Committee on Human Rights Year in Review 2019 (2020) / Chapter Skim
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Committee on Human Rights: Year in Review 2019
Committee on Human Rights: Year in Review 2019
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During the past year, the CHR, together w i t h C H R Correspondents and national academies participating in the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Human Rights Network, took over 1,500 actions in support of c o l l e a g u e s under threat, to include appeals, private petitions, meetings, and s u b m i s s i o n s to human rights complaint mechanisms. A Turkish physicist, released f r o m p r i s o n following international pressure, described the impact of such p r e s s u r e : " I would have been forgotten without all of you…I mean I really would b e f o r g o t t e n." T h e C H R i s also increasingly involved in exploring, and raising public awareness a b o u t , p r e ssing global challenges involving human rights and science, e n g i n e e r i n g , and health.
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The Court's decision paved the way for the acquittal of hundreds of scholars, including colleagues whom the CHR has supported, although many remain unable to return to their academic positions. Other positive developments, discussed in more detail in the pages that follow, include the release from detention of: -the Vice President of the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences, Muntaser Ibrahim, who came under threat as part of a crackdown on human rights under the former President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir -Iranian computer engineer Azita Rafizadeh, who was imprisoned for four years as a result of her involvement, as a professor and administrator, with the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education, a network of academics organized for the purpose of providing a university-level education to Baha'i students -Cuban physician Eduardo Cardet Concepción, who served more than two years in prison for promoting democracy The Committee's advocacy in support of these and other individuals, conducted behind the scenes, consisted of letters of appeal, private petitions, meetings with government officials, and formal submissions to human rights complaint bodies.
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T h e C H R s e r ves as the Secretariat of the International Human Rights Network of A c a d e m i e s a nd Scholarly Societies (IHRN) , a consortium of honorary societies in t h e s c i e n c e s , engineering, and medicine that work to defend the fundamental r i g h t s o f c o l l eagues worldwide and to support scholarly institutions under threat.
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// 2019 ADVOCACY AND ASSISTANCE C A S E STATISTICS In 2019 the CHR worked on 100 cases i n v o l v i n g c o l l e a g u e s i n t h e M i d d l e E a s t a n d North Africa, Europe and Eurasia, the As i a - P a c i f i c r e g i o n , t h e A m e r i c a s , a n d s u b - S aharan Africa. Of these colleagues, 49% we r e s c i e n t i s t s , 1 4 % w e r e e n g i n e e r s , a n d 3 7 % were health professionals.
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on the right to health; the SR on the inde p e n d e n c e of judges and lawyers; the SR on peaceful assembly and association; the SR on hum a n r i g h t s defenders; the SR on torture; the SR on extrajudicial executions; the SR on pro m o t i n g h u man rights while countering terrorism; the SR on freedom of religion; the SR on edu c a t i o n ; a n d the SR on minority issues. Last y e a r , t h e CHR entered into a formal arrangement with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a global law f i r m , i n w hich law associates ass ist the Committee in preparing case submissions to inte r n a t i o n a l h uman rights complaint bodies.
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The scholars who signed the petition are often referred to a s t h e " A c a d emics for Peace"; many were su mmarily forced out of their university positions, pre v e n t e d f r o m traveling outside the country, and criminally prosecuted. In a landmark dec i s i o n i s s u e d in July 2019, Turkey's Constitutional Court ruled that the conviction of 10 Aca d e m i c s f o r Peace, for having signed the peace petition, violated their right to freedom of exp r e s s i o n .
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YEAR IN REVIEW // Profe s s o r F ü s u n Üstel -- a Turkish po litical scientist and Acad e m i c f o r P eace convicted and imprisoned as a result of havin g s i g n e d t he petition calling for peace in southeastern Turk e y , w a s o n e of 10 Academics for Peace who brought a case t o t h e T u r k ish Constitutional Court. On July 22, 2019, just a few d a y s b e f ore the Court issued a decision finding the scho l a r s ' c o n v i c tion in violation of their right t o freedom of expr e s s i o n , s h e was released from prison, having served 2 ½ mon t h s o f a 15-month sentence.
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Rafizadeh and her hu sband were charged, separately, with "membership in the illegal and misguided Baha'i group with the aim of acting against national security through illegal activities at the BIHE educational institute." Following proceedings that failed to meet international fair trial standards, Ms. Rafizadeh was conv icted and sentenced to four years in prison.
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The C o m m i t t e e a l s o c o n d e m n e d r a i d s o n i n s t i t u t i ons of research and higher education in Sud a n a n d t h e a r r e s t o f s c h o l a r s s e e n a s s u p porting poli tical change, including Dr. Mun t a s e r I b r a h i m , V i c e P r e s i d e n t o f t h e S u danese National Acad emy of Sciences and a p r o f e s s o r i n t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f K h a r toum's Department of Microbiology and In s t i tu t e o f E n d e m i c D i s e a s e s .
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// 2019 The detention of scientists and scholars for the peaceful expression of their views is contrary to the most fundamental principles of international human rights, and devastating for scientific research and progress. 10 Photo: Hassan Baba, Sudanese National Academy of Sciences
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The progr a m p r o v i d e s fellows with CMU Affiliate status for an anticipated term of two years, which inclu d e s t h e s a me online library access as faculty located at the university. Fellows are also conn e c t e d w i t h CMU scholars in their fields.
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// 2019 AWARENESS RAISING ACTIVITIES To celebrate the 70th anniversary of t h e U n i v e r s a l D e c l a r a t i o n o f H u m a n R i g h t s (UDHR) , the CHR shared stories of scientists, e n g i n e e r s , a n d h e a l t h p r o f e s s i o n a l s w h o h a ve used their expertise to promote and prote c t h u m a n r i g h t s .
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Read a Q&A with Mercedes Doretti about he r w o r k o n t h e C H R w e b s i t e . The need to locate the remains of and find out what has happened to a loved one in itself demonstrates an inherent denial of human rights.
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- a h u m a n r i g h t s r e s e a r c h , r e p orting, and advocac y organization - and U H R P ' s C h i n e s e O u t r e a c h C o o r d i n a t o r , Z ubayra Shamseden, presented credible repo r t s o f m a s s d e t e n t i o n s , m e n t a l a n d p h y s i c a l abuse, and other serious human rights abus e s i n t h e r e g i o n . In ternational human rights experts, g o v e r n m e n t o f f i c i a l s i n m a n y c o u n t r i e s , r e s pected non-governmental organizations, a n d i n d e p e n d e n t j o u r n a l i s t s h a v e h i g h l ighted increasingly repressive governmenta l m e a s u r e s a g a i n s t U y g h u r s a n d o t h e r M u s l ims in Xi njiang.
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THE RELEVANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN A DIGITAL WORLD In his hi keynote address, David Kaye (United Nations Special Rapporteur Rapp on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom Freed of Opinion and Expression) stressed that international human rights law provides a basis for restraining the worst huma intrusions intrus and violations of the digital world and promoting its best. best.
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// 2019 Contemporary and Emerging Challenges: Digital Technologies and Human Rights Shanthi Kalathil, Alexa Koenig, and Ron Deibert Human Rights and Digital Technologies Rights, Discrimination, and Artificial Intelligence Kristian Lum, Rashida Richardson, Eileen Donahoe, and Mark Latonero 16 Photos: Cable Risdon/Risdon Photography
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The IHRN was founded in 19 9 3 t o a l e r t n a t i o n a l a c a d e m i e s t o h u m a n rights abuses involving fellow scientists and s c h o l a r s a n d t o e q u i p a c a d e m i e s w i t h t h e t ools to provide support in such cases. Toda y t h e I H R N a d v o c a t e s i n s u p p o r t o f p r o f e ssional col leagues suffering human rights a b u s e s , p r o m o t e s t h e f r e e e x c h a n g e o f i d e as and opinions among scientists and schola r s , a n d s u p p o r t s t h e i n d e p e n d e n c e a n d a u t onomy of national academies and scholarly s o c i e t i e s w o r l d w i d e .
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Also in September, the French Academy of Sciences hosted and co-organized, together with the Human Rights Committee of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, a symposium on the right to education, which is enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The symposium was the 8th in a series of symposia on "Human Rights and Science", which the Leopoldina's Human Rights Committee has held since 2010 with representatives of European academies and the wider European scientific community.
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* as of December 2019 The support of my professional colleagues, and of the academic community across the world, has been invaluable in securing my freedom… FORMERLY IMPRISONED MEDICAL DOCTOR 19
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The Committee advocates in support of scientists, engineers, and health professionals subjected to serious human rights abuses worldwide, including in the United States, with a focus on individuals targeted for their professional activities and/or for having exercised the universally protected right to freedom of expression, which provides a crucial foundation for scientific research and progress. CHR cases involve long-term arbitrary detention, gross violations of the right to fair trial, withdrawal of citizenship without due process, torture, and disappearance, among other serious violations of international human rights law.
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S U PPORT U S You c a n m a k e a secure online gift on the CHR website, or by contacting the CHR via pho ne or emai l . www.nationalaca d e m i e s .
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