The Coat of Arms of the Federal Court of Canada. Photo Credit: Wikipedia On December 22, the Federal Court of Canada denied the appeal of a Chinese student admitted to a PhD program at the University of Waterloo. Amid an atmosphere of deteriorating relations with China, the recent decision with its new and expanded definition of “espionage” could pose serious obstacles to international student mobility and academic freedom. Yuekang Li was admitted to a PhD in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo in April 2022. Having been denied entry to Canada by a visa officer on the grounds that he might be coerced into espionage by the Chinese government, Li appealed to the Federal Court of Canada. However, in the recent ruling, the court has sided with the visa officer’s decision, setting a precedent for an expanded definition of espionage. According to the reasoning of Chief Justice Paul Crampton, there are also “non-traditional” forms of espionage that consist of handing over information to a foreign entity, even if the information in question is “open source”, if such an action poses a threat to Canada’s interests.[1] While Li has not been convicted of having engaged in espionage, he is being treated as a potential spy. Li holds an undergraduate degree from Beihang University of Beijing which has been identified to have links with the defense industry in China in a 2018 report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which was referenced in the visa officer’s decision to deny his application.[2] The fact that the decision is a preventive one made on questionable grounds, and that it expands the definition of espionage to include sharing any information obtained within Canada with “hostile states” has sparked reaction from some immigration experts. According to Lorne Waldman, an immigration and refugee lawyer, the decision “creates an extremely broad ground of inadmissibility” for graduate students who have studied in countries like China.[3] The concern is that with a very similar reasoning, almost any student from China who wants to study subject areas remotely connected with military technologies can be prevented from doing so. In Li’s case, his proposed field of study was “micro fluids” and their usages in public health. Despite the lab Li would be working with stating that they do not deal with any military applications of micro fluids, the fact that he wanted to work in a field related to nanoscience was accepted as credible ground for his rejection. This development should be contextualized within the broader effort to control and limit ties with academic and research institutions in countries like China, Russia, and Iran. On January 16, the Canadian government named more than 100 institutions in those countries as “security risks”.[4] Under this new regulation, research that includes partnerships with such institutions in “sensitive technology research areas” will not be eligible for federal funding. However, the impact of the regulation will likely go beyond the designated areas of study as the list of sensitive research areas and the list of named research organizations will be regularly updated. It is possible that Canadian research institutions will roll back collaborations with other institutions from China, Russia and Iran in case other ones are named or other areas of study are included in the sensitive subjects list. Although the mobility of students from such countries are being targeted directly, other international students will also be impacted. On January 23, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced a 35% decrease in the number of student visas that will be given in the next two years.[5] The government cited increasing housing prices as the primary reason for this decision. Canada currently houses more than 2 million international students, around half of which are resided in Ontario.[6] Lobbying groups for some of the colleges in Ontario have criticized the government’s decision. The free flow of ideas, information and students across borders is a crucial element of higher education which draws strength from diversity. Endangered Scholars Worldwide calls on the Canadian government to ease restrictions on international student mobility and promote international academic collaboration. International students and academic institutions should not be collectively punished for the actions of governments and instead should be shielded from fluctuations in inter-state relations as much as possible. Sources and Further Reading: [1] https://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/fc-cf/decisions/en/item/524706/index.do [2] https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20240108155345191&emci=38fbe91c-34b6-ee11-bea1-0022482237da&emdi=ec3ae206-41b6-ee11-bea1-0022482237da&ceid=11858187 [3] https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-federal-court-decision-to-bar-chinese-student-expands-definition-of/ [4] https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/reserach-canada-china-russia-iran-1.7085391#:~:text=On%20Tuesday%20the%20federal%20government,militaries%20and%20state%20security%20agencies. [5] https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20240123121604956 [6] https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20240129173408140

How the Houthi threaten the future of a civil society Originally published by Public Seminar on January 9, 2024 A destroyed building at Yemen’s Taiz University in April 2016. Credit: akramalrasny / Shutterstock After nine years of war, Yemen remains the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” a United Nations report asserted earlier this year: An estimated 4.5 million people—14 percent of the population—are currently displaced, most of whom have been displaced multiple times over a number of years. Two-thirds of the population of Yemen—21.6 million people[—]are in dire need of humanitarian assistance and protection services. The risk of a large-scale famine in the country has never been more acute. Tens of thousands are already living in famine-like conditions, with a staggering 6 million more just one step away from it. The cause of this suffering is an ongoing civil war between Yemeni government forces and the Houthi, a Shia Islamist political and military organization that in 2003 adapted the official slogan “God is great, death to the U.S., death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam.” For almost nine years, the Houthi have controlled the capital city and much of northern Yemen. Since the outbreak of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, the Houthi have begun to fire missiles at Israeli cities and cargo ships traversing the Red Sea, disrupting international trade as a result. At the same time, the people of Yemen are struggling to meet their daily needs and secure a minimally decent life for themselves and their families, as the Houthi withhold salaries and channel most of the nation’s remaining resources—taxes, zakat, customs—to finance their military efforts. The war has also resulted in a systematic dismantling of the country’s educational institutions. As the Houthi replaced the internationally recognized government of Yemen, dismissing it predictably as illegitimate and manipulated by Western forces, they dismantled the nation’s academic institutions, imposing a coercive educational regime with an ideologically-driven curriculum on instructors at every level, from primary schools to universities. Under Houthi rule, academic institutions began firing educators and university professors who tried to resist, denouncing them as hypocritical munafiqun (false Muslims). Students responded to this crackdown by abandoning their education and joining military campaigns to fight in the nation’s interminable civil war. According to a 2022 UNICEF report, over 2,900 schools and universities in Yemen have totally been reduced to ruins. The few buildings still standing are now being used for purposes unrelated to education. Given these circumstances, UNICEF reports, approximately 2.4 million children, between 6 and 17 years old, have been deprived of access to education, and another 8.5 million are at risk of dropping out. Meanwhile, the Houthi militia’s repressive regime has silenced scholars, stifled intellectual discourse, and infringed upon the fundamental principles of academic freedom. These were rights in theory enshrined by the first Constitution of the Republic of Yemen, adopted in 1999—but in practice repeatedly threatened by a succession of Yemeni governments, even before the Houthi seized power. Since 2018, Scholars at Risk (SAR) and other Human Rights organizations have been documenting an escalating number of violations that have had a devastating impact on Yemeni academic institutions. Some recent examples: On January 25, 2020, Dr. Hamid Aqlan, the president of the University of Science and Technology, Sana’a, fell into the clutches of Houthi militia. What makes this tragedy even more harrowing is that, as of the moment of writing these lines, Dr. Aqlan remains incarcerated, with his family left in a state of anguished uncertainty regarding his well-being and whereabouts. Despite multiple valiant attempts to establish contact with Houthi militias in a desperate bid to obtain information about his status, Dr. Aqlan’s family has been met with a wall of silence. On February 2, 2020, Houthi militants launched a targeted incursion into a lecture hall at Sana’a University, where they subjected sociology professor Ali Baalawi to an assault. The attack seems to be linked to accusations of him criticizing the appointment of a dean to the Faculty of Arts, a relative of a military commander, purportedly lacking the requisite qualifications. Following the incident, Baalawi was swiftly expelled from the campus and reportedly prohibited from re-entering the university premises. On September 1, 2021, there were accounts of an incident in which students from the College of Medicine at Ibb University, along with the university’s vice-president, were purportedly assaulted physically during a celebration organized to welcome a returning classmate. On January 20, 2022, the administration of Sana’a University, led by a newly appointed vice-chancellor loyal to the Houthi faction, reportedly enlisted Houthi forces to quell a student protest taking place on the university’s campus. During this incident, student demonstrators were reportedly injured and an undisclosed number of them were detained. On August 13, 2022, Houthi forces entered the campus of the Faculties of Arts and Education at Thamar University, using force against university personnel in their efforts to gain control. Six months later, on February 14, 2023, the university’s administration took disciplinary measures against six students, ostensibly in response to their participation in on-campus protests. In April 2023, University World News brought attention to the profound challenges facing Yemen’s higher education system, emphasizing its ongoing deterioration amidst the conflict. The article highlighted a staggering reality: between 2020 and 2021, more than 76 schools and universities had been damaged or destroyed, rendering them incapacitated. (Data portal Trace Attacks on Education notes that this number is likely an undercount.) In some 185 attacks, armed groups abducted, injured, killed or otherwise harmed students and educators. Still more students found themselves unable to pursue their studies amidst the extensive impact of the conflict on the educational landscape in Yemen. The plight of Yemen’s academics, who are being starved, imprisoned, and even killed, is a testament to the dire state of academic freedom in the country. As we look to the future, it is crucial that the international community does not forget the plight of Yemen’s academics when the time comes to rebuild the country’s educational institutions. The restoration of academic freedom in Yemen is not only a matter of justice but also a prerequisite for the country’s recovery and economic development. And a recommitment to the fundamental principles of academic freedom should be at the forefront of these efforts. Dr. Abdulgaleel Ahmed is a visiting research scholar at Harvard University and a member of the New University in Exile Consortium.

A protest organized by student groups at Harvard University on October 14th. Photo credit: Reuters It has been two months since the October 7th Hamas attack, which brutalized and killed more than 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers and triggered a massive military response from the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). At the date of this writing, Israel has killed more than 17,000 Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, the majority of whom are women and children. As the decades-long conflict has escalated to the level of full-fledged military operation, humanitarian conditions have drastically deteriorated, which has raised international concerns and tensions over the horrendous conditions Palestinian civilians are living under. The situation has also created a global litmus test for academic freedom, exposing weaknesses in the ways higher education institutions deal with intensely felt political protest. Many campuses have seen increasing threats against Jewish and Palestinian students and faculty, as well as others who have voiced criticisms against the actions of the state of Israel. In this atmosphere of increased tension, university administrative responses have ranged from censorship to physical harm. Students and faculty who are critical of the state of Israel say that they feel silenced by university administrations. On the other hand, Jewish students and faculty report that they feel unsafe and that there is a significant rise in antisemitic incidents. Since October 7th, threats to academic freedom and restriction of speech have come in the form of censorship, suspensions and more. Student groups have been banned, protesting students arrested, and faculty and university presidents investigated.[1] Branches of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) have been some of the groups widely targeted by universities. Brandeis University was the first to ban SJP from their campus followed by the Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s executive order, to close down branches of the SJP on university campuses across Florida.[2] Besides suspending or disbanding student clubs and associations, prestigious universities like Columbia and MIT, have threatened individual students with suspension or expulsion due to their involvement in sit-ins and vigils. University administrations also have made decisions that directly impact faculty members. In more extreme cases, some professors have been penalized by university administrations for their views. Two faculty members at the University of Arizona have been placed on administrative leave over statements they made in class. Rebecca Lopez and Rebeca Zapien, professors in the University of Arizona College of Education, were placed on paid administrative leave after clips from their class recorded them making a comparison between Hamas and the Black Panther Party, as examples of “resistance groups”. The two professors have since been reinstated, however, the Dean of the College of Education has taken over teaching their class until the end of the term.[3] These and similar incidents show why it is important to echo the message of the statement released by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) on October 25th, which calls on university administrations to refrain from infringing upon the academic freedom of faculty members. So far, the manner in which university administrations have been making decisions in response to the ongoing situation reveals an unacceptable failure to understand what academic freedom means and how to protect it when it needs to be protected the most. For example, according to the report of the Columbia Spectator, Columbia University administration made changes to documents outlining university policies on demonstrations and protests on campus, following the October 7th attack of Hamas, without consulting student groups or representatives, which they then used as the basis for the suspension of the SJP and JVP. In another case, more than 150 faculty members across the University of California system have expressed concern in an open letter, objecting to the decision of the University of California president to dedicate funds to teaching “viewpoint-neutral Middle Eastern History” without consulting academics working in the field of history.[4] Students and faculty critical of the state of Israel and its policies have also been individually targeted by entities outside of universities. Examples include the non-profit “Accuracy in Media” which sponsored the “doxxing truck” that displayed the names and faces of students of Harvard University who signed an anti-Israel open letter on a digital billboard days after October 7th. In another case, professors have been listed as “antisemites” for being pro-Palestine on a website called “Canary Mission”, which is used for surveilling the views of students and academics in US universities, and exposing those they deem to be anti-US or anti-Israel. More recently, Congress members have also started to put pressure on universities. On November 21st,  academics from the University of Indiana at Bloomington voiced concerns in a public statement over threats coming from congressman Jim Banks (R-IN) to cut funding to the university if they fail to investigate reports of antisemitism, which they believe to be a veiled threat to academic freedom.[5] Furthermore, the House Education and Workforce Committee held a hearing on December 5th, in which presidents from Harvard, University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology faced intense criticism, especially from Republican representatives. In the aftermath of the hearing, UPenn’s president Elizabeth Magill was forced to resign following the backlash occasioned by her remarks at the hearing. Beyond pressure, censorship, and suspension, students and faculty have also faced threats of arrest and violence. Police have arrested protesting students, mostly on trespassing charges, at Dartmouth College, Brown University, and University of Michigan. The number of students arrested at a single protest surpassed 40 on multiple occasions. Although the majority of the detainees who engaged in campus protests have been students, legal action and police interventions also target faculty. On November 29th, a faculty member at Pomona College named Arón Macal Montenegro was arrested for trespassing by the police after he took his class to a pro-Palestinian protest. Besides arrests, student groups and faculty have faced threats of harm. Across campuses there  have been physical altercations between rival student groups,  and the use of threatening language in flyers, online forums and billboards have also been reported. The danger faced by these groups have not been limited to threats, however, as was demonstrated on November 26th, when three Brown University students wearing keffiyehs were shot in Burlington, Vermont. Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) is deeply concerned with the recent rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia on university campuses which have elicited severe threats to academic freedom on US campuses. These threats have jeopardized the full participation of Jewish, Palestinian, and Arab students and faculty. ESW calls on all university administrations to respect the academic freedom and freedom of expression of students and faculty in order to foster open and robust discussion at a time when more dialogue, not less, is needed. We also wish to remind all members of university communities to abide by the rules of respectful, constructive, and democratic intellectual exchange. Sources and Further Reading: [1]https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20231118073928753 [2]https://www.chronicle.com/article/war-and-the-collapse-of-the-campus-speech-consensus [3]https://wildcat.arizona.edu/151958/news/n-ua-profs-reinstated/ [4]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2023/12/01/uc-faculty-members-oppose-viewpoint-neutral-middle [5]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2023/12/04/pushback-against-lawmakers-calls-campus

The sign Dr. Kay posted on her office door that caused her to be targeted. Photo Credit: The Cut Political polarization as a result of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in its 2023 Dobbs Decision continues to have an impact on college campuses around the country. On November 20th, Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) became aware of new evidence filed in Dr. Tamara Kay’s defamation case against a University of Notre Dame Catholic student newspaper, The Irish Rover. According to Nell Gluckman’s article published by The Chronicle of Higher Education on November 10th, a number of emails, text messages, and recordings made public as a part of the trial show a concerted effort on behalf of the Rover and its staff to oust Professor Kay from her position at the University of Notre Dame on grounds of her pro-choice activism and social media comments. Dr. Kay is a professor of Global Affairs and Sociology, whose area of research interests include trade, labor, social movements, global and transnational sociology, sociology of culture, and global health, including reproductive health and rights. Kay has been teaching at the University of Notre Dame since 2016 and has been a tenured professor at the Keough School of Global Affairs and the Department of Sociology since 2021. Recently, she was targeted by an anti-abortion campaign led by faculty, students, and alumni, who believe that Kay’s pro-choice views should not be tolerated by the University. In August 2022, state lawmakers in Indiana passed legislation that created a near-total ban on abortion. The law went into effect on September 15th, 2022, but was suspended a week later due to ongoing legal disputes. On the initial day that the abortion ban became operative, Professor Kay posted a sign on her office door, which encouraged students who needed information on healthcare to reach out via her non-work e-mail. Kay later said that she put the sign up because she was concerned the state-wide ban on abortion would prevent rape survivors from being able to find appropriate healthcare. However, the sign and Kay’s pro-choice social media activity quickly drew the attention of the Catholic-conservative student publication, the Rover, which published an article accusing Kay of providing abortion assistance. Following the Rover’s article, Dr. Kay received a significant amount of hate mail, some sent by Notre Dame alumni and including death threats and threats of rape. In May of 2023, Kay sued The Irish Rover for defamation. Documents recently made public as part of the ongoing litigation point towards active cooperation between some faculty, students, and alumni towards pressuring the school to fire Kay, despite her tenure status. Evidence includes correspondences between faculty and students, including a text message that read “There needs to be a coordinated assault on the Tamara Kay issue”. Additional emails revealed that some alumni groups contacted the President of the university and the Dean of Keough School, stating their wish to see Professor Kay moved to another institution, whose core values would fit Kay’s pro-choice stance. Kay remains unsatisfied with the response of the university administration, which she claims have been unwilling to fully prevent harassment directed against her. Members of the university administration have rejected these claims. It is also reported that after meetings with administrators, who voiced concerns about Kay’s tweets and the sign on her office door, Kay voluntarily took down the sign and deleted her tweets about abortion and emergency contraception. A spokesperson for the school said that the school never intended to restrict Kay’s expression on abortion or any other topic but noted that there could be issues of liability as “a reasonable person could understand Professor Kay to be giving medical advice”. An official statement from the University in 2010 underlines the university’s stance against abortion, stating that the University of Notre Dame remains closely aligned with the position of the Catholic Church when it comes to abortion rights, which is based on “the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.” ESW is deeply concerned with the ongoing campaign against Professor Tamara Kay and calls on the members of the public, as well as The University of Notre Dame, to respect Professor Kay’s fundamental right to free expression, and her right to freely conduct her scholarly work without the fear of persecution or prosecution. Professor Kay’s case constitutes only a part of the broader trend of increased pressure against the free expression of academics and students all around the United States. The right to academic freedom and the status of universities as one of the main sites to exercise that right are indispensable elements of democracy. Especially during times of increased political polarization, maintaining public debate and open dialogue in the broader society is conditional on upholding the integrity of universities. Sources and Further Reading: https://www.chronicle.com/article/at-notre-dame-documents-suggest-a-concerted-effort-to-oust-a-professor-over-her-views-on-abortion https://www.thecut.com/2023/04/tamara-kay-notre-dame-abortion-rights.html https://apnews.com/article/notre-dame-press-freedom-abortion-defamation-lawsuit-9de085ed121e8184f813b2a1db896f5e

The Muhammad Omar Bashir Centre for Sudanese Studies at Ahlia University after the fire. Photo credit: NewArab A report by Scholars at Risk (SAR) published on November 9, 2023, documents 409 attacks on academic freedom in 66 different countries over the last year. These attacks were perpetrated by various state and non-state actors, including the military, police, and organized militant groups and largely take place in the context of democratic backsliding, according to SAR Executive Director, Rob Quinn. In Africa, countries experienced a range of attacks on academic freedom, including the destruction of higher education facilities, physical violence against scholars and students, and political and academic censorship. African countries mentioned in SAR’s report include Algeria, Burundi, Cameron, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The civil war in Sudan has proved to be a hotbed for attacks on academic freedom, resulting in the closures, looting, and physical destruction of universities. During the first days of fighting, the Muhammad Omar Bashir Centre for Sudanese Studies, a library archive at Ahlia University, was targeted and completely burned by fire, resulting in the destruction and irreparable loss of Sudanese culture, history, and politics. In other countries, radical paramilitary groups such as Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram have targeted schools, teachers, and students. In October 2022, Al-Shabaab coordinated an attack on Somalia’s Ministry of Education, killing at least 121. Boko Haram’s activities in northern Cameroon has led to the closure of over 60 schools, effectively cutting off citizens’ access to education. Both groups have cited their anti-Western agenda as cause for their attacks on schools, universities, scholars, and students. In addition to the physical destruction and violence perpetrated against schools and school personnel, academic and political censorship is widely used to combat and dissuade political opposition and dissent by students and scholars. In August, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and potential DRC presidential candidate, Dr. Denis Mukwege was prevented from lecturing at the University of Kisangani by higher education officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. State officials in Algeria have also curtailed academic freedom, preventing Algerian scholars from publishing research and attending conferences in Morocco since July 2022. The report also notes state violence and censorship against students and student activists, including arrests, use of tear gas, and even killing by police. In Kenya, the police killed university students at demonstrations on two separate occasions: William Mayange, a student at Maseno University, on March 20, 2023; and Brilliant Anusu, a student at Machakos University, on December 5, 2022. Endangered Scholars Worldwide is deeply concerned by the ongoing armed conflicts in Africa and its effects on access to education and academic freedom throughout the continent. Amid the terror and violence of civil war and radical militant groups, state and non-state actors have disproportionately targeted schools, universities, students, and scholars, violating their rights to education and freedom of expression. ESW condemns the arbitrary arrests, detentions, censorship, and killings of students and scholars. ESW urges the international community to pay full attention to the ongoing violence in regions across Africa and demands that all efforts be made to resolve conflicts in the region. It is paramount that the international community hold African governments to account and require them to honor their obligations under international human law and human rights treaties to uphold access to education and freedoms of speech and association. Sources: https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/ https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20231101182523275&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=AFNL0427

Students at the women-only Al-Zahra University in Tehran were among those to stage sit-in strikes. Photo credit: BBC September 17, 2023 marked the first anniversary of Iran's anti-establishment Women, Life, Freedom protests, with no letup in the Iranian government's brutal crackdown with the authorities relentlessly targeting academics, intellectuals, journalists, and universities, resulting in the expulsion of an increasing number of scholars. In August 2023, at least five prominent academics faced forced expulsion from leading universities across the country, intensifying the mounting pressure on higher education institutions. Among those affected were renowned historian Daryoush Rahmanian from the University of Tehran, Ali Sharifi Zarchi, an esteemed professor specializing in bioinformatics and artificial intelligence at Sharif University of Technology, along with sociology lecturer Mahdi Khoei and psychology lecturers Amaneh Aali and Hamideh Khademi from Tehran's Allameh Tabatabaei University. It is crucial to recognize that these five dismissals are not isolated incidents but rather emblematic of a broader and deeply concerning trend. According to reports from local media outlets, since President Ebrahim Raisi took office two years ago, over 50 academics have been summarily dismissed or expelled from their positions, often without substantiated reasons. As of October 2023, the outlook for academic freedom and autonomy in higher education in Iran has prompted a wave of mass emigration. Although reliable official statistics are unavailable, many university students have left the country to pursue education and life elsewhere. The Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has commented on this new wave of emigration, noting that "most of the emigrants are gifted and expert individuals." According to Shahin Akhundzadeh, a professor at Tehran University's school of medicine, at least 50 students who were enrolled in the past five years left the country, during the government crackdown on the protests. Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) vehemently condemns these unjustified dismissals, detentions, persecutions, convictions, and mistreatments endured by Iranian academics, students, and researchers. We fervently call for their immediate release, reinstatement, and exoneration. At ESW, we stand unwaveringly in solidarity with those who courageously advocate for their rights. We further implore the international community to exert as much pressure as possible on the Iranian government, compelling it to uphold its commitments under international human rights law and agreements. For more, see: https://www.iranintl.com/en/202309258640 https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/15/iran-crackdown-dissent-ahead-protest-anniversary https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-protesters-detained-crackdown-anniversary-zahedan/32621305.html

Photo credit: Human Rights Watch On September 21, 2023, Rahile Dawut, a renowned scholar of Uyghur folklore, confirmed to be serving a life sentence in Xinjiang province in the northwestern region of China. Dawut disappeared in December 2017 and was confirmed to be in the custody of Chinese authorities in 2019. Her life sentence was reported after her appeal was denied by the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region High People’s Court. At the time of her detention, Dawut was an Anthropology professor at Xinjiang University College of Humanities. She has published numerous books and journal articles on Uyghur folklore, and had previously served as a visiting scholar at Washington University, Indiana University, and the University of Pennsylvania. As an advocate and leading expert on Uyghur cultural heritage, Dawut founded the Ethnic Minorities Folklore Research Center at Xinjiang University in 2007. Dawut is one of the approximately 500 Uyghur scholars, students, and activists to be detained, imprisoned, and disappeared by Chinese authorities as of December 2021. Since April 2017, China has held at least 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in internment camps. The Chinese government officially calls these camps “vocational education and training centers,” and has detained Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities for mundane acts such as attending Islamic funerals and having a mobile app installed on their phone. These systematic attacks on Muslim minorities in the region, including torture, state surveillance, forced labor, sexual violence, cultural and religious persecution, and enforced disappearances constitute crimes against humanity, a Human Rights Watch report concluded. Endangered Scholars Worldwide condemns the arbitrary arrest and detention of Rahile Dawut and other Uyghur intellectuals. We call on the Chinese government to unconditionally release Rahile Dawut immediately and to respect, guarantee, and implement the provisions and principles of human rights as specified in international human rights law and treaties. ESW further calls upon all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to promoting and defending human rights to protest and condemn the continued abuse of scholars and researchers by the Chinese authorities. Sources and further reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/24/world/asia/rahile-dawut-uyghur-china.html https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/24/chinese-authorities-uyghur-professor-rahile-dawut https://duihua.org/life-sentence-for-professor-rahile-dawut-confirmed/ https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/22/chinese-court-imposes-life-sentence-uyghur-scholar https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/31/china-unrelenting-crimes-against-humanity-targeting-uyghurs

Afghan female students take entrance exams at Kabul University in Kabul, before the ban on university and primary schools was enforced (AFP) As the second year of the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan unfolds, the state of human rights in the country, particularly the social and civic rights of women and young girls, continues to deteriorate. On August 23, 2023, Taliban authorities halted the travel plans of one hundred female students at Kabul International Airport, preventing their journey to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. These young women were recipients of higher education scholarships generously offered by Emirati business magnate and philanthropist Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor. Al Habtoor had extended his support to cover all expenses for these Afghan students, enabling them to pursue their studies at the University of Dubai. After a rigorous selection process, these students from Afghanistan were admitted as deserving scholarship recipients. Despite possessing all the necessary travel documentation and being accompanied by a male family member (mahram), a mandatory requirement for women's public presence under Taliban rule, as of September 12, only three of these students have successfully left Afghanistan and arrived in Dubai. The fate of the remaining 97 students, who find themselves under the watchful gaze of the Taliban, remains shrouded in uncertainty. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing efforts to solidify a theocratic gender apartheid regime in Afghanistan. Last year, Taliban officials barred Afghan women and girls from pursuing educational opportunities in neighboring countries like Iran and Pakistan without the presence of a male family member. Since then, there have been numerous instances where Taliban authorities thwarted the aspirations of female students, whether they had a male escort or not, to pursue their education abroad. Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) stands in unwavering solidarity with the Afghan students and scholars whose lives, academic pursuits, and careers have been tragically disrupted since the return of the Taliban to power. We firmly denounce the establishment of a gender apartheid regime in Afghanistan, which effectively dismantles the fundamental rights to education, freedom of movement, and academic freedom for the female population. In conjunction with the international community, we call upon the Afghan government to fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights treaties. These actions include lifting the unjustifiable travel restrictions imposed on women and young girls, securing the release of unlawfully detained scholars, students, and advocates of democracy, ensuring unrestricted access to humanitarian aid and protection, and upholding the right to education and freedom of expression for all.

Photo Credits: AP News Egyptian President Fattah El-Sisi has pardoned Patrick Zaki, a student and human rights researcher, a day after he was sentenced to three years in prison by the Egyptian courts. Sisi’s decision to pardon Zaki followed international condemnation of the three-year sentence and pressure from Italy, the U.S., and international human rights groups. His arrest was part of a crackdown on peaceful protestors and human rights advocates, under Sisi, after the ousting of Mohammad Morsi, the democratically elected president. Zaki was initially arrested in February of 2020 for “spreading false news” after authoring an article about the discrimination that Coptic Christians face as a minority in Egypt. He was a student at the University of Bologna in Italy at the time of his arrest and was held for almost two years before being released and placed on a travel ban. According to human rights groups, Zaki was tortured in detainment. He successfully graduated in 2023 by defending his thesis via videoconference. Zaki, since his pardon, has been allowed to travel and arrived in Milan on July 23, 2023. While we at Endangered Scholars Worldwide applaud release of Patrick Zaki, we condemn the arbitrary imprisonment and placement of travel bans on scholars and students in Egypt. We call on the Egyptian government to respect, guarantee, and implement the provisions and principles of human rights as specified in international human rights law and treaties. ESW further calls upon all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to promoting and defending human rights to protest and condemn the continued abuse of scholars and researchers by the Egyptian authorities. Sources and further readings: https://www.africanews.com/2023/07/24/egyptian-researcher-patrick-zaki-lands-in-italy-following-presidential-pardon/ https://www.dw.com/en/egypt-researcher-patrick-zaki-pardoned-day-after-sentencing/a-66275354 https://www.reuters.com/article/egypt-rights-idAFKBN2YY16M https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/18/egypt-jails-rights-researcher-patrick-zaki-for-3-years-ngo-says https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/world/middleeast/egypt-patrick-zaki-jailed.html

Photo courtesy AFP Amidst the prolonged Russian invasion of Ukraine, now entering its eighteenth month and leading to an escalating death toll, there is growing concern over the suppression of dissenting voices within Russia. On July 27, 2023, Endangered Scholars received distressing news that Boris Kagarlitsky, a prominent Kremlin critic and internationally renowned Marxist sociologist, was apprehended by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) on suspicion of "justifying terrorism" under a new, draconian article of the Criminal Code. These charges are based on Kagarlitsky's social media activity following the Crimean Kerch Bridge attack in October 2022. Boris Kagarlitsky has a distinguished career as a professor of sociology at the Moscow Higher School of Economics and has directed the Moscow-based think tank, the Institute for Globalization Studies and Social Movements, which was unjustly labeled a 'foreign agent' by the Ministry of Justice in 2018. Refuting the charges that could result in up to seven years of imprisonment, the 65-year-old academic denies any support or justification for terrorism. As stated by his lawyer, Sergei Yerokhov, Kagarlitsky's scholarly research and political activism have always aimed to shed light on the genuine issues faced by the Russian state. Throughout his career, Kagarlitsky has been a political dissident, enduring the status of a political prisoner in the Soviet Union from 1982 to 1983., The Russian government branded him as an agent of foreign powers in 2022. However, despite facing these accusations, Kagarlitsky has chosen to remain in Russia, continuing his research and political activities. He steadfastly advocates for peaceful and deliberative means of resistance. Nevertheless, he is currently expected to remain in detention until September 24. Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) strongly condemns the arrest and mistreatment of Boris Kagarlitsky and other academics, journalists, and civilians who have been detained for merely expressing their opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the multiple crimes against humanity committed by Russian forces. ESW urgently calls upon all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and individuals dedicated to the promotion and defense of human rights to protest Kagarlitsky's detention and impending sentencing. Our collective solidarity is essential in safeguarding the principles of freedom of expression and ensuring the protection of human rights. For more, see: https://www.euronews.com/2023/07/27/prominent-kremlin-critic-boris-kagarlitsky-detained-for-calling-for-terrorism-online https://www.thenation.com/article/world/boris-kagarlitsky-detained-russia/ https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/07/26/russian-anti-war-sociologist-charged-with-justifying-terrorism-a81969 https://jacobin.com/2023/07/russia-boris-kagarlitsky-marxist-sociologist-detained-repression

Photo Credits: OCCRP Endangered Scholars Worldwide learned that on July 23rd, 2023, a fellow New University in Exile member, Azerbaijani economist and opposition party leader, Gubad Ibadoghlu was detained on currency charges upon his arrival back into Azerbaijan. According to Reuters, Azerbaijani police claim to have found $40,000 in an apartment registered under Dr. Ibadoghlu’s name in violation of a law on counterfeit currency (it is not clear if the currency allegedly found there is counterfeit). According to his lawyer, Zibeyda Sadigova, the court ordered him to remain in detention for 3 months and 26 days as he awaits trial. Gubad Ibadoghlu, who is the head of the Democracy and Welfare Party, denies the accusation. Dr. Ibadoghlu's party is not represented in the parliament of Azerbaijan, a country led by its authoritarian President Ilham Aliyev. Dr. Ibadoghlu is an internationally respected economist having most recently been a Visiting Fellow and Senior Economist at the London School of Economics from September 2021 to June 2023. Previously, he was a Senior Visiting Scholar at the Rutgers University Center for European Studies, a Visiting Researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, and a Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy. He is a member of International Board for Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (EITI); Chairman of Board of Azerbaijan Think Tank Alliance (ATTA), member of Strategy Advisory Board of CAREC Think Tank Network (CTTN), member of Working Groups on "Grand Corruption and State Capture" and "Asset Stolen Recovery" of the UNCAC Coalition – Association for the Implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption and local expert in Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan (IAP) 5th Round of Monitoring Assessment Framework of the OECD. Endangered Scholars Worldwide is deeply concerned with Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu’s detention and condemns his arbitrary detainment and charges under which he is held. We call on the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release Dr. Ibadoghlu and to fulfill its obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that that enshrines the right to free association and of which Azerbaijan is a signatory. ESW calls upon all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights and academic freedom to strongly protest and condemn the actions of Aliyev’s regime; and to appeal for Dr. Ibadoghlu’s immediate and unconditional release.

School employees and librarians in the United States are increasingly concerned over the new state legislations across the country targeting academic freedom and freedom of information. States that have introduced new restrictive bills include: Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. The previously protected parties exempt from obscenity laws, such as teachers, librarians, and other educators, will now be held criminally liable for the reading materials provided to children under these new laws. The penalty varies according to the state and can range from $10,000 to $103,000 fines and 2 ½ to 10 years in prison. The laws come at time when there is already Republican party pressure to remove books from campuses and libraries, primarily ones concerning issues of race, racism, and LGBTQ+ identities. PEN America reports that conservatives have called for the banning of over 1,600 titles, and want to hold librarians and school employees criminally liable if they fail to remove these banned books from their shelves. We know that school and public libraries are already removing books that grapple with the subjects of sexuality, gender, race, racism, and violence, from their shelves at the direction of school principals or preemptively on their own. Organizations such as the American Library Association, Authors Guild, PEN America, Penguin Random House are bringing lawsuits to courts challenging the constitutionality of book bans and the legislations that criminalizes the librarians, school employees, and other educators for providing “obscene” books. Most of the new laws do not define what will be considered “obscene” and “harmful to minors”, using vague language which is often subjective. In an effort to combat book banning, some states have started to propose anti-book banning legislation following Illinois, which has been the first state to sign such legislation. Under the new Illinois law, public libraries will only have access to public grants if they adopt the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights, which states that materials cannot be removed from public library shelves due to “partisan disapproval.” New Jersey is the latest state to propose similar anti-book ban legislation, following Illinois, New York, and Connecticut. Endangered Scholars Worldwide unequivocally condemns the censorship of books. and is particularly concerned about the banning of books dealing with gender, sexuality, race, and racism. We at ESW emphatically condemn the move to hold educators and librarians criminally liable for providing books to students and recognizes the right to free speech as fundamental and the censorship of books as an infringement of the First Amendment. Sources and further readings: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/05/18/school-librarians-jailed-banned-books/ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/may/31/librarians-sue-arkansas-state-over-law-banning-them-from-giving-obscene-books-to-children https://www.reuters.com/world/us/illinois-becomes-first-state-pass-law-curtailing-book-bans-2023-06-13/ https://bookriot.com/new-jersey-proposes-anti-book-ban-legislation/ https://pen.org/report/banned-in-the-usa-state-laws-supercharge-book-suppression-in-schools/