Dr. Masaud Mirza Jahromi, who was wrongfully stripped of his Bahrainian citizenship on January 31, 2015, has been notified that he would be deported shortly. An Appeal of that decision is to be held on March 6th. Should the decision be upheld, Dr. Jahromi will be deported shortly — without his family. CCS has written requesting the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs to correct this error and order immediate cessation of any deportation procedures. We also requested that his citizenship be restored.
March 2, 2016
H.E. Shaikh Khalid bin Ali bin Abdulla Al Khalifa
Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs
Kingdom of Bahrain
Fax: 011-973-17536343Your Excellency:
We write to express our concern about the upcoming court hearing on the deportation of Dr. Masaud Mirza Jahromi, Chair of the Telecommunication Engineering Department at Ahlia University in Manama.
In 2011, Dr. Jahromi was sentenced to four months of prison and a fine of 500 dinars for participating in “unauthorized rallies” during protests. He served his sentence and was eventually restored to his position at Ahlia University. There are no additional allegations or evidence that he violated any law since that time. Nevertheless, on January 31, 2015, Bahrain revoked his citizenship following unsubstantiated accusation of “advocating regime change through illegal means”.
Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights specifically prohibits arbitrary deprivation of anyone’s nationality. Implementing the Declaration, the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bahrain is a signatory, protects both the right of individuals to due process and their right to free speech. Denial of citizenship without an apparent basis imposes severe damage on an individual, who consequently becomes stateless. Moreover, the inclusion of Jahromi’s name on a list together with obvious terrorists serving with ISIS abroad damages his reputation as an academic.
We respectfully urge you to correct an obvious mistake, order immediate cessation of any deportation procedures and restoration of Dr. Jahromi’s Bahraini citizenship.
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.
Sincerely,
Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich,
Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander GreerCo-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists
Related articles
- Two Men Ordered Deported After Bahraini Citizenship Revoked (bahrainrights.org)
- Bahraini Academic Faces Revocation of Citizenship (insidehighered.org)
- CCS Advocacy for Masaud Jahromi (concernedscientists.org)