Nature: The world's scientific community must defend imprisoned Iranian scientists
In its recent editorial, the scientific journal Nature addressed the issue of Iranian and dual-national scientists and researchers imprisoned in Iranian prisons and the need for the international scientific community to unite against the catastrophic conditions of these prisoners in Iran, as well as to provide information about the situation of these prisoners.
The publication of this editorial in the journal "Nature", as the most prestigious scientific journal in the world, is of great importance because this journal is a constant source of reference for many scientists around the world, and it will play an effective role in bringing the voice of discrimination against prisoners of the scientific community in Iran to their colleagues around the world. This article is a translation of the editorial in the scientific journal "Nature", which was published on Wednesday, 13 April 2020.
The world's scientific community must defend imprisoned Iranian scientists
Iranian scientists and researchers are increasingly at risk. Governments want diplomacy of silence, but a new book shows why public awareness of imprisoned scientists in Iran is important.
Last month, the possibility of release for Morad Tahbaz, one of the founders of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Conservation Foundation in Tehran, after four years in prison in Iran, grew stronger. The environmental organization that Morad Tahbaz co-founded had installed cameras to monitor the endangered Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus). The Iranian judiciary has deemed this an act of espionage, and Morad Tahbaz is serving a 10-year prison sentence along with seven of his colleagues. Kavous Seyed Emami, another founder of the environmental organization and a university professor and sociologist, died in prison just weeks after his arrest.
Morad Tahbaz holds Iranian, British and American citizenship. He was initially released from prison as part of a dual-national prisoner exchange that included two other British-Iranian citizens, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and engineer Anousheh Ashouri. Nazanin Zaghari and Anousheh Ashouri immediately boarded a plane after their release and managed to leave Iran for the UK, but Morad Tahbaz was returned to prison. The incident left Tahbaz’s family in shock and disbelief.
Morad Tahbaz is one of a long list of people who have been convicted of espionage and imprisoned in Iran for their scientific activities. The plight of these individuals is particularly fragile and sensitive, as there is little information about the charges against them or the appalling conditions in which they are being held. Among those arrested are dual nationals such as Ahmadreza Jalali, a Swedish-Iranian citizen who was studying and researching “making hospitals resilient to natural disasters” and now faces the death penalty. Fariba Adelkhah, a French-Iranian anthropologist at Sciences Po in Paris, was also arrested and imprisoned in 2019.
One reason dual citizens are arrested in Iran is that the Islamic Republic of Iran uses them as hostages to gain concessions from Western governments. But the majority of scientists imprisoned in Iran are Iranian nationals, and the details of their cases and narratives are not well known. Among them is Niloufar Bayani, an environmentalist who has previously worked with the United Nations. Other young people have also been arrested, such as Ali Younesi, an elite student at Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology and a medalist in the World Olympiads.
A recent book, “A Sky Without a Cage,” by Australian anthropologist Kylie Moore-Gilbert, reveals the extreme mental and physical punishments endured by these detainees, especially women. Moore-Gilbert, a dual British-Australian citizen, has unique experiences and data to draw from; she traveled to Iran in 2018 to attend a conference and was arrested at the airport as she prepared to return to Australia. She was imprisoned for two years on espionage charges until she was released last year as part of a prisoner exchange.
Moore Gilbert, who spent time with Niloufar Bayani and Fariba Adelkhah in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, describes in vivid detail how the women are interrogated and tortured, sexually assaulted, forced into solitary confinement, and denied basic medical care, all in an attempt to break their spirits and force them to confess to things they did not do.
The important point here is the importance of communicating about these prisoners. Government officials in Australia had advised Moore-Gilbert’s family that his case should not be made public, as it could complicate negotiations for his release. But those who avoid communicating are actually a lower priority for their governments. In her book, Moore-Gilbert recalls a phone call to her father in which she was told the government was advising her to remain silent, and her father replied: “Dad, listen to me – I don’t have much time. I have to go to the media. Tell them what’s happening to me. Tell them I’ve been arrested and I’m being held in solitary confinement and I’m not allowed to visit the embassy.”
If governments stand together, rather than bickering with Iran, this hostage-taking can be countered. Continuous communication is one of the best ways to pressure all parties to take effective action.
The scientific community must do more to raise its voice in support of imprisoned scientists. International scientists must be the voice of their Iranian colleagues who are denied freedom of expression. Statements, letters – and even mentioning researchers imprisoned in Iran at conferences and events – are ways to tell Iranian scientists that the global scientific community stands with them. Knowledge and scientific production in Iran will not flourish until its scientists feel safe.
Source: Iran Human Rights Campaign
