The International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies

The International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies assists colleagues (scientists and scholars) around the world who are subjected to severe repression solely for having nonviolently exercised their rights as promulgated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It also promotes human rights consciousness-raising and institutional commitment to human rights work among counterpart academies and scholarly societies worldwide.

The H.R. Network was created in May 1993 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. It has met biennially–in 1995 in Amsterdam at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, in 1997 in Rome at the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, in 1999 in Stockholm at The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and The Royal Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, in 2001 in Paris at the French Academy of Sciences (click here for the Proceedings of the 2001 meeting), in 2003 at the Centro Stefano Franscini at the Monte Verità in Ascona, Switzerland, hosted by the Council of the Swiss Scientific Academies, in May 2005 at the Royal Society in London (click here for the Proceedings of the 2005 meeting), and, most recently, in April 2007 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, hosted by the National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka (click here for information about the Sri Lanka meeting). The 2009 meeting will be held in Morocco. More than 70 academies and scholarly societies have sent representatives to attend H.R. Network meetings.

National academies and scholarly societies that have human rights committees and actively support the work of the H.R. Network are considered to be members. The H.R. Network has an Executive Committee that administers it. In addition to founding members François Jacob (France), Pieter van Dijk (Netherlands), Max Perutz (UK) [died in February 2002], and Torsten Wiesel (USA) [resigned in 2007], the Executive Committee includes Arjuna Aluwihare (Sri Lanka), Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (France), Abdallah S. Daar (Oman/Canada), Belita Koiller (Brazil), Ida Nicolaisen (Denmark), John Polanyi (Canada), Alenka Šelih (Slovenia), and Edoardo Vesentini (Italy). The Committee on Human Rights of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C. serves as secretariat for the H.R. Network. Carol Corillon directs the committee and is Executive Director of the H.R. Network.

Other academies that want to consider the creation of a human rights committee and full involvement in the H.R. Network are welcome to send a prominent member as an observer to a H.R. Network meeting before making a final decision. Both members and observers are encouraged to refer potentially relevant cases and human rights issues to the H.R. Network's secretariat for investigation and possible action.

Institutions that are members of the H.R. Network have full autonomy and act at their own discretion. They intervene, in the name of their institutions, on cases and issues brought to their attention by the H.R. Network secretariat through regular Action Alerts. These alerts often involve colleagues who are held without trial or who have received harsh sentences. Many are confined under deplorable conditions, often in solitary confinement. Some have been tortured, most have been mistreated, and many are in poor health.

All members of the H.R. Network are expected to actively support its goals and to keep the secretariat informed of their efforts and any subsequent results. The H.R. Network secretariat also prepares petitions for imprisoned colleagues that are submitted to UNESCO's Committee on Conventions and Recommendations by selected academies and individuals. The H.R. Network occasionally sends observers to the trial of a colleague or colleagues.

Members of the H.R. Network believe that academies and scholarly societies worldwide are in a unique position to help promote and protect human rights, to raise the consciousness of academies and scholarly societies about human rights abuses and what they can do to help resolve them, to gain the freedom of their imprisoned colleagues, to assist others whose rights are unjustly and severely restricted, and to support the independence of sister academies throughout the world. Because academies and scholarly societies are held in high esteem and their dignity, integrity, and objectivity are widely recognized, their efforts, through a worldwide network, can be a powerful and effective tool in advancing respect for human rights.

H.R. Network Articles, Activities, Statements, and Reports

Academic Freedom and Academic Boycotts: The H.R. Network’s Position

April 2007 H.R. Network Meeting, National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka

The Crucial Importance of Access to Education and Scholarly Institutions

Proceedings, May 2005 H.R. Network Meeting, Royal Society, London

Proceedings, May 2001 Meeting, French Academy of Sciences

H.R. Network Endorsements: Israeli~Palestinian Science Organization Website

Nature journal article: In Support of Scientific Exchange

Responding to Terrorism while Respecting Human Rights

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