By Craig McKune
Civil society groups and NGOs have launched a petition calling for the immediate reversal of the internationally-acclaimed water researcher Anthony Turton's suspension from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The petition hails Turton as a "present-day giant" in science and says a constitutional right to freedom of expression has been "scandalously abused".
It has been initiated by Mariette Liefferink, chief executive of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, who expects it will be signed by most NGOs, civil society groups, conservancies and some unions.
It has been drawn up on behalf of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, the SA National Workers' Union, the Coalition Against Nuclear Energy, the Pelindaba Working Group, Potch Petitioners, Public Environmental Arbiters, and Escarpment Environment Protection Group.
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Turton was suspended on Friday for talking to the media after the CSIR withdrew his keynote presentation, Science real and relevant, from its conference in Pretoria a week ago.
The CSIR says it took this step because "certain statements … could not be sufficiently substantiated".
It has come under fire from the Freedom of Expression Institute, Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa, Democratic Alliance and SA National Editors' Forum.
Turton is a participant in the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
A fellow Pugwash member, Hans Günter Brauch, chair of Peace Research and European Security Studies, said he hoped scientific freedom and the freedom of speech prevailed and the suspension was reversed.
He said he was speaking in his personal capacity.
"While no one can predict that specific environmental degradation will lead to violence, there is sufficient evidence … that such causes have triggered violence … in several countries."
The petition notes that the National Environmental Management Act protects "science-based agency whistleblowers" who act in good faith to avert environmental risk.
Liefferink said it was she who made it public that Turton's publication had been withdrawn and she suspected he had been gagged. "But I was aware (his) paper was in the public domain," she said.
She said the "infringement" of academic freedom affected society's constitutional rights to sufficient clean water and life. The cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe was an example.
craig.mckune@inl.co.za
- This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Times on November 26, 2008
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