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>>
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>>
Highlights of 2015 Cases
Throughout 2015, CCS advocated for 15 cases in behalf of scientists, academics and doctors in 10 countries. The following are highlights of our cases so far. The situation in China has become dire for Human Rights attorneys. We advocated for two of them who defended CCS clients in past cases. In Iran, the situation has not improved for Omid Kokabee but we have continued to write in his ... 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>>
CCS Requests Chile President’s Support For Permanent Human Rights Commission
For over 30 years, the Committee has supported the family of Dr. Boris Weisfeiler, Professor of Mathematics at Penn State University, in their search for the truth concerning the disappearance of Weisfeiler while hiking in Chile during the Pinochet regime. Finally, classified documents concerning Weisfeiler in the US Embassy in Chile and in the US State Department were declassified, resulting in ... Continue Reading>>
Chilean Court Charges Ex-Officers in Weisfeiler Arrest
After 27 years of seeking justice in the 1985 disappearance of her brother Boris Weisfeiler in Chile, Olga Weisfeiler announced the indictment of eight officers charged with his arrest and with covering up his disappearance. The case of the Penn State mathematician was reopened in 2000 after the Clinton administration declassified about 450 secret documents relating to Weisfeiler. The American ... 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>>