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AAAS Action Alerts

FACTS OF THE CASE:

The Committee of Concerned Scientists urges immediate action on behalf of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, the director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. Dr. Esfandiari, a dual Iranian-American national, was detained in Tehran in December 2006 during a visit to her mother, interrogated repeatedly, and finally arrested on May 8th and incarcerated in Evin Prison.

Dr. Esfandiari went to Tehran in late December to visit her 93-year old mother. On December 30th, on her way to the airport to catch a flight back to Washington, her taxi was stopped by three masked gunmen who took away her baggage, including her Iranian and American passports. When she went to the passport office to apply for new Iranian documents, Dr. Esfandiari was taken to Ministry of Intelligence for a series of interrogations that stretched out over the next six weeks. Dr. Esfandiari was questioned about the activities of the Wilson Center and repeatedly pressured to make a false confession or to falsely implicate the Wilson Center in activities in which it had no part.

On February 20th, Lee Hamilton, the President and Director of the Wilson Center, wrote to the Iranian President about the dire situation in which Dr. Esfandiari had been placed. He pointed out that there is no “agenda” behind Wilson Center programs on the Middle East, including Iran, and asked President Ahmadinejad to send Dr. Esfandiari back to the US. No reply was ever received.Dr. Esfandiari has not been charged with any crime. Her arrest has been condemned by the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the International Herald Tribune, and her case is being followed by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Her colleagues around the world have written to Iran's leaders to express their concern for her safety. The attempts to coerce Dr. Esfandiari to make a false statement are violations of Iran's constitution, which guarantees freedom of belief (Article 23). Moreover, they are violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees freedom of thought (Article 18) and expression (Article 19), and to which Iran is a signatory.Please join scientists and other scholars and academics in calling on the Iranian government to free Dr. Esfandiari at once. Read more about this case at: http://www.freehaleh.org/

Take immediate action:

1. Sign the petition at http://www.freehaleh.org/

2. Send letters to:

Please send copies of your appeals, and any responses you may receive, or direct any questions you may have to Josh Robbins, AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20005; tel. 202-326-6797; shrp@aaas.org; or fax 202-289-4950.

The keys to effective appeals are to be courteous and respectful, accurate and precise, impartial in approach, and as specific as possible regarding the alleged violation and the international human rights standards and instruments that apply to the situation. Reference to your scientific organization and professional affiliation is always helpful.

To ensure that appeals are current and credible, please do not continue to write appeals on this case after 90 days from the date of the posting unless an update has been issued.