Endangered Scholars Worldwide

Abstract

Endangered Scholars Worldwide Ebby Abramson and Dolunay Bulut The information in this quarterly print report is current as of December 5, 2017. The situation of scholars and students around the world changes on a daily basis. For the most up-to-date information and ways in which you can be involved in calling for the freedom of endangered scholars and students, please visit us online at www.endangeredscholarsworldwide.net or follow us at www.facebook.com/endangeredscholars. In these pages we introduce new cases that have come to our attention over the past three months and provide basic information about continuing cases—a description of charges and potential or actual reported sentences. If you are aware of a scholar or student whose case you believe we should investigate, please contact us at esw@newschool.edu. PETITION TO IRAN TO OVERTURN PROFESSOR AHMADREZA DJALALI'S DEATH SENTENCE We the undersigned are compelled to express our outrage at the arrest, conviction, and sentencing of Iranian professor Ahmadreza Djalali, who has been detained since April 2016 by the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was accused of espionage and, following a closed trial, sentenced to death on October 20, 2017. The 45-year-old professor, who taught at the European Master in Disaster Medicine (EMDM) in Italy—a joint master's program of the Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel—was arrested in April 2016 in Tehran on charges of "collaboration with a hostile government" while he was visiting his family. Djalali was later accused of providing information to Israel to help it assassinate several senior nuclear scientists. Amnesty International reports [End Page v] that Djalali's lawyers were told on Saturday, December 9, 2017, that the Supreme Court had considered his case and upheld his October 24 sentence in a secret process without allowing them to file defense submissions. We at Endangered Scholars Worldwide and the undersigned consider this arbitrary sentence a flagrant and unjust violation of the freedom, security, and safety of an academic who is clearly a victim of a political witch hunt—arrested without cause, held for months in solitary confinement and without access to a lawyer, and subjected to physical mistreatment and psychological abuse. Endangered Scholars Worldwide and the undersigned deplore this unjustified verdict in the strongest terms and ask all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights, to strongly protest and condemn this arbitrary sentence, to call for Professor Djalali's immediate and unconditional release, and to urge the officials of the Iranian government to respect, guarantee, and implement the provisions and principles of human rights as specified in international conventions and treaties. Signed: Talal Asad, Etienne R. Balibar, Jose Casanova, Nancy Fraser, Ira Katznelson, Janos Kis, Arien Mack, Steven Pinker, and more than 100 others from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, and the United States. Please add your signature at: https://tinyurl.com/esw-djalali-petition. NEW AND CONTINUING CASES BAHRAIN Scholars and Researchers: abdul-jalil al-singace, the former head of the department of engineering at the University of Bahrain, has been in Jau [End Page vi] prison since 2011 on a life sentence for allegedly "plotting to overthrow the government" during the Arab Spring protests. Al-Singace, who has long campaigned for political reform and an end to torture, was himself tortured at the time of his detention. Recent reports suggest that he has repeatedly been denied medical treatment as he refused to wear the prison uniform and handcuffs. ESW calls for Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace to be granted access to all necessary medical care as a matter of urgency, and continues to call for his immediate and unconditional release, as well as all those detained in Bahrain in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bahrain is a state party. Students: ali mohamed hakeem al-arab, 23, was arrested on February 9, 2017. On March 7, he was moved to Dry Dock Prison. Ali al-Arab has allegedly been tortured during interrogation, including having his toenails pulled off, given electric shocks, and beaten...