NEAR Newsletter March 2005
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 (March 2005). 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
Botswana: Prof. Good Allowed to Stay in Botswana Until Deportation Case is Discussed
Professor Kenneth Good, an Australian citizen facing deportation in Botswana, has been allowed to remain in the country until the final determination of his case, which commences on 7 March 2005. Please find below the Statement issued by the Attorney General’s Chambers on the matter on 28 February 2005.
Iran: Continued Clampdown on Iranian Student Dissidents
The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN call on Iranian authorities to release the cyber dissidents that have been imprisoned in recent weeks. The use of the internet in Iran has grown extremely rapidly in recent years. As traditional print-forms of communication such as journals and newspapers have been closed down by the Iranian authorities-as many as 100 publications are believed to have been banned in the past five years-the internet has become an alternative medium for exchanging views.
Russia: AAAS: "Release Russian Scientist Dr Kaibyshev"
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has issued an action alert concerning the case of Dr Kaibyshev, Russian scientist accused of espionage and facing 10 years of imprisonment. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: In February 2005, the Russian Security Forces (known by their Russian acronym, FSB) detained and interrogated Dr.
Israel / Palestine: Palestinian Students Fight For Access To Education
The Right to Education Campaign at Birzeit University has launched a campaign for the right to education of Palestinian students. The organisation focuses on the cases of the four Gaza students detained and released last November and on the general issue of access to education in the country. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: In November 2004 four students of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at Birzeit University, West Bank were arrested and detained for three days.
Saudi Arabia: Academic’s Detention in Saudi Arabia: One Year On
Academic Dr. Matrouq al-Faleh and the poet Ali al-Domaini are still in detention in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia after one year. International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee renews its call for the men's release. Dr. al-Faleh is a former political science teacher at the King Sa'ud University in Riyadh and has published a number of books.
** 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