Two American academics that were released from prison in Turkey, after being imprisoned for charges they did not commit, are still not allowed to depart Turkey to return home. Serkan Golge, a former NASA scientist, and Ismail Kul, a professor at Widener College in Pennsylvania, have been released from prison but Turkish officials continue to withhold their passports and require them to report to ... Continue Reading>>
Our Work
Professor Charged with Blasphemy Finally Goes To Court Today After Years in Solitary
Junaid Hafeez, a former lecturer and MPhil candidate in the English Literature Department of Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan, Pakistan has been held in pre-trial detention for over six years charged with Blasphemy. His trial has been re-scheduled over and over. His attorney was murdered after being threatened in court by the prosecutor and his trial has been moved from one judge to another ... Continue Reading>>
US/Iran Swap Prisoners – Academic and Scientist Free’d
Thanks to the work of the Swiss Embassy, the American State Department and the Administrations of the United States and Iran, Xiyue Wang, a researcher and history student at Princeton who was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison in Iran for espionage (charges which he has always denied) and Professor Massoud Soleimani, an Iranian scientist convicted of violating U.S. sanctions and ... Continue Reading>>
More Often in the Past Year Academics Live in Fear in Pursuit of Their Studies
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>>
Founder of Turkey and Middle East Forum Foundation Acquitted of Charge of “Propagandizing for A Terrorist Oganization” in Turkish Court
Fikret Baskaya had been detained and charged with “propagandizing for a terrorist organization” due to an article he wrote three years ago. In his third hearing before the Ankara 21st Heavy Penal Court on November 22nd he was acquitted and released. Prior to the trial CCS wrote to the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan requesting a review of Dr. Baskaya’s case and his immediate release. ... Continue Reading>>
The Situation for the Uyghur Population in Xinjiang Deteriorates and Becomes More Dangerous Daily
China is in the process of spying on and detaining its Uyghur population in an attempt to wipe out all groups that are not traditional Hans Chinese. This creates a situation that is very dangerous for the Uyghur population, many of whom get snatched off the street for no reason and detained in what the Chinese have named “Re-Education Camps.” In these camps people are forced to eat food that is ... Continue Reading>>
Asiatic Cheetah Researchers Sentenced in Iranian Court for Allegedly “Spying”
Eight researchers, employees of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (“PWHF”), a nonprofit conservation organization, were arrested in January 2018 and charged with spying. In November 2019 they were found guilty and sentenced to jail terms ranging from six to ten years in prison. The conservationists were tracking cheetahs with camera traps, a typical way to capture pictures of wildlife. ... 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>>
Mathematician, Tuna Altinel, Denied Return of Passport, Despite Court Ruling Allowing Him to Leave Country
Tuna Altinel, a mathematics professor at Frances Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University was arrested in May 2019 and released in July while awaiting a second hearing in November. When released he was not denied travel but his passport was not returned. As there is no legal restriction on his travel CCS is requesting that his passport be returned to him. November 19, ... Continue Reading>>
Chemical and Engineering News Print Article by Board Members of CCS on Racial Profiling of Chinese American Scientists/Academics
Eugene Chudnovsky and Alexander Greer, two Board members of the Committee of Concerned Scientists, wrote an Opinion piece for the Chemical and Engineering News addressing problems of racial profiling of Chinese American academics and scientists. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR C&EN: Free academic exchange We would like to expand on “Amid Tensions with China, US Emphasizes ... Continue Reading>>