AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

AAAS Action Alerts

Mechanical Engineering Professor Abdul Jalil Al-Singace reimprisoned on March 17, 2011
(March 21, 2011)
Action Alert March 2011
Update February 2011
Action Alert October 2010

Scholars at Risk has received reports that Dr. Al-Singace was taken forcibly from his home on March 17th and imprisoned without charge, in apparent contravention of rights protected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bahrain has acceded. SAR is concerned by reports during his previous detention that he was held without regular access to family and medical care—which is of particular concern given that Dr. Al-Singace is partially paralyzed from poliomyelitis.

Call for Urgent Action on behalf of Dr. Kamiar Alaei and Dr. Arash Alaei
(January 6, 2009)
Action Alert

Dr. Kamiar Alaei, a doctoral candidate at the SUNY Albany School of Public Health, and Dr. Arash Alaei, a former Director of the International Education and Research Cooperation of the Iranian National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, have been detained in Iran for over six months.

Call for Urgent Action on behalf of Dr. Kamiar Alaei and Dr. Arash Alaei
(July 29, 2008)
Action Alert

Dr. Kamiar Alaei, a doctoral candidate at the SUNY Albany School of Public Health, and Dr. Arash Alaei, a former Director of the International Education and Research Cooperation of the Iranian National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, were detained June 22-23 in Iran.

Call for Action on Behalf of US Nuclear Physicist Dr. Abdel-Moniem Ali El-Ganayni
(June 12, 2008)
Action Alert

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.

Call for Urgent Action on Behalf of Saudi Political Scientist (May 30, 2008)
Action Alert

Dr. Matrouk al-Faleh, an academic and human rights activist, was taken into custody by the Saudi Interior Ministry on May 19, 2008, on the premises of King Saud University in Riyadh, where he teaches political science. Dr. al-Faleh’s arrest took place two days after he reportedly publicly criticized conditions in a prison where two other Saudi human rights activists (the brothers Isaa and Dr. Abdullah al-Hamid) are serving jail terms.

Death Threats to Guatemalan Forensic Anthropologists (February 7, 2008)
Action Alert

Amnesty International reports once again about death threats against members of a Guatemalan forensic anthropology team: please see below. Forensic anthropology teams can be perceived as "protohistorians": they excavate mass graves to find historical evidence for genocide and other crimes against humanity committed during the civil war (1960-1996). Therefore, they are of great concern to the historical profession. The Guatemalan forensic anthropologists are in grave danger.

12 Academics Jailed and Tortured in Bangladesh (November 5, 2007)
Action Alert

The American Society of Plant Biologists urges immediate action on behalf of plant biologist Dr. Anwar Hossain and 11 of his prominent academic colleagues at the University of Dhaka and Rajshahi University, Bangladesh (see list below). These professors were arrested and jailed in August 2007 and remain in custody to this day. The arrests were made by a Joint Task Force under the direction of the Director General Forces Intelligence (DGFI), the central intelligence agency of the Bangladeshi armed services, in connection with student protests, and the arrested academics have not been charged with any crime.

Death Threats to Guatemalan Forensic Anthropologists (June 1, 2007)
Action Alert

Amnesty International reports once again about death threats against members of a Guatemalan forensic anthropology team. Forensic anthropology teams can be perceived as "protohistorians": they excavate mass graves to find historical evidence for genocide and other crimes against humanity committed during the civil war (1960-1996). Therefore, they are of great concern to the historical profession. The Guatemalan forensic anthropologists are in grave danger.

Dr. Haleh Esfandiari's Detention by Iranian Authorities (May 18, 2007)
Action Alert

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.

Past Action Alerts (1996 - 2006)

(page updated 07/29/2008)