NEAR Newsletter June 2003
Welcome to the NEAR Newsletter. In this edition you will find our most recent Action Alerts and also an ‘Academic Freedom in the Media’ section, listing news by country (June 2003). Any comments and suggestions about the content and layout of the newsletter will be gratefully received at roisin.joyce@nearinternational.org.
NEAR Action Alerts *Taken from the NEAR website
Burma (Myanmar): Burma (Myanmar) Closes Education Facilities
The military authorities in Burma have ordered the indefinite closure of universities and colleges yesterday, 1 June 2003. A BBC reporter stated that university campuses have been at the centre of political activity, and the authorities are worried that students may organise protests. Professors have reported to Associated Press that they had been told to close Universities and collages on Sunday just a day before the start of the semester.
Zimbabwe: Zimbabwean Students Arrested & Beaten
In what promises to be one of the most challenging week for Zimbabwe, the Student Union informs that four students from the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) and seven from the Harare Polytechnic were arrested the 31st May 2003 over allegations that they were organising students to participate in the impending mass action called by the Movement for Democratic Change(MDC).
Zimbabwe: "I will face the gun to fight for academic freedom"
Tapera Kapuya, the former Secretary General of the University of Zimbabwe Student Union, featured previously in several NEAR alerts today published an article in the Times Higher Education Supplement. The complete article follow below. ‘This has been a critical week for Zimbabwe as the opposition mobilised against the government of Robert Mugabe.
Israel / Palestine: Two UK-Students Disappear in Israel
The Guardian (UK) reported today that Mr Chaudhry and Mr Ghani, two Medical Students from the University of Birmingham, have been reported missing after being arrested and then released by Israeli officials. BACKGROUND: Ayaz Ghani and Tahseen Chaudhry, both 23, who had been working in South Africa as part of their course, were detained on 24th May 2003 as they tried to enter Israeli-controlled land.
Israel / Palestine: Released UK-Students Plan to Sue Israeli Authorities
Ayaz Ghani and Tahseen Chaudhry have returned to Great Britain. The two, medical students at Birmingham University, were reported disappeared after being arrested and then released by Israeli officials on 9 June 2003. Israeli authorities detained the students for 11 days, reportedly in separate detention cells, and continuously interrogated them.
Iran: After Violent Student Protests Iran's Intellectuals challenge Supreme Leader Khameini
More than 250 university lecturers, students and writers in Iran signed a statement calling on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to become more secular. The statement was published in the reformist newspaper Yas-e-nou today and made available to the Associated Press. "Considering individuals to be in the position of a divinity and absolute power .
Iran: Mass Arrests of Students and Student Leaders in Iran
Iranian security services have detained about 80 Students in the wake of recent anti-clerical protests in Iran lasting 10 days. The protests were a direct challenge to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and led to violent clashes between vigilantes, protesters and police. Yesterday Abdollah Momeni, a student leader, was arrested on the campus of Teheran University.
** Please continue to send us any relevant cases involving threats to academic freedom and education rights, for potential alerts.
The Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR) is a membership-based, non-governmental organisation which facilitates international collaboration between organisations active in issues of academic freedom and educational rights, and committed to promoting an understanding of, and respect for, the values enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
For more information about NEAR, please visit our website at www.nearinternational.org
For further information please contact:-
Roisin Joyce
Deputy Director
roisin.joyce@nearinternational.org