Endaazngered Scholars Worldwide

Endangered Scholars Worldwide Social Research wasfounded by a group ofscholars known as the University in Exile, refugeesfrom Nazi Europe whofound a home at the New School. In each issue we publish 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 only with 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 of a 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 Previously featured scholars from Bahrain who rem ain 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 of the Bahrain Teachers’ Association, sentenced to 3 and 10 years, respectively, on charges of “inciting hatred against the regim e” and “calling to overthrow and change the regime by force” following the group’s call for a teacher strike in March 2011; d r . a b d u l -j a l i l a l -s i n g a c e , a professor of engineering at the University of Bahrain, sentenced to life im prisonm ent on June 22, 2011, on charges of training and financing a terrorist organization, and report­ edly tortured during his pretrial detention; and r u l a a i -s a f f e r , Assistant Professor at the College of Health Sciences and the Head of Information current, to the best of our knowledge, as of June 10, 2012. Additional information and more current information about many of these cases may be avail­ able on our website at . Endangered Scholars W orldw ide v the Bahrain Nursing Society, sentenced on September 29, 2011, to 15 years in prison. Appeals to: 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 Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al-Khalifa Ministry ofJustice and Islamic Affairs P.O. Box 450 Al-Manama Bahrain Fax: +973 175 31 284 CHINAA g u c h u a n , a scholar, editor, and blogger, has been denied permission to leave China in order to take up a visiting scholar position at Columbia University in New York. On April 4, 2012, while attempting to leave China, he and his family were stopped at airport security, detained, and interrogated. Gu’s passport and US visa were confiscated during the detention. He was told that his departure for the United States would “endanger national security.” According to a report from Scholars at Risk, police presence has increased around his home since he and his family returned to their apartment. Chinese authorities have not publically stated reasons for denying Gu’s permission to travel. 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 t e ’u r a n g ), sentenced to 4 years’ imprisonment on June 2, 2011, for his critical political writings; l i u 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”; and g u o q u a n , a former literature professor at Nanjing Normal University, 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 vi social research sentenced to 10 years in prison and 3 years of deprivation of politi­ cal rights in October 2009 on charges of “inciting subversion of state power.” Appeals to: His Excellency Hu Jintao President of the People’s Republic of China Zhong Naihai Beijing 100032 People’s Republic of China Salutation: Your...