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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Appeal for Professor Mohammad Hossein Rafiee Fanood

Mohammad Hossein Rafiee Fanood, a retired chemist, imprisoned in Iran

Photo: Fanood~enwiki via Wikimedia Commons

Professor Rafiee’s appeal may be heard next week. His family is hopeful that there will be a positive verdict from the courts. It appears that the support he has received is having a positive response.

Related Letter

Scholars’ Open Letter to the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
More than 350 scholars have signed a letter urging President Ruhani to release Dr. Rafiee.

January 27, 2016

Hasan Fereidun Ruhani
The President
The Islamic Republic of Iran
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Re: Professor Mohammad Hossein Rafiee Fanood, Ph.D.

Your Excellency:

The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world. We are writing to urge you to order the immediate release of Dr. Mohammad Hossein Rafiee-Fanood, who is imprisoned for expressing his political views in a peaceful and legal manner.

Dr. Rafiee, aged 71, is a retired Professor of Polymer Chemistry at the University of Tehran. He has been a vocal supporter of the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5 +1, and through his writings and speeches he has advocated for a negotiated and peaceful solution to the problem that would respect Iran’s national, international and sovereign rights.

Restricting Dr. Rafiee’s rights to freedom of expression through arrest and detention represent violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a signatory.

In furtherance of respect for human rights of scholars and scientists, we urge you to release Dr. Rafiee at this time.

Sincerely,

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

Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

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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