A recent editorial in Nature Magazine notes that academics should not have to live in fear in pursuit of their studies, but that more often than has been true in the past, it is becoming more frequent. There are more locations where this has been a problem this year: Chile, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon where demonstrations have taken place. Also, scientists have been arrested and sentenced in ... Continue Reading>>
Update: Chilean Court Upholds as Lawful the Disappearance, Kidnapping and Murder 30 Years Ago of Boris Weisfeiler, Professor of Mathematics at Pennsylvania State University
In January 1985 Boris Weisfeiler, Professor of Mathematics at Penn State, disappeared while hiking in the Andes. In the review of declassified documents, it appeared that he was kidnapped, questioned, tortured by the Chilean military and executed. In 2012 the Judge of the Chilean Court of Appeals indicted 8 Chilean police and military officers for this crime. Indictments assured that those ... Continue Reading>>
Uighur Doctoral Student Disappears; Family Concerned She Is In Re-Education Camp
Guligeina Tashimaimaiti, a Uighur Ph.D. student, writer and scholar returned from a trip to Malaysia on December 26, 2017 and her family has not seen nor heard from her since. CCS has written the Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region requesting her release and her safety. July 7, 2018 Chen Quanguo Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region 479 Zhongshan ... Continue Reading>>
CCS Urges Chile to Reopen the Investigation into Boris Weisfeiler’s Disappearance
In January 1985, during the rule of Augusto Pinochet in Chile, Boris Weisfeiler, a Professor of Mathematics at Pennsylvania State University, disappeared while hiking alone in the Andes. According to the hundreds of United States declassified documents, it appears that Dr. Weisfeiler was kidnapped, questioned and tortured by the Chilean military and eventually executed. Take Action Sign the ... Continue Reading>>
2015 Annual Report
During 2015, the Committee of Concerned Scientists continued to advocate on behalf of scientists, academics, engineers and physicians. We wrote in concern for more than 21 individuals or groups of individuals, located in 11 countries. We generally addressed our letters to the heads of state, as well as to the country’s ambassadors, the United States ambassador for the particular jurisdiction, ... Continue Reading>>
Chile Responds to CCS Letter Regarding Dr. Boris Weisfeiler
The Minister of the Presidency of Chile responded to a CCS letter, on behalf of President Bachelet, stating that there is some movement in the country to address the human rights violations that occurred during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Actions that will are taking place are: The National Congress is processing a Bill of Law to create an Undersecretary of Human ... Continue Reading>>
Weisfeiler Case submitted to Human Rights Commission in Chile
In 2010, Olga Weisfeiler and her son Lev arrived in Chile to resubmit Boris Weisfeiler's case to the recently opened human rights commission, Comisión Asesora par la calificatión de Detenidos Desaparacidos, Ejecutados Politicos y Victimas de Prisión Politica y Tortura, in short La Comisión, for evaluation. The Commission's work was presented to the President of Chile on August 18, 2011. No date is ... Continue Reading>>