Endangered Scholars Worldwide

Endangered Scholars Worldwide Social Research wasfounded by a group ofscholars known as the University in Exile, refugees from Nazi Europe whofound a home at the New School. In each issue wepublish the names and details ofscholars, researchers, and students who have been threatened or imprisoned, along with ways to offer them support. We see this effort as consistent not onlywith our own history as ajournal but with the need to call attention to the increasing and often brutal attempts to silence our colleagues around the world. Ifyou are aware ofa scholar or student whose case you believe we should investigate, please contact us at socres@newschool.edu. SCHOLARS AND RESEARCHERS: NEW AND CONTINUING CASES BAHRAIN On September 28, 2011, a military court upheld the life sentence of previously featured scholar d r . a b d u l -j a l i l a l - s i n g a c e . Dr. al-Singace, a professor of engineering at the University of Bahrain, was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 22, 2011, on charges of training and financing a terrorist organization. He reported that he was tortured during his pre-trial detention. Previously featured scholars from Bahrain who remain in prison include j a l i l a a l - s a l m a n and m a h d i ‘i s s a m a h d i a b u d h e e b , both board members o f the Bahrain Teachers’ Association, arrested on charges of “inciting hatred against the regim e” and “calling to over­ throw and change the regime by force” following the group’s call for a Information current, to the best of our knowledge, as of December 10, 2011. Additional information and more current information about many of these cases may be available on our website at . social research Vol. 78 : No. 4 : Fall 2011 v teacher strike in March 2011. Appeals to: His His Majesty Sheikh Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa Office of His Majesty the King P.O. Box 555 Rifa’a Palace Kingdom of Bahrain Fax: +973 176 64 587 Dr. Fatima Al-Balushi Minister of Human Rights and Social Development, Acting Minister of Health Ministry of Human Rights and Development Manama Kingdom of Bahrain Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al-Khalifa Ministry ofJustice and Islamic Affairs P.O. Box 450 Al-Manama Bahrain Fax: +973 175 31 284 CHINA Scholars featured in previous issues who remain in prison in China include writer and editor t a s h i r a b t e n (pen name Te’urang), sentenced to four years’ imprisonment on June 2, 2011, for his critical political writings; Liu x i a o b o , a human rights activist and 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, held in an undisclosed location in Beijing since his arrest in December 2008 for “inciting subversion of state power”: g u o q u a n , a former literature professor at Nanjing Normal University, sentenced to 10 years in prison and three years of deprivation of political rights in October 2009 on charges o f “inciting subversion of state power”; and z h e n g y i c h u n , professor of English at Liaoning University, arrested in the winter of 2004 and charged with “suspicion of inciting subversion of state power.” Appeals to: His Excellency HuJintao Salutation: Your Excellency President of the People’s Republic of China Zhong Naihai Beijing 100032 People’s Republic of China vi social research Mr. Wang Shengjun President, Supreme People’s Court No. 27 Dongjiaominxiang Dongcheng District Beijing 100745 People’s Republic of China Fax: +86 10 65292345 (c/o Ministry of Communication) Salutation: Dear President IRAN Seven people connected to the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education have been sentenced with prison time at a trial in October 2011 follow­ ing coordinated attacks on the institute in May 2011. Those sentenced include k a m r a n m o r t e z a i e and v a h i d m a h m o u d i , who each were sentenced to five years, and r a m i n z i b a...