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March 12 - 18, 2021
Scholars at Risk monitors reports of threats to academic freedom and higher education communities worldwide, including media articles, blogs, opinion pieces and other announcements. Unless otherwise indicated (such as in articles written by SAR), the language and views contained in the search results reflect those of the originating author and/or publication and do not necessarily represent the views of Scholars at Risk or its members, affiliates, board or staff. An archive of the Media Review is available on our website.
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IRAN: Rights experts demand Iran release academic ‘nearing death’ in solitary confinement
United Nations independent human rights experts call on Iran to immediately release Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali. It was reported that he is “near death” after spending over 100 days in solitary confinement.
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IRAN: Academic brain drain raised by MPs after years of denial
Shadi Khan Saif, University World News, 3/17
After years of government denial, the Iranian parliament acknowledged a significant “brain drain” as many students and academics have fled the country. Lawmakers fear that the loss of talent could worsen the country’s economic crisis.
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CHINA / HONG KONG: Hong Kong gets a ‘D’ in academic freedom index
Hong Kong earned a D rating in the Academic Freedom Index 2020, falling more than 0.15 points in the past five years. Beijing's sweeping National Security Law has led to a deterioration of academic freedom in Hong Kong.
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MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA: Arab Region Scores Lowest in the World for Academic Freedom
Burton Bollag, Al-Fanar Media, 3/16
The Academic Freedom Index 2020 revealed that the Arab region had the lowest academic freedom score of any region in the world. While Tunisia earned an A score, indicating the country enjoys complete freedom of research and teaching, most countries in the region scored in the D to E range, indicating severe or complete restrictions on higher education.
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CHINA / UNITED STATES: American students say they were wrongfully detained and roughed up by plainclothes police in China
John Hudson, The Washington Post, 3/16
Chinese police detained six American students studying at New York University Shanghai in two separate incidents. Police apprehended two students in a bar, where police kicked one student in the head, and another group of students gathering for a birthday party.
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AFGHANISTAN: Afghan official: Gunmen fire at university bus, killing 2
Rahim Faiez, Associated Press, 3/16
Unidentified gunmen opened fire on a minibus carrying university faculty and students in Northern Afghanistan. The bus driver and one student were killed, and several university lecturers were wounded.
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SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa Students Plan to Shut Universities Over Funding
Monique Vanek, Bloomberg, 3/15
Following a student protest at the University of Witwatersrand that left one person dead, a South African student movement has resulted in protests across the country. Students are demanding the government clear student debt and allow free registration for the 2021 academic year.
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AUSTRALIA: Scholars at Risk: how a network of academics and universities finds positions of 'academic refuge' for persecuted thinkers
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 3/14
SAR Executive Director Robert Quinn spoke with ABC Radio about the history of Scholars at Risk and the Academic Freedom Index, an assessment of the level of academic freedom in 175 territories.
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GLOBAL: New threats to academic freedom emerge from pandemic
Brendan O’Malley, University World News, 3/13
The Academic Freedom Index 2020 sheds light on the impact of COVID-19 on academic freedom amid the shift to physically distanced learning. New opportunities for surveillance of research, sanctions, restrictions, self-censorship, and isolation are among threats to academic freedom.
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GLOBAL: Only 20 per cent of world ‘has strong academic freedom’
Ellie Bothwell, Times Higher Education, 3/11
The Academic Freedom Index 2020, jointly developed by Scholars at Risk, the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, the Varieties of Democracy Institute, and the Global Public Policy Institute, found that only 20 percent of the world’s population lives where academic freedom is well protected.
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INDIA: Imprisonment of GN Saibaba Is Tantamount to Torture
Brenden Rearick, Sampsonia Way, 3/11
Professor GN Saibaba, a wrongfully imprisoned Indian scholar, continues to sit in solitary confinement in Nagpur Central Prison despite recently testing positive for COVID-19. Saibaba suffers from numerous health conditions and has been consistently denied basic medical care while in prison.
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