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Letter of Appeal from the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

4 December 2000


His Excellency Mohammed Hosni Mubarak
President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Abdeen Palace
Cairo, EGYPT
Fax: 20 2 390 1998


Dear Mr. President:

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the largest organization of natural and social scientists in the United States, and the world's largest federation of scientific organizations, with 145,000 individual members and 300 affiliated groups. Our AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was formed in 1976 to protect the human rights of scientists and to deal with issues relating to scientific freedom worldwide.

On behalf of the committee, I am writing about the recent decision of the South Cairo District Supreme State Security Court to postpone the trial of Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim and his associates at the Ibn Khaldun Center for Developmental Studies in Cairo until January 2001. While we welcome the decision of the court to grant the defense more time to prepare its case, we have concerns that other factors are being imposed which confront the defense with obstacles. The Ibn Khaldun Center has been closed and lawyers for Dr. Ibrahim and his associates have been unable to obtain access to the documents and files at the Center. We respectfully request that lawyers for Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim and his colleagues be allowed full access to all documents and files in the Center. We also ask that any documents removed during the investigation be returned to the lawyers so that they may prepare their defense.

We also urge the authorities to reconsider the decision to try Dr. Ibrahim and his associates in the State Security Court. We have been informed that due process is limited in this court and that defendants do not have a right to appeal. We ask that the case against Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim and his colleagues be removed from the State Security Court to the Egyptian civil court system.

Sincerely,

Irving Lerch
Chair
AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

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