AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

AAAS Action Alerts

The Committee of Concerned Scientists, an independent organization of scientists, physicians and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world, urges action on the behalf of Dr. Abdel-Moniem Ali El-Ganayni.

Background

Dr. Abdel-Moniem Ali El-Ganayni, a nuclear physicist and contractor for the Department of Energy (DOE) lost his job after his security clearance was terminated without a hearing.  Dr. El-Ganayni, a US citizen, had worked for 18 years as a DOE contractor on nuclear naval reactor programs.  As a result of losing his clearance, he also lost his job at Bechtel Bettis Inc.

Dr. El-Ganayni, a devout Muslim, was the imam at Pennsylvania State Correctional Center in Marienville, Forest County, PA, for five months in 2007.  He left as a result of a disagreement with prison authorities, according to the Pittsburg Post Gazette (2/3/2008).  During that time, he distributed to inmates a book by Harun Yahya, an Islamic creationist, which includes a passage, copied nearly verbatim, from a study of ants by Pulitzer Prize winning biologists Edward O. Wilson and Bert Holldobler.  That statement reads as follows:

"The ultimate in public service is to destroy enemies by committing suicide in defense of the colony. Many kinds of ants are prepared to assume this kamikaze role in one way or another, but none more dramatically than a species of Camponotus of the saundersi group living in the rain forests of Malaysia."

Soon after Dr. El-Ganayni left his position at the prison, DOE and FBI agents questioned him about the book and his speeches and religious activities.  He denied any disloyalty to the US or support of terrorist activities.

According to the Pittsburg Post, Dr. Wilson, the world's foremost authority on ants, said he was startled to learn that his words had become an issue for Dr. El-Ganayni. "My reaction is astonishment at the unfairness of it," Dr. Wilson said. Dr. El-Ganayni said he was similarly astonished, "I told them, 'Look at my actions. I have been here since 1980; I never had a problem at work; I never broke a law; I never had any trouble except the dispute at the prison.'"

Dr. El-Ganayni's security clearance was suspended in December 2007 and revoked without a hearing on May 19, 2008. The decision to revoke Dr. El-Ganayni's clearance without holding a hearing was made by acting Deputy Secretary of Energy, Jeffrey F. Kupfer.

In his termination of Dr. El-Ganayni's security clearance, Kupfer stated that the appeals process set forth in DOE regulations "cannot be made available ... without damaging the interests of national security by revealing classified information."  Furthermore, he stated that his decision is "conclusive," meaning the matter is officially closed.

"It's Franz Kafka-land," said Witold Walczak, legal director of the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which, according to the Pittsburg Post (6/1/2008), has taken on Dr. El-Ganayni's case. Walczak plans to pursue the matter through legal and congressional avenues.

The Committee of Concerned Scientists does not question the DOE's national security obligation to secure its nuclear activities or those of its contractors from any threat of terrorism or subversion.  But in view of the serious issues of freedom of speech and of religion involved in this case, we question the decision to revoke a security clearance without the hearing guaranteed by DOE procedures.  We urge the Department of Energy to grant Dr. El-Ganayni a full hearing on his security clearance.

Please support Dr. El-Ganayni's court case by writing to the Secretary of Energy and publicize it in your newspapers and to your elected representatives.

PLEASE WRITE TO:

Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman
US Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue SW
Washington DC 20585

Please let the Committee know that you have taken action, by sending copies of your letters (mail or email) to the following:

Cc: Committee of Concerned Scientists
C/o Sophie Cook
400 East 85th Street, #10K
New York, NY 10028
Email: sophiecook@earthlink.net

(page updated 06/13/2008)