IRAN: Arrest of academics condemned

The UK's University and College Union has condemned the Iranian government after 70 university professors were arrested as part of the state's crackdown on opposition protestors. The academics were held on 25 June after meeting the pro-reformist candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi.

Subsequent reports indicate that most of the academics had been released but that two were still being held. Hundreds of protesters and activists are believed to have been taken into custody since the vote on 12 June, which saw Iran's ruling clerics declare President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner by a landslide margin.

The Scholars at Risk Network in New York also expressed deep concern at the reports of violence on university campuses and towards members of university communities in Iran. SAR has pledged to help any Iranian scholars in need of assistance, with the possibility of temporary opportunities at network universities.

US: Santa Barbara professor cleared

A University of California Santa Barbara investigation has cleared a sociology professor of improper conduct for emailing students images that compared Palestinian casualties of Israel's Gaza offensive to Jewish victims of the Holocaust. According to the LA Times, Professor William Robinson has asked for an apology and an investigation into the action taken against him.

Robinson sent the images to his class along with a statement in which he described Israel's policies in Gaza as "slow-motion genocide". Two Jewish students dropped the class saying they felt intimidated by the email. Some Jewish activists alleged Robinson's email was anti-semitic, despite the fact that Robinson is himself Jewish.

CHINA: Academics call for release of activist

Dozens of prominent Chinese academics have signed a petition calling for the release of veteran political activist Liu Xiaobo. According to BBC News, Liu was formally arrested on 23 June, more than six months after he was first detained by the authorities. He has been charged with inciting subversion by spreading rumours and defaming the government.

Liu has spent more than 20 years pushing for political reforms in China. BBC News said the petition had 52 signatories. It said Liu's comments had been rational and constructive, and showed a sense of social responsibility. He was arrested just before the publication of Charter 08, a document calling for political reforms.

IRAQ: Appeals to exiled academics to return home

The Iraqi government has issued a fresh appeal to the country's exiled scientists, urging them to come home to help rebuild the economy, Reuters reported. More than 200 exiled Iraqi scientists were invited to a three-day conference in Baghdad last week by the Ministry of Science and Technology, with the aim of trying to persuade them to return home.

Before the war, Iraq was home to one of the Arab world's most extensive university networks, but it has since been shattered by the onset of sectarian violence. Hundreds of Iraqi professors were among those killed and thousands of academics were driven into exile but the government has set out an ambitious plan to return the country's higher education system to its former glory. Bringing back key academics is seen as key to the revival of Iraqi higher education.

IRAN: Turmoil in Iran extends to universities

The violent suppression of protests in the aftermath of the 12 June general election has spread to university campuses across the country. Reports have emerged about an attack on Tehran University dormitories, and several universities in the outside provinces have also suffered disturbances.

Local and foreign media have reported that Basij forces invaded dormitories at Tehran University on 14 June, attacking students and burning bedrooms. Amateur film footage of that attack appears to show black-clothed Basij militia members armed with sticks and other weapons chasing students. Reuters reported that four students - three men and one woman - were killed during the assault on the dormitory.

There have also been reports of violent attacks by security forces on demonstrators and students in the provincial towns of Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz, Bandar Abbas, and Mashhad. According to Human Rights Watch, the Iranian government has attempted to suppress news from those towns by shutting down communication networks and banning reporters from travelling outside Tehran. International journalists who were present in provincial capitals say that the crackdown in those towns has been even more violent than in Tehran.

UK: Professor demoted and locked out

An internationally acclaimed dyslexia professor claims she was demoted and locked out of her own laboratory after complaining about an alleged misuse of a £12 million funding grant, The Telegraph reported. Professor Heather van der Lely is suing University College London where she is director of the centre for developmental language disorders and cognitive neuroscience. The university is now at the centre of an international protest by the academic community after barring her from having any communication with her colleagues or students.

The Telegraph said the university received a £12 million grant after the professor devised a screening test to identify dyslexic pre-school children. The funding proposal indicated that a larger laboratory would be required but, after the funds were secured, the university insisted she move to a smaller inadequate one. When she accused UCL of misusing public funds, her employers reacted aggressively, and she was demoted to a lower grade and suspended in November after raising formal grievances.

* Jonathan Travis is programme officer for the Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR). www.nearinternational.org