Press Releases and Statements

Halt the execution of Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali

Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali is at risk of imminent execution by May 21. SAR issued the below letter to Iranian authorities urging them to immediately halt the execution and secure his release so he may return to his wife and children

Protect and promote international academic travel to the West Bank

Scholars at Risk has issued the below letter expressing concern over an Israeli government directive that will severely restrict international scholars’ and students’ travel to and work in the West Bank. Set to go into effect in May 2022, the

Brazil: Decline in Academic Freedom Requires UN’s Attention

Beginning with the 2018 presidential campaign and election of President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s higher education community has faced dramatically increasing threats to academic freedom and institutional autonomy. The government has increased control over the university space by cutting funds to

Release Belarusian Students

Scholars at Risk sent the below letter to Belarusian authorities urging them to secure the immediate release of 11 students and one professor serving prison sentences of two years to two and a half years in apparent retaliation for their

Intervene to Help Sharif University of Technology Students

Scholars at Risk sent the below letter to Iran’s higher education, research, and science sectors, urging them to do all in their power to help secure the immediate release of Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi. Mr. Younesi and Mr. Moradi

Rights Groups Letter to F1 CEO Ahead of Bahrain Grand Prix

Scholars at Risk, along with 26 international human rights organizations, issued a letter to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix raising human rights concerns in Bahrain. The letter, which sheds light on the case of imprisoned

Open Letter Against National Overseas Scholarship (NOS) Restrictions (2022-2023 Guidelines)

Scholars at Risk joined more than 20 international associations and organizations and 350 scholars in endorsing International Solidarity for Academic Freedom India’s open letter to India’s Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment. The letter outlines numerous objections to recent

Civil society organizations call on Egyptian authorities to drop the case of researcher Ahmed Samir Santawy and release him immediately

Scholars at Risk joins several human rights organizations in calling on Egyptian authorities to immediately release detained Egyptian research student, Ahmed Samir Santawy, and drop all charges against him. You can support Ahmed Sanir Santawy in calling for Egyptian authorities

Russia: UN General Assembly should suspend Russia’s membership of UN Human Rights Council

Scholars at Risk signed an open letter, endorsed by nearly 50 NGOs, calling on Member States of the United Nations to take action to suspend the rights of the Russian Federation as a member of the UN Human Rights Council

Solidarity with the people of Ukraine and Ukrainian higher education

Scholars at Risk stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and with people around the world, including in Russia, in condemning the ongoing acts of aggression against the Ukrainian people and territory by the agents and armed forces of

Restore Leadership, Institutional Autonomy to Nicaraguan Universities

Scholars at Risk issued the below letter (PDF available here) to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and the government-run National Council of Universities in response to recent legislative measures stripping the operating licenses of a number of Nicaragua’s leading academic institutions

Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus to the Human Rights Council

Scholars at Risk (SAR) sent the below document in response to a call for inputs for the annual report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus to the Human Rights Council. As expressed in

Release and drop charges against Marfa Rabkova

Scholars at Risk sent the below letter to authorities in Belarus, urging them to secure Marfa Rabkova’s immediate release and to drop any charges against her. Ms. Rabkova has been imprisoned since September 17, 2020, and faces thirteen charges in

Restore Academic Freedom and Autonomy at Boğaziçi University

Scholars at Risk issued the below letter (PDF available here) to Turkish state and higher education officials in response to the arbitrary dismissal of three democratically appointed deans from Boğaziçi University. In the letter, SAR urges the reversal of the

Free Egyptian Scholars Ahmed Samir Santawy and Patrick George Zaki!

Today marks the first anniversary of Ahmed Samir Santawy’s arrest and the fourth postponement of Patrick George Zaki’s trial by the Emergency State Security Court. Both postgraduate students have been arbitrarily arrested and charged in apparent retaliation for the nonviolent