NEAR Newsletter December 2006
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 2006). 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
Iraq: Chemistry Lecturer Arrested
Dr Haussain Al Kafaji, a lecturer of chemistry in Babylon University- Iraq, was arrested in a joint operation by the US/ Scorpion unit - Iraqi special forces. The Brussels Tribunal is concerned by the treatment that Dr Al Kafaji could receive while under detention by the Scorpion special forces unit, it reports that their detainees rarely ever resurface unharmed if not killed and mutilated bodies dumped in the rubbish tips.
Afghanistan: Women Teachers Targeted and Killed
Five people belonging to the same family where killed in their house on 9 December 2006 by Taliban militants. Two sisters of the family worked as teachers. They were killed because of their jobs, it is reported that they were warned in a letter to quit teaching. The two dead sisters brought to 20 the number of teachers killed in Taliban attacks this year, said Zuhur Afghan, the spokesman of the Education Ministry.
Iran: Students Flee Fearing for their Lifes
It is reported that after last weeks protests staged against Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, some Iranian student activists have gone into hiding in fear for their lives: supporters of the President have allegedly threatened them with revenge. The Guardian newspaper reports that one student fled after being photographed holding a banner reading, "Fascist president, the polytechnic is not for you", during Mr Ahmadinejad's visit to Tehran's Amir Kabir 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