ACS Human Rights Case Selection Criteria

At the ACS National Meeting in Denver 2011, the ACS Board of Directors approved the following guidelines when the Society weighs selection and engagement in human rights cases, wherever they occur.

Case selection will be:

  1. Grounded in principles set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), ICSU Statute 5 (Universality of Science) and the Objects of the Society;
  2. Oriented toward professionally engaged chemists, chemical engineers or practitioners in closely related fields in the physical and natural sciences (such as material science, nanotechnology, biochemistry, and molecular biology);
  3. Directed towards human rights and scientific mobility abridgments and issues where ACS is uniquely positioned and qualified to impact the case in a meaningful way;
  4. Considered in the context of whether domestic remedies have been exhausted, unless it appears that such remedies would be ineffective or unreasonably prolonged;
  5. Made based upon clear evidence and a factual description of the alleged rights violations.