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Protecting Scholars
Information Alert: Scholars at Risk welcomes the acquittal of Dean Habib Kazdaghli of Tunisia
May 3, 2013 -- Scholars at Risk welcomes the news that Dr. Habib Kazdaghli, Dean of the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Humanities at the University of Manouba, Tunisia, was acquitted of all charges on May 2, 2013.
Dean Kazdaghli had been charged with “violence perpetrated by a civil servant in the course of his duties” under Article 101 of the Penal Law, with a possible punishment of five years imprisonment. These charges arose from an incident on March 6, 2012, after two students -- who forcibly and without permission entered and disrupted the Dean’s office -- had accused the Dean of slapping one of them. Dean Kazdaghli repeatedly denied the charges and was acquitted. The students were reportedly convicted of damaging property and interfering with a public official and given a suspended sentence.
Scholars at Risk is grateful to the many others who joined in advocating on Dean Kazdaghli’s behalf. For information on SAR’s advocacy efforts on this case and others, please visit SAR's Scholars in Prison page.
Prevention & Promotion
Call for Submissions: University Values Bulletin
Submission Requirements
Length: We invite short articles of 500-700 words maximum. Longer articles will not be considered for publication in the bulletin.
Topic: We invite submissions on an academic freedom related issue of your choice. The article could, alternatively, contain news on important events, situations emerging in your region or specific countries or urgent appeals for scholars or universities in distress.
Deadline: June 10, 2013.
Contact: Submit articles by email to scholarsatrisk@nyu.edu. Please enter “University Values Submission” in the subject line of your email.
The University Values Editing Committee will select up to six articles for publication in the bulletin.
It is our belief that a greater sharing of information about academic freedom and higher education values will help foster a greater understanding of the challenges we all face and will enhance global efforts to address these challenges. We hope you will help us make the bulletin a success. We look forward to your submissions.
Prevention & Promotion
University & the Nation: Safeguarding Higher Education in Tunisia & Beyond
Scholars at Risk and the NYU Center for Dialogues held a conference, The University and the Nation: Safeguarding Higher Education in Tunisia and Beyond, at University of Manouba in Tunis, Tunisia on February 21-22, 2013. The conference was organized with the aim of fostering a dialogue about the role of higher education institutions in democratic societies, and to highlight the need for strong protections for core higher education values – including academic freedom, institutional autonomy and social responsibility – in the newly emerging order in Tunisia and beyond. For more information, please visit SAR's Events page.
SYRIA: International Higher Education Protection Organizations Condemn Attack on University
London/New York, 18 January 2013 – The Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA), the Scholars at Risk Network (SAR), and the Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF) jointly denounce - in the strongest terms - the attack on the University of Aleppo on 15 January. Information indicates that the bombings resulted in the civilian deaths of at least 80 persons and many more seriously injured. It is thought that many students and faculty of the university are among the casualties.
“There can be no possible justification for such an attack on students in their examination rooms and dormitories. It is one more grim example of the way that educational institutions, and their innocent staff and students, are all too often caught up in violence around the world,” Mr Stephen Wordsworth, Executive Director of CARA, said from London.
The bloodshed in Syria continues and all levels of education have paid a heavy price in the conflict. Reports are that in some parts of Syria education has come to a virtual standstill. All parties must immediately abstain from targeting educational facilities and educators and students must be protected.
The three organizations call upon the parties in Syria to take all necessary steps to protect schools and universities, and those who work and study in them, from any further attacks. “Syria’s academics and its young people are the country’s future,” stated Mr Wordsworth on behalf of CARA, SAR, and IIE-SRF.
The Network
University of Oslo's 2012 Human Rights Award
Scholars at Risk is honored to announce that the University of Oslo awarded the 2012 Human Rights Award -- Lisl and Leo Eitinger Prize to SAR Executive Director Robert Quinn and Scholars at Risk on November 19, 2012. As part of the ceremony, Mr. Quinn participated in the annual Eitinger Interview with Espen Barth Eide, Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. The following day, Mr. Quinn delivered the Torkel Opsahl Memorial Lecture on the theme of “Bringing Claims for Academic Freedom Violations under Human Rights Law,” participated in a discussion with Frank LaRue, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion, and presented on SAR's Academic Freedom Monitoring Project at the University of Oslo (please see a video of this presentation). Members of the Norwegian and international higher education and human rights communities attended, including representatives and scholars from the Scholars at Risk – Norway Section. Visit University of Oslo's website for a history of the prize and a list of previous winners.
Building a Scholars at Risk - Sweden Section
On November 14, University of Gothenburg and the Scholars at Risk Network held a meeting for Swedish higher education institutions on establishing a Swedish Section of Scholars at Risk. The section would represent Sweden in the wider Scholars at Risk network and will organize and coordinate SAR activities in Sweden. The program included a discussion with SAR Deputy Executive Director, Sinead O’Gorman and an ICORN guest writer and SAR scholar from Ethiopia currently living in Stockholm; and a presentation by Marit Egner, Senior Adviser in the Department of Research Administration at the University of Oslo on the Scholars at Risk - Norway Section’s experiences. For more information, please find an article about the event on Gothenburg’s website or see the meeting report from the event. Scholars at Risk - Canada Section Member Western University Welcomes First Scholar at Risk
On January 22, 2013, Western University, Canada, hosted a reception celebrating the university's first Scholar at Risk, Professor Anna Dolidze, who joined Western Law in July 2012 to teach and research international law. Western University President Amit Chakma spoke at the event on the importance of protecting academic freedom: “Western has an opportunity and a responsibility to play a leadership role in helping to protect academic freedom, wherever it may happen to fall under threat." Western is a founding member of the Scholars at Risk - Canada Section, which was launched in June 2012 and now consists of eight member institutions. For more information, please see this press release about Western's involvement with SAR and a video of the January 22nd event.Protecting Scholars
Action Alert: Busra Ersanli
Professor Ersanli was arrested along with dozens of others on October 28, 2011 and later charged with “membership of a terrorist organization” under Turkey’s Anti Terror Law, a charge which reflects the authorities’ allegation that the BDP is linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which is banned in Turkey and designated a terrorist organization by multiple countries. We understand that the BDP publicly disavows this allegation. We are not aware of any allegation that Professor Ersanli is a member directly in the PKK or otherwise associated with the PKK. We understand that the charge against her stems only from her work on the intra-party constitutional commission of the BDP and that she was arrested and charged as a result of nonviolent expressive activity and association with others, conduct which is expressly protected under international human rights instruments. Professor Ersanli was released on July 13, 2012, pending the remainder of her trial, which we understand will resume on May 27, 2013. For more information, please see SAR’s letter of appeal.
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05/14/2013, Scholars at Risk calls for letters on behalf of Professor Büşra Ersanlı of Turkey In advance of her upcoming May 27th trial, SAR calls for letters on behalf of Professor Büşra Ersanlı, a professor of political science at Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkey. 05/10/2013, Scholars Protest Suspension of Professor Accused of ‘Insulting Islam’ The Committee on Academic Freedom of the Middle East Studies Association has written a letter to the president of Egypt’s Suez Canal University protesting its investigation and informal suspension without pay of an English professor variously accused... 05/09/2013, Aung San Suu Kyi calls for help from UK universities The Burmese opposition leader told an event held at the University of London today that there were “no residential universities in Burma”. Campus life had been “destroyed” by the military regime – which ruled Burma between 1962 and 2011 – as it feared... |
02/21/2013, The University and the Nation: Safeguarding Higher Education in Tunisia and Beyond Scholars at Risk and the NYU Center for Dialogues announce a conference, The University and the Nation: Safeguarding Higher Education in Tunisia and Beyond, at University of Manouba in Tunis, Tunisia on... 05/23/2011, Launch of Scholars at Risk, Norway Section Scholars at Risk, Norway Section will be launched at Oslo University College (HiO). The Norwegian Section will represent Norway in the wider international Scholars at Risk Network and organize and coordinate... 04/27/2011, Swimming with Sharks: How Big Pharma Threatens Academic Freedom The University of Groningen, member of the SAR-UAF network in the Netherlands, hosts “Swimming with Sharks: How Big Pharma Threatens Academic Freedom,” from 8 to 10 p.m. on April 27 at the Academiegebouw,... |