NEAR Newsletter December 2004
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 (December 2004). 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
Israel / Palestine: Birzeit University Students Arrested and Held for Three Days without Charge
Four students of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at Birzeit University, West Bank have been arrested and detained for three days with no charges. The Right to Education Campaign at Birzeit University has launched an appeal calling human rights organisations and institutions to write and ask that these students should be granted permission to return to Birzeit University and it is also calling to the attention of the public the problems that Palestinian students face in order to pursue further education.
China: Teacher Jailed For Reporting on Human Rights Violations
Human rights activist in China face great risks in speaking out and fighting. Amnesty International’s latest report examines the situation and argues that although the Chinese constitution grantees the right to petition the authorities and today, more and more individuals and groups are working to protect human rights, yet they continue to operate in a climate of mistrust and hostility
Russia: "Government Campaign To Initimidate Scientists"
The American Association of Advancement of Science (AAAS) has issued an action alert regarding the case of Russian physicist Dr. Valentin Danilov, who, in November 2004, was sentenced to 14 years in a maximum-security prison. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Dr. Danilov, former head of the Thermo-Physics Center at Krasnoyarsk State Technical University, was found guilty of espionage and embezzling funds earlier that month.
Belarus: Call to Release Nuclear Scientist
Professor Yury Bandazhevsky, nuclear scientist, former rector of the Gomel Medical Institute and author of numerous books on the effects of radioactive emissions on individuals, was arrested on 13 July 1999 on suspicion of bribery. He remains detained, serving a sentence which is not due to expire until January 2006.
** 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