November 8, 2005

November 7, 2005

President Ilham Aliyev
19 Istiglaliyat Street
Baku, Azerbaijan

Dear President Aliyev:

The Human Rights Committee of the New York Academy of Sciences is deeply concerned by the arrest of Professor Eldar Salayev, President of the Azerbaijani Academy of Sciences, and the Director of the Institute of Photo-Electronics in Baku.

According to our information on October 27, 2005, Professor Salayev was put into the isolation ward of the Ministry of National Security. Our understanding is that Professor Salayev has been detained for expressing his views on the Azerbaijani November 6th elections.

We call on you and your officials to uphold the fundamental human rights for all citizens, even your opponents, and create a political environment where people can exercise freedom of expression and assembly without fear of persecution.

Dr. Salayev is an internationally acclaimed physicist whose disappearance from the public eye will not be tolerated. I respectfully await your response to this matter of great importance to the international scientific community.

The New York Academy of Sciences is an independent, nonprofit, global membership organization committed to advancing science, technology, and society worldwide. Established in 1817, the Academy is the oldest scientific organization in New York, and the third oldest in the nation. It is an international organization with nearly 25,000 members in more than 150 countries.

Sincerely, Eugene Chudnovsky
Chairman, Committee on Human Rights of Scientists