Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2005 APS March Meeting
Monday–Friday, March 21–25, 2005; Los Angeles, CA
Session H6: The Physics Community's Defense of Human Rights |
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Sponsoring Units: FPS Chair: Myriam Sarachik, Physics Department, CCNY Room: LACC 502A |
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 8:00AM - 8:36AM |
H6.00001: Einstein, social responsibility of physicists and human rights in China Invited Speaker: Since Einstein first visited Shanghai on 1922, he was deeply and constantly concerned about the cases of injustice, suppression, and human rights abuses in China. The strong sense of social responsibility shown by Einstein is an illustrious role model for Chinese intellectual, especially physicists, who advocate the universal principle of human rights. I will briefly review this history. I will also briefly report what have been done and is doing by Chinese physicists in the long and difficult journey toward democracy and human rights of China. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 8:36AM - 9:12AM |
H6.00002: Physicists and Human Rights: Reflections on the Past and the Present Invited Speaker: The great success of science in promoting the wealth and military power of nations has fueled its growth from a hobby of few to a profession of many. By the early decades of the twentieth century these included, particularly in Germany, a good number of Jews. Thus, the official persecution of Jews there, following the coming to power of Hitler in 1933, directly affected many scientists, including some, like Einstein, who were world famous. I will discuss some of the actions--and inactions--of physicists in response to this and to later events directly involving the human and professional rights of colleagues. These include the McCarthy period in the United States, and the refusenik/dissident period, symbolized by Andrei Sakharov, in the Soviet Union. I will also discuss the question of what, if any, are the special social responsibilities of scientists today. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 9:12AM - 9:48AM |
H6.00003: Physicists for Human Rights in the Former Soviet Union Invited Speaker: In his 1940 paper `Freedom and Science' Albert Einstein emphasized that ``intellectual independence is a primary necessity for the scientific inquirer'' and that ``political liberty is also extraordinarily important for his work.'' Raised in the tradition of intellectual independence and dedicated to the scientific truth, physicists were among the first to stand up for freedom in the USSR. It was no coincidence that the founders of the first independent Human Rights Committee (1970) were physicists: Andrei Sakharov, Valery Chalidze and Andrei Tverdokhlebov. In 1973 a physicist, Alexander Voronel, founded a Moscow Sunday (refusenik) Seminar -- the first openly independent scientific body in the history of the USSR. In 1976 physicists Andrei Sakharov, Yuri Orlov and a mathematician Natan Sharansky were the leading force in founding the famous Moscow Helsinki Human Rights Watch group. This talk briefly describes the special position of physicists (often viewed as Einstein's colleagues) in Soviet society, as well as their unique role in the struggle for human rights. It describes in some detail the Moscow Sunday Seminar, and extensions thereof such as International Conferences, the Computer School and the Computer Database of Refuseniks. The Soviet government considered such truly independent organizations as a challenge to Soviet authority and tried to destroy them. The Seminar's success and its very existence owed much to the support of Western scientific organizations, who persuaded their members to attend the Seminar and visit scientist-refuseniks. The human rights struggle led by physicists contributed substantially to the demise of the Soviet system. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 9:48AM - 10:24AM |
H6.00004: Human Rights in Iran after the 1978 Islamic Revolution Invited Speaker: Iranians have been fighting for their rights since early 1900. The history of this struggle will be reviewed with emphasis on what might be termed the modern era, which began with the return of Ayatollah Khomeini to Iran in February 1979. A brief summary of the modern era Iran Constitution also will be presented. Although Iranians had been promised a democracy within the framework of Islam, in reality Khomeini instituted a theocratic regime dominated by himself as ``Supreme Leader'' with almost unlimited powers. Surprisingly, these powers actually were expanded after Khomeini's passing. For years now, many Iranian intellectuals, as well as a good portion of the nation, religious or not, have been challenging the absolute powers of the Supreme Leader through legal means. Big prices have been paid, but the friction between the so called ``reformists'' and the ``fundamentalists'' are on the rise without a bright future. These frictions, stemming in large part from the conflicts between the ``elected'' and ``non-elected'' bodies in the political system, will be discussed. The roles of political activists, reformists, and the ``so-called'' ``religious nationalists'' -- and the prices they are paying -- will also be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 10:24AM - 11:00AM |
H6.00005: The American Physical Society's Involvement in the Defense of Human Rights Invited Speaker: This session has been organized to remedy the possibility that many APS members do not fully appreciate how important and praiseworthy a role scientists in general, and physicists in particular, have played in the defense of human rights worldwide. The preceding talks in this session have described the efforts, often at great personal risk, of physicists and other scientists residing in a few selected oppressive states (namely China, the former Soviet Union, and Iran), to defend their and their fellow citizens' human rights. The preceding talks also have made reference to the frequently crucial support these embattled foreign scientists have received from scientists in the United States; the ready availability of such support is another important aspect of the scientific community's dedication to human rights. In this talk I shall concentrate on the support activities of this sort undertaken by the U.S. physics community through the APS, via the APS Committee on the International Freedom of Scientists (CIFS), of which activities the U.S. physics community can be justly proud. More specifically, I will review the history of CIFS since its formation, including details of its more noteworthy efforts on behalf of human rights. I also will very briefly summarize the important human rights efforts undertaken independently of the APS by several other organizations of American scientists, e.g. (to name just two), the Committee of Concerned Scientists (CCS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science AAAS). [Preview Abstract] |
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