[TYPES] ETAPS bars Russian researchers from attending

[Gabriel Scherer]

I looked for more sources on the examples of Ricardo and Phil.

- The 2013 NASA event is described in the following press articles:
  https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/20/world/asia/china-nasa-drama/index.html__;!!IBzWLUs!GhQK6_S6GyjP-V9HmwwzBik-u6R4jdNiLP2q_jATNCsbxUdf3BvEwf5qgsfCz89kEoDJu8D9Itc$ 

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/11/nasa-chinese-scientists-conference-ban__;!!IBzWLUs!GhQK6_S6GyjP-V9HmwwzBik-u6R4jdNiLP2q_jATNCsbxUdf3BvEwf5qgsfCz89kEoDJ58lVgdI$ 
  It is not clear from the articles what the real motivation for the ban
was, but the justification
  was internal regulations in the US at the time. The ban was apparently
reversed
  before the conference took place, after a large public outcry. The
decision was made by
  NASA -- the conference was hosted within a NASA facility. (This is not a
computer science
  conference.)

- There is a wikipedia page on the academic boycott of South Africa:
  https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_boycott_of_South_Africa__;!!IBzWLUs!GhQK6_S6GyjP-V9HmwwzBik-u6R4jdNiLP2q_jATNCsbxUdf3BvEwf5qgsfCz89kEoDJ90qzEyk$ 
  It details that this was a controversial topic at the time outside the
country, even in anti-apartheid groups.

On Wed, Mar 9, 2022 at 12:45 PM Philip Wadler <wadler at inf.ed.ac.uk> wrote:

> To add to Ricardo's examples, during Apartheid, there was an academic
> boycott of South Africa as part of a larger cultural boycott, similar to
> the cultural boycott of Russia we see beginning today. This included not
> accepting academic visitors affiliated with South Africa, even though many
> South African academics opposed Apartheid. Treating Russian institutions
> differently at this time can contribute to a cumulative effect. Failing to
> treat them differently sends the message that we don't care. Go well, -- P
>
>
> .   \ Philip Wadler, Professor of Theoretical Computer Science,
> .   /\ School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh
> .  /  \ and Senior Research Fellow, IOHK
> . https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/wadler/__;!!IBzWLUs!GhQK6_S6GyjP-V9HmwwzBik-u6R4jdNiLP2q_jATNCsbxUdf3BvEwf5qgsfCz89kEoDJyX679Vo$ 
>
>
>
> On Tue, 8 Mar 2022 at 20:29, Ricardo Medel <ricardo.h.medel at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> This email was sent to you by someone outside the University.
>> You should only click on links or attachments if you are certain that the
>> email is genuine and the content is safe.
>>
>> [ The Types Forum,
>> http://lists.seas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/types-list ]
>>
>> German scientists were banned from conferences after the First World War.
>>
>> Chinese scientists (even those working/studying at the USA) were banned
>> from attending a NASA conference in 2013.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> El mar., 8 de marzo de 2022 17:25, Gabriel Scherer <
>> gabriel.scherer at gmail.com> escribió:
>>
>> > [ The Types Forum,
>> http://lists.seas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/types-list
>> > ]
>> >
>> > Do people know of any precedent of a conference forbidding people
>> working
>> > in a certain country to attend?
>> >
>> > (Of course, on a regular basis we hold conferences in countries that
>> make
>> > it difficult for some of our colleagues to attend. But this sounds very
>> > different from the conference itself forbidding certain researchers from
>> > attending on the basis of their country of employment.)
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, Mar 8, 2022 at 7:33 PM Neel Krishnaswami <
>> > neelakantan.krishnaswami at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > > [ The Types Forum,
>> > http://lists.seas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/types-list
>> > > ]
>> > >
>> > > The ETAPS website (
>> > >
>> >
>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.etaps.org__;!!IBzWLUs!HUevd2N5Ms-2WYC1sMdH93ef4xxRy4BjZ9KD0I8SPwLGGpv-Rk7u_Emgl9qMMyLGK4ex90o0Cm0$
>> > > ) has the following text on its
>> > > front page:
>> > >
>> > > > The ETAPS association strongly condemns the war against Ukraine
>> > > > launched by President Putin. It is an intolerable breach of
>> > > > international law and a crime against humanity, unfolding in Europe
>> > > > now. Therefore, until further notice, ETAPS 2022 cannot accept
>> > > > registrations from affiliates of Russian research institutions or
>> > > > companies.
>> > >
>> > > While I'm as opposed to illegal wars of aggression as anyone else,
>> this
>> > > feels like a serious mistake.
>> > >
>> > > There are many Russians (such as Jetbrains corporation) who have taken
>> > > the serious personal risk of publically opposing the war, and barring
>> > > them from our conferences due to their nationality feels wrong to me.
>> > >
>> > > It may well be that the financial sanctions regime means that
>> > > registration payments cannot be accepted, but that is quite different
>> > > from barring them personally.
>> > >
>> > > What do the rest of you think?
>> > >
>> > > Best,
>> > > Neel
>> > >
>> >
>>
> The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
> Scotland, with registration number SC005336.
>