefit CCS greatly if you remember to do this. There is no additional cost to you.

FURTHER DIRECTIONS

Translate This Page

Click on the flags or use the menu below for a translation of this page.

[google-translator]

Press Enter to Search

Like us on Facebook

Committee of Concerned Scientists

c/o Alexandra R. Bender, Executive Director
P.O. Box 4525
Easton, PA 18043
Phone: (570) 994-2093
abender@concernedscientists.org

Copyright © 2023 • Concerned Sci Child Theme on Genesis Framework • WordPress • Log in