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.

Postdoctoral Fellow at Brown University Still Unable to Travel to West Africa

Dr. Chernoh Alpha M. Bah, the Brown Postdoctoral Fellow in Public Service at Northwestern University, is still unable to return to West Africa to continue his research for fear of reprisal by the Sierra Leone government in the Africanist Press for exposing alleged corruption and financial crimes. The Committee is once again asking Secretary Blinken to intervene.

https://africanistpress.com/academics-condemn-attacks-on-sierra-leones-endangered-historian-and-journalist/

October 9, 2024

Anthony John Blinken
Secretary of State
Department of State
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Secretary Blinken:

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 once again in regard to Dr. Chernoh Alpha M. Bah, a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the Africa Initiative of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, where he specializes in the history of medicine in colonial West Africa. He has also led the Africanist Press for 20 years, publishing frequently on corruption and human rights issues, including in Sierra Leone, for which he has been subjected to death threats and harassment. He is still unable to safely return to West Africa, preventing him from doing archival and oral history research.

With the recent signing of a $480 million United States Millennium Challenge Corporation agreement with Sierra Leone, the US has an additional responsibility and ability to push the government there to improve its human rights record. These improvements must include allowing Dr. Bah and other scholars to return to Sierra Leone and other parts of West Africa without fear of reprisal for reporting on the government’s alleged actions, not to mention visiting family and friends. Without such conditions for archival and field work, it is impossible to continue vital historical research that would shed light on Africa’s past and avoid such mistakes in the future. We urge you to use the power of the State Department to make a difference in this matter.

Thank you for your attention to this serious matter. We will be closely following developments in this case.

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