The first group of Turkish Academics who received indictments have been brought before the courts recently. 700 (of 1,128) have been questioned by police, 542 have been indicted and are in some phase of the trial process. 59 have been sentenced to 15 months, 3 have been sentenced to 18 months, one to 27 months and one to 30 months. All had their sentences deferred except for those refusing to ... Continue Reading>>
Our Work
Critic of Aramco Sale Charged With Terrorism
Essam al-Zamil, a well-known Saudi Arabian economist has been jailed for over a year and faces charges of terrorism. His criticism of the Aramco sale seems to be the impetus for his arrest. Many rumors are also being spread about him - being involved with the Muslim Brotherhood, communicating with officials in Qatar, inciting protests in Saudi Arabia. CCS has written the U.S. State Department ... Continue Reading>>
Uyghur Who Is Deputy Head of the Linguistics Department at the Academy of Social Sciences of XinJiang Arrested for Book Translation He Did Five Years Ago
Gheyret Abdurahman, a 52-year old Deputy Head of the Linguistics Department at the Academy of Social Sciences of XinJiang was arrested along with other members of that Academy. His arrest is connected to his translation of Mo Yan’s novel The Red Sorghum Clan. Over a dozen staff of the publishing house which published the book were also detained. However, it appears that the real issue is ... Continue Reading>>
Environmentalists in Iran Arrested for Use of Standard Equipment, Charged as Spies
Taher Ghadirian and Houman Jowkar serve on the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Morad Tahbaz and Niloufar Bayani are widely respected conservation scientists. All of these work with the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation and were arrested in January and could face execution for their work. In addition, five other scientists were previously arrested, and one, Kavous Seyed-Emami, ... Continue Reading>>
Australian Family Planning Scholars Arrested/Questioned in Iran for “Infiltration”
Dr. Meimanat Hosseini-Chavoshi, a population expert at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health in Australia was arrested and Dr. Mohammad Jalal Abbasi- Shavazi, Director, National Population Research Institute Iran, a scholar in the field of family planning and was called in for police questioning for accusations of “infiltration” of Iran for the alleged purpose of obstructing ... Continue Reading>>
On the eve of Nobel Prize Award Ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo 121 Nobel Laureates have appealed to the Supreme Leader of Iran, asking Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to interfere personally in the case of the medical doctor Ahmadreza Djalali. Sir Richard Roberts (picture) wrote the letter petitioning for the release and dismissal of charges against Dr. Djalali and 121 former Nobel winners have signed. Dr. Djalali, dual citizen of Iran and Sweden, was sentenced to death in Iran in 2017 on charges disputed by the international community. (Picture provided by the Genetic Literacy Project.)
9th December, 2018 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Via the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations 622 Third Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10017 Dear Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: In November 2017, and again in February 2018 I wrote on behalf of a consortium of Nobel Laureates about the plight of a ... Continue Reading>>
Family Members of Dual and Foreign Nationals Detained in Iran Assemble At UN and Share Experiences
Family members of dual and foreign nationals who have been detained in Iran have gathered in September 2018 at the UN to share experiences and advocate for the release of their loved ones. The families gathered for the first time to share stories and struggles about getting their loved ones released. They met again a few weeks ago, this time to share their testimonies with the UN Special ... Continue Reading>>
Four Literature Professors From Chinese Uyghur Community Detained
Literature Professors Azat Sultan, Abdukerim Rahman and Gheyretjan Osman, along with Arslan Abdulla, a language professor at Xinjiang University in Urumqi (all members of the ethnic Uyghur community) were reportedly detained and sent to “re-education camps.” Sultan, was previously the former Vice President of Xinjiang University and has been accused of being “two-faced” with “separatist ... Continue Reading>>
Medical Student In Nicaragua Reportedly Beaten While Detained
Amaya Eva Coppens, a medical student at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua in Leon, was arrested following a protest demonstration on September 10th. On October 26, it was reported that she and 18 other women confined at La Speranza prison were attacked and beaten by over 20 unidentified, hooded men. None of the women received medical treatment. Four days following the attack ... Continue Reading>>
Update on Status of Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali
Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, Physician/Professor and lecturer in Emergency Medicine and resident of Sweden had been arrested in Iran in April 2016, charged with espionage, and sentenced to death for “collaboration with a hostile government”. CCS, along with numerous other human rights groups and governments of several countries, have called for dismissal of the charges against him and his immediate ... Continue Reading>>