On August 9, Salma al-Shehab, an activist and PhD candidate at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, was sentenced to 34 years in prison, along with a 34-year travel ban, by a Saudi Arabian appeals court. The decision was based solely on al-Shehab’s political comments on Twitter, which included following and retweeting the cases of Saudi Arabian political prisoners and exiles, such as that of Loujain al-Hathloul, a Saudi Arabian feminist activist who had been previously imprisoned and currently lives under a travel ban. Al-Shebab had returned to Saudi Arabia from the United Kingdom in January 2021 when she was called in for questioning by Saudi authorities and then subsequently arrested and tried for her social media activity. The appealed decision came after an initial 6-year sentence in late 2021. The latest sentence she has received is the longest given to any activist or dissident in Saudi Arabia and, according to the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), indicates “an escalation in the Saudi government's crackdown against people who challenge its narrative.” The draconian sentence against her is one of many that evidence Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “relentless crackdown on dissent,” especially through social media sites like Twitter. According to The Guardian, the targeting of users who have expressed political criticism online has been made possible through applications like Kollona Amn, which enables Saudi Arabian citizens to report any kind of criminal activity, including any online “attacks,” “defamation,” or “penetration of social media accounts.” The article relays that an app user reported al-Shebab’s account only two months before her arrest. Organizations like Human Rights Watch have been outspoken against what they describe as the “flagrant abuse” of provisions in Saudi counterterrorism laws that violate rights to free expression and perpetuate the surveillance systems exacerbated by instruments like Kollona Amn. Human rights groups have been critical of the lack of punitive action taken by the United States and France, both of whom in recent months have welcomed exchanges with the Crown Prince. Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) adamantly calls for the Saudi Arabian government to immediately release and drop these egregious and unjust charges against Salma al-Shehab. ESW is deeply concerned about the ongoing exaggerated detentions of academics, students, and activists in Saudi Arabia that continue to deprive citizens of their rights to free expression and free association, conduct that is expressly protected under international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. ESW urges all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights to write to the following representatives and to the diplomatic missions of Saudi Arabia in your respective countries urging the Saudi government to drop the charges and immediately release Salma al-Shehab. Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasseriya Street Riyadh 11124 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Fax: +966 1 403 0645 Walid bin Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Samaani Minister of Justice PO Box 58889, Bldg. 373 King Fahad Road Riyadh 11515 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Fax: +966 1 4612061

Women gathered in Kabul, Afghanistan, demanding the right to work, study, and participate in politics Photo credit: Nava Jamshidi/Getty Images On August 13, 2022, days before the first anniversary of the marginal Islamist movement’s return to power, a rally was held in Kabul, Afghanistan, by a group of female protesters. In order to disperse protesters who were chanting “bread, work, and freedom” in front of the Ministry of Education building, the Taliban fighters fired into the air and physically assaulted protesters. As an AFP correspondent reported, some journalists who were covering the demonstration were also beaten by the Taliban fighters, and many protesters' mobile phones and banners were confiscated. Since seizing control on August 15, 2021, following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban government has violently eliminated the individual and civic rights gained by women in the past two decades. While the Taliban government has allowed some rallies against the US, they have declined permission for any rally for women’s rights since they returned to power. Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) stands by the students and scholars of Afghanistan whose academic and personal lives have been at risk since the Taliban takeover. We condemn the Taliban’s decision to refuse women and girls above the sixth grade an opportunity to go to school. In order to support Afghan scholars, students, and civilians around the world, we have compiled a list of resources available through the New University in Exile Consortium and the larger academic and activist communities. To learn more about the Consortium’s efforts to help Afghan girls and women, who are disproportionately targeted by the Taliban regime, see the New York Times article written by Maddy Crowell.

Colleagues of Adelkhah hold placards depicting her as they gather in Paris on January 13, 2022. Photo credit || Thomas Coex, AFP On August 9, 2022, a day after the US-led negotiations with Tehran to revive the 2015 nuclear deal were concluded in Vienna, Iranian authorities released Iranian-French academic Fariba Adelkhah on furlough for five days, with the possibility of renewal. Adelkhah is an anthropologist at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po), whose research focuses on Shia clergy in Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. She was arrested in Tehran in 2019 along with the French sociologist Roland Marchal, and sentenced to five years in prison on national security charges. While Marchal was released in March 2020, after France freed Iranian engineer Jalal Ruhollahnejad, Adelkhah stayed in prison for three years. According to the Fariba Adelkhah and Roland Marchal Support Committee, the latest furlough decision provides only “temporary relief from [Adelkhah’s] suffering.”[1] Adelkhah is not the only dual national imprisoned by Iranian authorities. Ahmedreza Djalali, Swedish-Iranian dual citizen and scholar of disaster medicine, has also been imprisoned on politically motivated, unsubstantiated charges and, according to the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights officials,[2] he confessed to the espionage charges under torture. Djalali was sentenced to death in 2017 and since then has been frequently threatened with imminent execution. We at Endangered Scholars Worldwide condemn the arbitrary detention of scholars in Iran and urge the Iranian 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 Iranian authorities. [1]https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-releases-iranian-french-academic-adelkhah-furlough-lawyer-2022-08-09/ [2] https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefing-notes/2022/05/imminent-execution-iran

In a victory for academic freedom, Ahmed Samir Santawy, a graduate student who was recently sentenced to three years in prison by an Egyptian court, was pardoned by the President of Egypt on July 29. Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) has repeatedly protested Santawy’s detainment that was based on false and politically-motivated charges related to his scholarship on women’s reproductive rights and his alleged criticisms of the Egyptian government’s human rights violations. Santawy was held in jail for over 18 months, where he was physically mistreated and denied a fair trial. A master’s student at Central European University, Santawy was one of seven prisoners granted a presidential pardon, a group which included a journalist and political activist. It remains to be seen, however, if further action will be taken on behalf of the numerous other scholars and students whose academic and civic freedoms were and continue to be repeatedly violated by the Egyptian state. As previously reported by ESW, the Middle East Studies Association has circulated a letter detailing the cases of academics in Egypt whose cases emblematize the state’s persistent attacks on rights to free thought and free expression. Santawy was one such case. ESW continues to call for the Egyptian government to immediately release and drop the charges against the remaining detained scholars and students, including Ismail Alexandrani, Marwa Arafa, Ahmed Al Tohamy Abdel-Hay, and Patrick George Zaki. We also support the recommendation of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD), which upon declaring that the Egyptian government arbitrarily detained Santawy, has demanded that the authorities provide him with “necessary compensation” and “take necessary measures against those who were responsible for violating his rights.” While we celebrate Santawy’s freedom and his return to university, ESW urges all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights to write to the following representatives and to the diplomatic missions of Egypt in your respective countries urging the Egyptian government to drop the charges and immediately release the remaining detainees. Ambassador Yasser Reda Egyptian Embassy to the United States 3521 International Ct. NW Washington DC 20008 USA Email: contact@egyptembassy.net Website: http://www.egyptembassy.net Mohamed Fathi Ahmed Edrees Egyptian Permanent Representative to the United Nations United Nations 800 Second Avenue New York, NY 10017 USA

In an urgent appeal to Egyptian leaders and authorities, the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) has circulated a letter demanding the release of several detained Egyptian scholars and students whose academic and civic freedoms were repeatedly violated by the state. In the last few years, the Egyptian court system has accused many academics of unsubstantiated, politically motivated charges that have resulted in their mistreatment and, in some cases, the deterioration of their health. The letter, which can be found here, outlines six different profiles, including Ahmed Samir Santawy, whose case Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) has closely monitored. Having been detained since February 2021, Santawy was recently re-sentenced to three years in prison. He was initially investigated by Egyptian authorities for his research on women’s reproductive rights and his alleged social media posts that were critical of the Egyptian state’s human rights violations. Ismail Alexandrani, a sociopolitical researcher and investigative journalist, was arrested in 2015 on baseless charges of spreading false news abroad. Marwa Arafa, a translator, and Dr. Ahmed Al Tohamy Abdel-Hay, an assistant professor of political science, have faced numerous renewed detention sentences without trial. A PhD candidate at the University of Washington, Waleed Khalil el-Sayed Salem, continues to face a travel ban without having been charged with a crime, while Patrick George Zaki, a student at the University of Bologna, waits for an impending trial. ESW also reported on Zaki’s case in March of 2020. For a full explanation of their cases, please see MESA’s letter here. Like MESA, ESW is committed to raising public awareness and support for intellectuals, academics, researchers, and students who have been threatened, silenced, or imprisoned simply for doing their scholarly work or speaking out against the injustices around them. In this case, the repeated injustices perpetrated against Egyptian scholars and students are highly alarming and demand close attention from the global academic community. As MESA notes, these restrictions on academic freedom in Egypt constitute violations of the 2014 Egyptian Constitution’s Article 65, which guarantees freedom of speech and freedom in all means of expression and publications, and of Article 23, which provides for freedom of scientific research. ESW supports MESA’s call for the Egyptian government to immediately release and drop the charges against Ahmed Samir Santawy, Ismail Alexandrani, Marwa Arafa, Ahmed Al Tohamy Abdel-Hay, and Patrick George Zaki. We echo MESA’s demand to allow Waleed Salem to move freely and reunite with this family and continue his studies. ESW urges all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights to write to the following representatives and to the diplomatic missions of Egypt in your respective countries urging the Egyptian government to drop the charges and immediately release these detainees: Ambassador Yasser Reda Egyptian Embassy to the United States 3521 International Ct. NW Washington DC 20008 USA Email: contact@egyptembassy.net Website: http://www.egyptembassy.net Mohamed Fathi Ahmed Edrees Egyptian Permanent Representative to the United Nations United Nations 800 Second Avenue New York, NY 10017 USA

In a retrial on July 4th, Ahmed Samir Santawy, a master’s student at Central European University (CEU), was re-sentenced to three years in prison by an Egyptian State Security Emergency Misdemeanor Court on the charge of “spreading false news.” Santawy has been detained since February 2021 and has withstood unjust trials and punishments for his research, which focuses on women’s rights and reproductive rights in Egypt. His conviction was also prompted by social media posts in which he allegedly criticized human rights violations in Egyptian prisons and the state’s mishandling of the pandemic, though Santawy has denied writing the posts. Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) has closely monitored Santawy’s case since his initial four-year prison sentence in June of 2021 and then his retrial, which was postponed multiple times, until May 2022. Throughout his detainment, Santawy was beaten and blindfolded for days on end, and in June 2021, he went on hunger strike for 40 days to protest his first sentencing, which led to the quick deterioration of his health and subsequently, his hospitalization. Since the announcement of his retrial, he has been kept in solitary confinement. In a recent press release, CEU’s Rector, Shalini Randeria, called Santawy’s sentencing a “mockery of justice,” describing him as a “prisoner of conscience” sent to jail for “exercising his freedom of opinion and expression as a researcher and as a private citizen.” Mohamed Abd El-Salam, executive director at Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, has also stated that “Santawy’s case is a part of the crackdown on Egyptian academics, especially those who belong to the Western academic institutions.” ESW condemns the Egyptian court’s ruling and denounces the Egyptian authorities’ excessive use of repressive measures including indefinite pre-trial detention, arbitrary revival of cases, and harassment to silence Santawy’s freedom of expression as a scholar and a private citizen, which is protected under both the Egyptian Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Egypt is a party. We at ESW join other parties in strongly calling upon the Egyptian government to immediately drop the politically motivated sentences against Ahmed Samir Santawy and others facing similar charges and demand their immediate and unconditional release. Please write to the following representatives and to the diplomatic missions of Egypt in your respective countries urging the Egyptian government to drop the charges and immediately release Ahmed Samir Santawy and other detainees: Ambassador Yasser Reda Egyptian Embassy to the United States 3521 International Ct. NW Washington DC 20008 USA Email: contact@egyptembassy.net Website: http://www.egyptembassy.net Mohamed Fathi Ahmed Edrees Egyptian Permanent Representative to the United Nations United Nations 800 Second Avenue New York, NY 10017 USA

On June 9th, the International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India (InSAF India) initiated a petition to the Chief Justice of India calling for the release of Professor Gokarakonda Naga Saibaba due to concerns over his worsening health and well-being that have been exacerbated by the prison system’s failure to provide appropriate treatment of his medical conditions. Professor Saibaba is a scholar of English literature, who was formerly employed at Delhi University. As a prominent activist for democratic rights and oppressed groups in India, he was sentenced to life in prison on March 7, 2017, for his alleged connections with the banned Communist Party of India. According to Scholars at Risk, his trial was “replete with procedural violations,” which included a lack of credible evidence, illegal searches, and recanted testimonies. The unjust detention and sentencing have been described as “retaliation for his nonviolent exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association,” liberties which are protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India is a party. He has spent the last five years in the maximum security Anda Cell in the Nagpur Central Prison in the State of Maharashtra, known for its excruciating conditions. Professor Saibaba is 90% physically disabled and suffers from 19 chronic and acute medical conditions, several of which are life-threatening and require immediate medical attention. According to InSAF India, especially after his hunger strike in May, Professor Saibaba’s health continues to deteriorate due to “neglect and proper care,” having contracted COVID-19 twice and developed life-threatening acute pancreatitis and painful gallstones. Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) endorses InSAF India’s petition in support of Professor Saibaba’s release and calls upon all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights to sign on to their call to action on behalf of Professor Saibaba. We remain deeply concerned for Professor Saibaba’s well-being and that of other wrongly detained academics who advocate for the social rights and liberties of oppressed groups. We at ESW urge the Indian authorities to implement the provisions and principles of human rights as specified in international conventions and treaties, and to administer adequate medical care and drop any charges against Professor Saibaba that are in violation of his rights to free expression and association. The petition continues to be circulated by Freedom Now, PEN International, and Scholars at Risk, along with a multitude of other organizations. InSAF India’s Petition is linked here.

On June 16, two unnamed students were killed by the Lesotho Mounted Police Service during a protest against the recent reduction of student grants at the National University of Lesotho. Student activists alleged that the Lesotho police fired fatal shots into the group of protestors without warning and wounded numerous others. The demonstration was organized by students after the National Manpower Development Secretariat cut students' monthly stipends by more than 50 percent. The stipends were cut from ZAR 1,050 (US $66) per month to ZAR 500. According to one student interviewed by News24, they were “not given a reason why the money was cut.” A representative from the Human Rights and Access to Justice Department, Transformation Resource Centre said the actions by the police were in violation of the United Nations’ basic principles on the use of firearms by law enforcement agents. The delegation of the European Union in Lesotho additionally called for the police officers responsible for the deaths to be held accountable. Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) supports these calls to action and condemns the Lesotho police brutality that resulted in the deaths and injuries of student protestors. ESW remains deeply concerned about violence targeting university students who exercise their freedom of speech to draw attention to unexplained injustices. We at ESW stand in solidarity with those who strive for their rights and freedoms in Lesotho and call upon all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights to strongly protest the Lesotho government’s failure to protect its students’ lives and voices. References “Police under fire for deaths of two students during protests,” University World News “Lesotho police under fire for allegedly shooting, killing university students during protest,” News24

As the Pride Month has been acknowledged and celebrated worldwide, the Turkish government, among many other authoritarian regimes, has been taking legal and sometimes violent physical action to prevent peaceful LGBTQI gatherings. Higher education institutions are among the primary battlefields for autocratic governments to tame and intimidate opposition and to reinforce a monolithic understanding of individual rights and freedoms. Some of detained METU students after their release || Photo credit: METU LGBTQI Twitter Account On June 10, 2022, students at Turkey’s prestigious Middle East Technical University (METU) held a peaceful pride march on campus, which received a disproportionately violent response and resulted in the detention of twenty students. Before the Pride march, the university’s government-appointed rector had released a statement to the university community, banishing any gathering on campus to celebrate this divisive, polarizing, and potentially conflict-generating event, which would harm the school’s prestigious image, and warned those who plan on participating that “all kinds of security measures'' would be taken to prevent it. The march was held by the university's long-running LGBTQI organization Solidarity Club after a two-year hiatus, which was forced by the same university administration soon after their appointment by President Erdogan, despite the faculty’s resistance to admit an unelected rector. METU has a long and rich history as a progressive, democratic institution, which fought long for the institutional autonomy as well as the freedom of speech and association of its students and faculty. Before the police attack on the protesters with plastic bullets and tear gas started, the Solidarity Club members read a statement in support of the students in Istanbul, Izmir, and Eskisehir, who got detained and/or beaten up during similar peaceful public gatherings in the past month. They also condemned the government intervention in higher education institutions and the state-appointed, unelected rector, for acting as the spokesperson of the government. We at the Endangered Scholars Worldwide stand in solidarity with those who strive for their legally entrenched and internationally protected rights and freedoms. ESW condemns the Turkish government’s recurring attacks on academic freedom and the autonomy of higher education institutions in Turkey. The ongoing tensions in Turkey have had a profoundly negative effect on academic freedom and continue to pose a grave threat to higher education on a national scale. ESW urges the Turkish authorities to respect and guarantee the autonomy of higher education in Turkey and to implement the provisions and principles of human rights as specified in international conventions and treaties, and to drop any charges against the accused arising from their nonviolent exercise of the rights to expression, association, and assembly.

Following the unexplained disappearance of two Pakistani university students, Doda Ellahi and Ghamshad Baloch, on June 7, a group that had gathered outside of Sindh Assembly in Pakistan for a sit-in to protest their disappearance was attacked by Karachi police officers who were accused of using excessive force. According to The Print, 28 protestors were arrested and later released on June 13. Organizers who witnessed the arrests accused police of “manhandling” men, women, and youth. Video shot at the moment officials arrived shows officers running up to protestors and dragging them along the ground. Doda and Ghamshad, philosophy students at the University of Karachi, remained missing until June 14, the day after the arrests were made. The chairman of the organization, Voice of Balochistan Missing Persons, stated that both Doda and Ghamshad are Baloch and “belong to the Kech district of Balochistan.” Protestors claimed that the students were taken by the Karachi police’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), which the CTD denied. Activist Seemi Din Baloch said she believed the pair was taken because “being Baloch was a crime.” “If they had not been Baloch,” she said, “they would not have been taken away.” Tensions between the Pakistani government and Baloch people have been ongoing. The Balochistan region stretches across Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, the latter of which annexed a portion as a province in 1948. Since this accession, the Baloch Insurgency, as it has been named, has continued to advocate separatism and statehood for the Baloch people. This has resulted in an “enduring armed and nationalist conflict” between the insurgents and the Pakistani government. One of the many consequences of this on-going conflict has been a noticeable increase in the number of missing Balochs. According to scholar Umbreen Javaid, “[Pakistani] intelligence agencies have allegedly been picking up people and holding them in custody ad infinitum in order to subdue the insurgency in the province.” In May, The Wire reported that 53,000 Baloch people have been abducted and continue to be taken from their homes, according to records kept by Voice for Baloch Missing Persons. The report comes nearly three years after the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan initially assessed that 47,000 Baloch were reported missing. These numbers have been contested by the state, which claims to associate Baloch people’s disappearances with involvement in terrorist activities, though there is little to no evidence to support the truth of these allegations. Former councilman Mir Muhammad Talpur reiterated that “intellectuals or educated persons” who continue to “question the state” on Baloch abductions are also perceived as “dangerous.” While Baloch students have been kidnapped before, these two recent abductions sparked particular outrage after CTD officials allegedly retracted a promise to arrange a meeting with family of the missing students. Subsequently, over 100 protestors composed of relatives, community members, and activists began their demonstrations outside of the Karachi Press Club late last week before marching towards Sindh Assembly on Sunday, where a budget session was scheduled to take place. It was here, Dawn reported, where the footage was taken of police “dragging peaceful protestors and stuffing them into police vans.” A Karachi police officer denied that demonstrators were “treated roughly.” Climate Change Minister and senior Pakistan People’s Party leader Sherry Rehman has since announced that she has ordered an inquiry into the “disproportionate and unseemly use of force against women protesters in Karachi.” Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) remains deeply concerned about the disappearances of Baloch students, the abuses of protestors aiming to raise awareness on the matter, and endangered academics who question state behavior. ESW calls upon all international organzations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights to strongly protest and condemn these infringements and failures of the state to protect students’ right to live safely and protestors’ right to speak freely. ESW urges the Pakistani government to honor its international and constitutional obligations to respect, guarantee, and implement the provisions and principles of human rights. References and Further Reading “Karachi police arrest 28 protesters demonstrating over ‘missing’ Baloch students,” The Print “Protest outside Sindh Assembly in Karachi against ‘missing’ Baloch students,” Dawn ‘Missing Baloch students Doda Ellahi and Ghamshad return home: activist,” Dawn “Police arrest 28 protestors demonstrating against ‘missing’ Baloch students outside Sindh Assembly,” Dawn “‘Missing’ Baloch students return home,” Pakistan Today “Protest outside SA against missing Baloch students,” The Nation “'Tell Us Whether We Are Orphans': In Pakistan, No Respite for Families of Baloch Missing Persons,” The Wire “Baloch students protest repeated enforced disappearances,” People’s Dispatch “A Brief History of Balochistan’s Separatist Movement,” India Times “Concerns of Balochistan: Effects and Implications on Federation of Pakistan” Journal of Political Studies

Photo credit: KIKA In May 2022, Scholars at Risk (SAR) and the Indonesian Caucus for Academic Freedom (KIKA) submitted a report on the status of human right and academic freedom in Indonesia to the United Nations Periodic Review, in preparation of the next annual United Nations Human Rights Council review meeting in November. The joint report has highlighted “a pattern of repression targeting outspoken scholars and students”[1] in addition to institutional and legal pressures that have severely compromised the autonomy of higher education. As a national coalition of scholars, researchers, and students who strive for human rights and academic freedom, KIKA has, since 2018, been a central part of academic solidarity networks in Indonesia. KIKA’s task forces address a wide spectrum of issues from sexual violence on campus and student movements to policy orientation for higher education and academic integrity and culture. The joint report indicates that there has been an increase in attacks on academic freedom and higher education institutions since March 2017, as the Indonesian government increased pressure on higher education institutions to punish and silence dissent, inquiry, critical thinking, overall, and academic freedom as an integral part of freedom of speech. According to the KIKA-SAR joint research that has extensively monitored academic freedom violations in Indonesia as part of SAR’s global Academic Freedom Monitoring Project, in the past five years, students faced arrest and police violence more frequently, along with a striking increase in the number of university disciplinary actions to intimidate students and faculty, who are critical of the government. Moreover, increasing number of attacks on Papuan students and faculty have raised concerns over racism and discrimination in higher education. Besides brutal attacks, scholars in Indonesia have also been targeted with criminal legal actions, civil lawsuits, death threats and harassment in response to their academic expression. Some of these civil lawsuits against scholars criminalized expert testimony in legal proceedings given by academics. These lawsuits discourage scholars from offering their expertise and subsequently cut the ties between academia and the public. Law professor Eva Achjani Zulfa and Moeflich Hasbullah, a senior lecturer of social sciences, are among the latest victims of this legal intimidation strategy of the Indonesian government. Zulfa was put on trial for her expert testimony in an embezzlement case in 2020, and Hasbullah for his expert opinion on the Islamic terrorist organization Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia in 2017. Endangered Scholars Worldwide forcefully condemns the ongoing detention, persecution, conviction, and brutal treatment of students, activists, and journalists by the Indonesian government and stands in solidarity with Indonesian people in their struggle for freedom and a peaceful transition to democracy. The widespread arrests, trials, and imprisonments of Indonesia’s students are particularly appalling. As a member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), whose Human Rights Declaration provides for the right to education (Article 31), the right to “enjoy [...] the benefits of scientific progress and its applications” (Article 32), and freedom of opinion and expression (Article 23), the Indonesian government must honor its constitutional and international legal commitments by reinstating academic freedom and university autonomy in the country. ESW calls upon all international organizations, academic and professional associations, and other groups and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights to strongly protest and condemn this arbitrary incarceration; to ask for Indonesian scholars’ and students’ immediate and unconditional release; and to urge the officials of the Indonesian government to release all political prisoners, especially those who pose no threat to the public. [1] Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Indonesia by Scholars at Risk and the Indonesian Caucus for Academic Freedom. Fourth Review Cycle, 41st Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine heads into its fifth month, Russian academics who have protested Russia’s perpetration of war continue to be punished by the state’s government and higher education administrators in the forms of reprisals, firings, fines, and arrests. While the numbers of those punished are estimated to be at least in the dozens, Amnesty International’s Acting Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Bruce Millar, suggests that it is “impossible to know how many teachers or students have been expelled” for “expressing anti-war views” (1). Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) last reported on Russia’s attempts to stamp out dissent in late April, after Russian legislation restricted free speech by instating prison sentences of up to fifteen years for citizens who speak against Russia’s invasion. Students who had participated in anti-war protests had been expelled or threatened with expulsion by their universities in an effort to combat political dissent. Now, scholars employed by institutions such as Volgograd State University and Higher School of Economics (HSE) are facing similar repercussions. Academics who publicly oppose the war in Ukraine are at risk of “administrative arrests” or “extortionate fines,” as well as firings (1). Amnesty International reported that one instructor, Roman Melnichenko, a former Associate Professor at Volgograd State University, had been fired in April for an “immoral disciplinary offense” that “violated ethical and moral norms” after posting an anti-war message on a Russian social network (1). Another academic, Dmitry Dubrovsky, a former Associate Professor in the School of Politics and Governance at HSE, was also informed that “his teaching contract would not be extended.” Dubrovsky believed the university’s decision was motivated by a desire to foreclose “political risks” associated with his human rights activism and research (2). Millar reiterated this in a statement, explaining that “academic freedoms are…being stamped out” as scholars are “forced to spread anti-Ukrainian propaganda and glorify Russia’s ‘special operation in Ukraine’ — or else lose their jobs” (1). Some HSE academics, like Maria Mayofis and Ilya Kukulin, have proactively opted for the latter. The husband and wife left Russia in March and resigned from their positions shortly thereafter. When asked if they were going to return to Russia, Mayofis told The Moscow Times that they would not “if the political situation did not change” (2). Even though the futures of dissident academics remain in peril, some anti-war scholars have banded together to work against the pro-war monopoly. The New York Times reported that “a group of Russian researchers started circulating a list of dozens of candidates who have publicly supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine” in hopes that doing so will deny those who back the war from being elected to the Russian Academy of Sciences this month (3). ESW forcefully condemns the ongoing violations against the academic and civil freedoms of Russian students and scholars who stand with Ukrainians and denounce the Russian regime’s war. These abuses compromise the intellectual and moral liberties of academics around the world. 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 the Ukrainian people to also protest these violations and expulsions. Please continue to circulate and sign the New University in Exile Consortium’s Ukraine Statement of Support. Additional resources to help Ukrainian students and scholars can be found in our earlier post here. References Russia: Educators fired, students indoctrinated — academia is the latest victim of the ongoing crackdown The Decline of HSE: Top Russian University Stifles Dissent Amid Ukraine War Russian Academics Aim to Punish Colleagues Who Backed Ukraine Invasion