The Academy's Committee on the Human Rights of Scientists was created in 1978 to support and promote the human rights of scientists, health professionals, engineers and educators around the world. The committee focuses on colleagues in the sciences who have been detained, imprisoned, exiled, or deprived of the rights to pursue science, communicate their findings to their peers and the general public, and travel freely.

The committee bases its work on established policies of the International Council for Science and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. While closely coordinating its activities with other major human rights organizations, the committee strives to maintain its independence and identity as a vital program of the Academy. The Academy annually honors scientists for their contributions in this area with the Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights of Scientists Award.

Among the committee's intervention efforts are: letters to those in authority; personal meetings and appeals; on-the-scene and behind-the-scene pressure on U.S. and foreign authorities; public statements and petitions. The committee strives to encourage the wider scientific community to add its voice to activities on behalf of repressed individuals and prisoners of conscience, and to send volunteers to monitor trials and participate in fact-finding missions whenever possible.

Throughout its history, the committee has intervened in numerous cases to ameliorate the restricted conditions of individual scientists and to secure for them the protections of the rule of law. Russian physicist Andrei Sakharov and Chinese dissident Fang Lizhi made their first U.S. appearances at the Academy and credited the committee for coordinating the international pressure that led to their releases. The committee marshaled the scientific community on behalf of Wen Ho Lee, the Chinese-American scientist accused of mishandling classified information, and Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, a Cuban economist jailed for her human rights activities. Other countries where the committee has recently taken action are Belorussia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Kenya, Palestinian Authority, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Vietnam.

The Academy also actively engages in fostering cooperation between scientists in the United States and other nations. For example, the Academy was among the early group of scientific societies that gave support to establishing productive working relations between U.S. and Chinese scientists after former President Richard M. Nixon's historic visit to China. These parallel efforts are integral to the role and mission of the Academy and the committee. The committee's work is financially supported by the Academy's Membership and several foundations.

Contact the Committee for Human Rights for Scientists
For further information on the committee, contact Svetlana Stone-Wachtel, 212.298.8645, or visit www.nyas.org/humanrights.

Human Rights of Scientists Committee

• Eugene Chudnovsky, Chair, Lehman College CUNY

• Joan Birman, Columbia University

• Joseph L. Birman, City College CUNY

• Karen Burke, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

• Harold Edwards, Courant Institute of Math Sciences NYU

• John Gillespie, Lehman College CUNY

• Irene Goldman, Coaliton for Peace Action

• Henry Greenberg, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital

• Pierre Hohenberg, New York University

• Harvey Kaplan, Syracuse University

• Naomi Keller, Rutgers University

• Maud Kozodoy, Committee of Concerned Scientists

• Peter Lax, Courant Institute of Math Sciences NYU

• Joel Lebowitz, Rutgers University

• Sarah Leibowitz, The Rockefeller University

• Gang Liu, Citigroup

• Walter Neumann, Columbia University

• Katherine Preminger Kauff, Lawyer

• Leslie E. Robertson, Leslie E. Roberson Associates

• Nina Rosenwald, American Securities Holding Corp.

• Myriam Sarachik, City College CUNY

• Joseph Saunders, Human Rights Watch

• Jean Taylor, Rutgers University

• Torsten N. Wiesel, The Rockefeller University

• Ellis Rubinstein, President, New York Academy of Sciences, Ex-Officio

• Svetlana Stone-Wachtell, Director, Human Rights Program, New York Academy of Sciences, Ex-Officio