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COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS
The Committee on Human Rights (CHR), created in 1976, is a standing committee of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. It uses the influence and prestige of the institutions it represents in behalf of scientists, engineers, and health professionals anywhere in the world who are unjustly detained or imprisoned for exercising their basic human rights as promulgated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). More information about the CHR. INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS NETWORK
The CHR also serves as the secretariat of the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies (H.R. Network). It works to address grave issues of science and human rights, particularly the unjust detention or imprisonment of scientists, scholars, engineers, and health professionals throughout the world. It seeks to promote the free exchange of ideas and opinions among scientists and scholars in all countries, and it stands in solidarity with sister national academies and scholarly societies worldwide to support their independence and autonomy. More information about the H.R. Network.
In the spotlightTurkish Engineer Kemal Gürüz Released from Prison Pending Trial Outcome September 5, 2013  | Dr. Kemal Guruz (left) and Dr. Mehmet Haberal (right) with former NAS President Dr. Bruce Alberts in September 2013 just after their release on bail. The three were attending a reception at the residence of U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone, Jr. |
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CHR has just been informed by Guniz Gürüz, the wife of Kemal Gürüz, former head of the Higher Education Board (YÖK) in Turkey, that he has been released from prison pending the outcome of the February 28 Postmodern Coup Trial, which began earlier this week. The only non-member of the military charged in the trial, he had been held in prison since June 2012. In June 2013, Professor Gürüz attempted suicide in his cell. At the end of August, he was sentenced in another trial, called Ergenekon, to 13 years 11 months in prison. However, because he was not served an arrest warrant in that trial, he could have gone home pending the outcome of the appeal. However, he was imprisoned at the time awaiting the decision of the judge in the February 28 Postmodern Coup Trial as to whether he could be released pending the outcome of that trial as well. Professor Gürüz was released along with 8 other suspects; 26 of the 108 suspects remain incarcerated. For more information on Professor Gürüz's case, see the report below. 
Scientists, Engineers, and Medical Doctors in Turkey: A Human Rights Mission
A report to the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies by Carol Corillon, Peter Diamond, and Hans-Peter Zenner
(Updated August 27, 2013) The report follows a mission undertaken by the three authors in February, which included visits to Sincan high security prison outside the capital, Ankara, and to Silivri high security prison, about a two-hour drive from Istanbul. The report describes four enormous and highly-irregular political trials heard by the otherwise defunct “High Criminal Courts.” Verdicts Announced Today in Turkey’s Ergenekon Trial
August 5, 2013 Related articles: Nobel Laureate, lifelong human rights advocate, and founding member of our Network, Francois Jacob, dies at age 92
April 22, 2013  It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death of Francois Jacob (pictured second from left), a founding and dedicated member (from 1993) of our International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies and determined human rights advocate. He represented the French Academy of Sciences. Professor Jacob hosted the Network’s 2001 three-day biennial meeting, at the Institute de France, with his usual dignity and grace. He was a remarkable human being who we were blessed to work with for more than 25 years. • François Jacob, Geneticist Who Pointed to How Traits Are Inherited, Dies at 92, The New York Times, April 25, 2013Read More In the Spotlight
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