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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CCS Requests Release of Iranian Students

January 10, 2018

The Committee of Concerned Scientists, in a letter to the President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, has requested the release of the students in Iran who participated in the recent protest demonstrations. Additionally, CCS has asked that their families be notified of their location and status and that they receive due process.

January 14, 2018

Hassan Rouhani
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
The Presidency
Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Dear President Rouhani:

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 you out of concern for the students who participated peacefully in the recent protests and were detained or arrested.

None of the students, as we understand, initiated or were involved in the planning of the protests, but many did participate peacefully; while others, were merely bystanders.  Additionally, some of the individuals arrested were members of the University Trade Unions’ Council of Iran who had met at Teheran University to discuss with the Chancellor ways to seek the freedom of the detained students.  Four members of that council were arrested as soon as they left the meeting room.

The students were arrested during the first day of the protests, December 28, 2017 and the UTUCI members were arrested on January 1, 2018.  The Islamic Republic of Iran must respect the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and immediately stop rounding up students as a preventative measure.

We welcome any additional information that may clarify our understanding of these events. Absent this, the facts suggest that the students have been arrested for peacefully exercising their right to academic freedom, freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of assembly, as well as the right to have proper legal counsel of their choosing, to have their families notified of their situation and location, and to due process.

We believe it is vital that the international academic communities and academic institutions defend the fundamental freedoms of students, who have been imprisoned in apparent retaliation for exercising those rights. This is critical to preserve the rights and freedoms of future generations of students in Iran and worldwide.

We ask that you review this situation, drop any charges and release these students as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your attention and we look forward to a speedy response.

Sincerely,

Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

 

Cc:

Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani
Head of the Judiciary
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, Deadend of 1 Azizi
Above Pasteur Intersection
Vali Asr Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

 

Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of
Iran to the United Nations
622 Third Avenue
34th Floor
New York, NY 10017

 

Filed Under: CCS Cases, Iran Tagged With: Iranian Students, Protests, Rouhani

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

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FURTHER DIRECTIONS

Committee of Concerned Scientists
Public Affairs and Administrative Office
PO Box 3708
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Carol Valoris, Executive Director
(202) 812-8074
carolvaloris@concernedscientists.org

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