17 March 2025
Statement of support for Helyeh Doutaghi

We, the undersigned, declare our solidarity with Helyeh Doutaghi, who has been suspended by Yale Law School based on anonymous and unsubstantiated allegations of being a “terrorist.”

Dr. Doutaghi was hired by the Law and Political Economy Project (LPE) at Yale University as the Deputy Director in 2023. On March 3rd, allegations spread by a non-authored website came to the attention of Dr. Doutaghi as well as Yale Law School. It is our understanding that instead of supporting and defending her against anonymous allegations, Yale Law School has suspended Dr. Doutaghi and banned her from campus.

Dr. Doutaghi is an internationally recognized and published scholar of international law, political economy, and armed conflict. She completed her PhD in Legal Studies at Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada) in 2024. Her PhD Thesis examined the origin, mechanisms, and effects of US and international sanctions against Iran. Throughout her studies, she has always advocated for the rights and self-determination of oppressed people, including Palestinians.

We are faculty and students at universities in Canada, the United States, and beyond. The signatories include members of Dr. Doutaghi’s PhD committee, former professors, peers, co-authors, and colleagues. We call on Yale University, Yale Law School, and the Law and Political Economy Project to take accountability for the measures taken against Dr. Doutaghi, including restitution of damages and a public statement clearing Dr. Doutaghi’s name and restoring her reputation.

We are particularly troubled about the source of the allegation and its handling: the online publication that Yale Law School relied on was unattributed, unsourced, and had no responsible human author. Accusations leveled by humans can be subject to scrutiny, questioning, and, in case of frivolous and malicious accusations, be subject to accountability measures.

But this is not only an example of the threats of poorly managed AI, as serious as that is. The events targeting Dr. Doutaghi speak to an alarming failure by powerful education institutions to stand up for the rights of their students, faculty and staff, in particular those with precarious immigration status. It is the role of universities, particularly those who are so well endowed with financial resources, to stand up as protectors of democracy, the importance of knowledge, the sharing and dissemination of reasoned speech.

We call on Yale University, Yale Law School, and the Law & Political Economy project to repair the damage it has done to Dr. Doutaghi’s reputation and status and to apologize publicly for the process it has subjected her to. We further call on all universities and affiliated researchers to affirm that it is their responsibility to protect and support the critical research and teaching done by faculty, staff, and students.

812
signatures
684 verified
  1. Christiane Wilke, Associate Professor, Carleton University, Nepean
  2. Stacy Douglas, Associate Professor, Carleton University, Ottawa/Unceded territory of the Algonquin nation
  3. Hijaab Yahya, Policy Analyst, Toronto
  4. Max Ajl, Researcher, Tunis
  5. Uahikea Maile, Assistant Professor, University of Chicago, Chicago
  6. Nina Farnia, Assistant Professor of Law, Albany Law School, Albany
  7. Desiree Poets, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
  8. Alexander Aviña, Associate Professor of History, Arizona State University, Phoenix
  9. Will Damarjian, Law Student, Columbia Law School, New York
  10. Aby Sene, Assistant Professor, Clemson University
  11. Taha Zeinali, Kassel University
  12. Megan Gaucher, Associate Professor, Carleton University, Ottawa
  13. Nathan Tankus, Writer, New York
  14. Malini, Associate Professor, Carleton University, Ottawa
  15. Vasanthi Venkatesh, Associate Professor, University of Windsor Faculty of Law, Toronto, ON
  16. Ummni Khan, Associate Professor, Carleton University, Ottawa
  17. Ania Zbyszewska, Associate Professor, Carleton University, Ottawa
  18. Chaumtoli Huq, Professor of Law, CUNY Law, CUNY
  19. Sara Larijani, Post-doctoral researcher, Tehran University, Tehran
  20. Ethel Tungohan, Associate Professor, York University, Toronto
...
644 more
verified signatures
  1. Jeena Shah, Associate Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law, New York
  2. Rabea Khan, Lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool
  3. Tasleemah Lawal, Adjunct Professor, Columbia University School of Law, New York
  4. Dorothy Anderson, retired, North Weymouth
  5. Kim Nayyer, Law Librarian and Professor of the Practice, Cornell, Ithaca
  6. Alex van Biema, PhD student, Cornell University, Ithaca
  7. Maxine Eichner, Law Professor, Maxine Eichner, Chapel Hill
  8. Gabriel de Medeiros Silveira, Progressive International, Barcelona
  9. Katelyn Donaldson, J.D. Candidate, American University Washington College of Law, Washington DC
  10. Tanya Singh
  11. E. L. Tremblay, Attorney, Seattle
  12. Tom Gardner, retired, Pointe-Claire
  13. S McHugh, Attorney, Chicago, IL
  14. Samuel Todd, Mint Hill
  15. Seamus O'Scanlain, Librarian, CCNY, Forest Hills
  16. Monica Iyer, Assistant Professor, Georgia State University College of Law, Atlanta
  17. Susan Abraham, Professor of Law, New York Law School - New York, NY, New York
  18. Leila Abu-Orf, Attorney, New Orleans
  19. Pilar M Escontrias, Assistant Professor of Law, Seattle University School of Law, Seattle
  20. Joan Meier, Law Professor, George Washington University Law School, WDC
Create an open letter
and sign it together
Terms of Service