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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

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

1 April 1999

His Excellency Muhammad Hosni Mubarak
President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
'Abedine Palace, Cairo, Egypt


Your Excellency:

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 143,000 individual members and 275 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, we are writing to express our deep concern about the rearrest of Dr. Ibrahim Khalil al-Za'farani, Secretary General of the Alexandria branch of the Medical Syndicate in Cairo and head of its human rights committee. The Committee has received information indicating that Dr. al-Za'farani was arrested on 14 February 1999, along with eight others, on charges of membership in the Muslim Brotherhood organization and "possession of hostile printed material." The Committee has been following the case of Dr. al-Za'Farani and the physicians arrested with him since their initial arrests in January 1995. We have previously written to you four times since March 1995 regarding the case of Dr. al-Za'Farani.

We would like to point out that the arrest of Dr. al-Za'farani and those arrested under similar circumstances constitute serious violations of basic international human right standards, many of which are included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Egypt on 14 January 1982. These include:

· the right to life, liberty and security of person;
· freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile;
· freedom of opinion and expression; and
· freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

The Committee urges your government to adhere to its obligations under the international human rights treaties to which it is a State Party and to insure Dr. al-Za'farani's immediate and unconditional release from custody.


Sincerely,


Irving Lerch, Chair
AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

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