According to a recent article in the publication Nature, Omid Kokabee, the Iranian graduate student in physics at the University of Texas/Austin who is in jail in Teheran, released two open letters in which he states that Iranian authorities pressured him to participate in military projects possibly of involving nuclear weapons, and that his imprisonment and sentence are punishments for his refusal to cooperate.
CCS and many other international science and human rights organizations have protested his ten-year sentence for charges of cooperating with hostile governments that were not supported by a fair trial.
Director General Yukiya Amano
International Atomic Energy Administration
IAEA Office at the United Nations
1 United Nations Plaza, Room DC-1-1155
New York, NY 10017 USAMay 3, 2013
Dear Director General Yukiya Amano:
The Committee of Concerned Scientists (CCS), an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars, devoted since 1972 to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world, is writing to you in concern for Omid Kokabee, an Iranian graduate student in physics, imprisoned in Tehran since January 2011.
A recent article in the journal Nature sheds new light on Kokabee’s imprisonment and suggests that it is related to Iran’s alleged unwillingness to obey its obligations under the International Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), as shown by Iran’s obstacles to international inspections by IAEA In two open letters, Kokabee claims that he was jailed for refusing to engage in Iranian military projects and that the projects could involve nuclear weapons. His refusal before and during his imprisonment appears to be the principal reason for his imprisonment and sentence.
We have been concerned with the lack of due process of Kokabee’s imprisonment and ten-year sentence for espionage (“cooperation with a hostile government”) ever since his arrest in 2011, when he went home to Iran from his graduate studies at the University of Texas/Austin. In view of the fact that his studies involved optics and not nuclear technology, as scientists we questioned any connection by Kokabee with a field that could be of interest to any government, such as nuclear physics. Moreover, associates of Kokabee assured us that he had never been interested in politics and Kokabee himself steadfastly denied all of the charges. Although charges of espionage were neither substantiated nor defended by counsel in a fair trial, an Iranian appeals court has upheld this severe sentence. Kokabee’s treatment and its lack of due process are further confirmation of the grave concerns expressed in the recent report by Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran, on the poor state of human rights in that country.
As you know, Iran is precluded from developing nuclear weapons by the NPT, to which it is a party. It seems to us to be gross misuse of Iran’s attempts to circumvent this treaty that it is inducing a young scientist to participate in possibly illegal activities by jailing him. It is also a violation of human rights to coerce a scientist to participate in military projects that he does not want to support and to punish him with unsupported espionage charges in retaliation.
We urge you to support our attempts and those of many other international science and human rights organizations to call for the immediate release of Omid Kokabee, allowing him to return to his studies and to benefit the welfare of his country’s peaceful scientific development.
Sincerely,
Eugene Chudnovsky
Alexander Greer
Joel Lebowitz
Walter Reich
Paul PlotzCo-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists
Copies to:
Dr. Ahmed Shaheed
United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran
OHCHR- Palais Wilson United Nations office at Geneva CH-1211 Geneva 10 SwitzerlandSecretary of State John F. Kerry
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington DC 20520Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
C/o H.E. Mr. Mohammad Khazaee, Ambassador of Iran to the United Nations
Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
662 Third Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Fax to: +1 (212) 867-7086Head of the Ministry of Justice
Ayatollah Sadegh Lariani
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh
(Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave. (south of Serah-e Jomhouri)
Tehran 1316814737
Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: larijani@dadgostary-tehran.ir or info@dadgostary-tehran.ir
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