GLOBAL: Academic freedom reports from around the world

After weeks of violence in Burkina Faso, in which at least six students died, the government has shut down all universities until further notice. The Yemini army has injured 98 students while attempting to halt protests on campuses. In Sudan, 100 students and youths have been arrested since January and many have reported severe mistreatment and torture. An Iranian history lecturer has been dismissed after publishing critical articles, and the Iranian Ministry of Education has announced new restrictions on students abroad. In Malawi, lecturers striking against interference in academic freedom have defied a presidential order to go back to work.

BURKINA FASO: Universities closed after student protests

After weeks of violence and a major demonstration, the government has shut down all universities across Burkina Faso until further notice, the Washington Post reported on 14 March.

At least six students have died in clashes with the police over the last month. Damage to public offices in the northern city of Ouahigouya, and cuts to social services for students have also been reported.

The government closed universities in response to student protests related to the death of Justin Zongo, a student who died on 20 February while in police custody in Koudougou, west of the capital Ouagadougou.

Students demonstrated in several cities, accusing the police of beating Zongo to death, despite the official version stating the cause of death as meningitis. The students also demanded the resignations of the ministers of health, security and justice.

In a move to appease students, the authorities fired the head of police, a governor and two policemen charged with beating of the student.

In an official statement, the President Blaise Compaore called for calm and condemned the violence.

Extra information here.

YEMEN: Ninety-eight students wounded by the army

The Yemeni army wounded 98 students during an attempt to stop protests taking place on university campuses, the Guardian reported on 9 March 2011.

The army violently attacked students who have been camping on campuses since mid-February to protest against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Inspired by recent popular unrest in Tunisia and Egypt, students at Sana'a University are calling the president to step down.

The government's attempt to control and stop the protests ended with a violent confrontation between the army and the students.

Soldiers used rubber bullets and tears gas to break up the protest and wounded 98 students. According to health workers, a number of students are severely injured.

Muhammad Qahtan, the opposition spokesman, strongly condemned the army's attack on students who were peacefully demonstrating.

As an effort to calm the protest, Saleh recently declared that he would not run for re-election in 2013. But this declaration did not satisfy the protestors. Saleh also called for a national dialogue that includes a conference with hundreds of representatives of the Yemeni political sphere.

But opposition leader Yassin Said Numan rejected dialogue as long as Saleh remained in power and asked him to step down by the end of the year. Saleh has been in power for 32 years and is a key partner of the US in the region, especially in its war against al-Qaida.

Protests, which started last month, have taken place across the country and the death roll is not 30 people.

SUDAN: Student protestors report torture by security officers

A number of Sudanese students and young people involved in demonstrations earlier this year reported severe mistreatment and torture by security officers while in detention, Human Rights Watch reported on 4 March.

More than 100 students and young people have been arrested since January in the aftermath of peaceful demonstrations inspired by the ongoing popular unrest in the Middle East.

The protests started on 30 January in Khartoum and other northern cities and lasted for several days. Demonstrators called for a change of rule and protested against imposed price increases.

The Sudanese authorities used brutal repression to end the demonstration, from arbitrary arrests to violent beatings.

A student, known as Mohammed Abderahman, was reported to have died on 30 January after being badly beaten by security forces.

Although the majority of those arrested were released within days, others were detained by the security service for weeks.

After their release, many testified anonymously to severe physical and mental mistreatment by members of the security service during their detention. Testimonies stated abuses and torture that included harsh beatings, sleep deprivation, electric shocks and death threats.

A female detainee attested that she was raped after being badly beaten.

Student Ali Mohammed Osman, a member of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, was arrested in Omdurman on 14 February by security forces. He was calling for the release of protesters. Interrogated for more than 24 hours, he reported that he had been threatened, severely beaten and forced to stand all night.

Other student activists declared that the security forces attempted to re-arrest them and were under strong pressure from the authorities.

The Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) is infamous for its violent campaign targeting political opponents and activists, using arbitrary detentions, torture and mental and physical intimidation against them.

It also has a reputation of using secret detention centers, carrying out 'disappearances' and denying medical and legal assistance to prisoners. The actions committed against students are an example of such human right abuses.

Extra information here.

IRAN: Lecturer banned from teaching after publishing articles

Seyed Hossein Javdani, a history lecturer at Payame Noor University in Mashad, has been dismissed after publishing critical articles, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported on 7 March.

Javdani was banned from teaching at Payame Noor University after the university security unit and security organisations requested the faculty not to assign him courses at the beginning of the new term. He said he had not been directly informed of his dismissal.

According to Javdani, who is also a member of the central council of Khorasan's Tahkim-e Vahdat Alumni Association (Advar) branch and former secretary of Tehran University's Islamic Association of Democracy Seeking Students, his activities outside the university are not in any measure related to his function and duties as a lecturer.

He said his dismissal was connected to articles he wrote before and after the presidential election, published on various website, but had nothing to do with his activity within the university since he never mentioned national politics during classes.

Javdani was threatened with dismissal in the middle of last term because of critical articles. He explained that the Iranian regime uses dismissals as a way to put opponents under financial and economic pressure to make them stop their political activities.

He added that several other lecturers from other faculties might also be banned from teaching for political reasons. Following his dismissal, Javdani tried to fight the decision but was ignored by university officials, who were under pressure from the regime.

Reporting his dismissal as a form of protest is his last resort.

IRAN: Students abroad face new restrictions

The Iranian Ministry of Education has announced new restrictions on Iranian students in overseas universities, Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty reported on 10 March.

Two days earlier Mohammad Hussein Majlisara, the ministry's director of student affairs, had announced restrictions on the final theses of students based abroad.

Both state-funded and self-funded students are forbidden from submitting a thesis related to Iran, according to the new law. However, state-funded students will be permitted to research Iran if only research materials provided by the ministry are used.

Most Iranians studying abroad choose to write their final thesis on subjects related to Iran, and the theses can be critical. Overseas students see the new law as a means for the Iranian authorities to restrain students abroad.

The restriction is unclear on what "related to Iran" really means. Is it the term Iran that is prohibited to be mentioned in the thesis or any subject related to Iran? In any case, as stated by the students, avoiding mentioning an 80 million-strong country that is a regional political force, will be difficult when conducting most of the research they are interested in doing.

The new measure is part of a wave of restrictions on and repression of university students, including gendered segregation imposed in most communal areas and many classes. The government has also limited the study of social sciences and barred a number of students from studying due to their political activism.

Considered a base for political activism and criticism of the government, universities have been increasingly targeted by the authorities, especially since the contested 2009 presidential election.

MALAWI: Lecturers demand assurance of academic freedom

Malawians university lecturers, on strike for nearly four weeks to protest against interference in academic freedom, have defied a presidential order to go back to work, Voice of America reported on 14 March.

Lecturers at Chancellor College went on strike to protest against lack of academic freedom and interference in their work. President Bingu wa Mutharika ordered them to return to class on Monday 14 March, but after a meeting held last Sunday the academics decided to continue their strike until real assurance of academic freedom was given.

The movement started after Blessings Chinsinga, an associate political science professor, was interrogated by Peter Mukhito, Malawi's Inspector General of Police, about a parallel he drew in a lecture between Malawi's fuel crisis and popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

As a condition to return to class, the academics represented by Jessie Kabwila-Kapasula, President of the Chancellor College Academic Staff Union, asked for an official apology from the police chief and assurances of respect for academic freedom.

Kabwila-Kapasula called on the president to join the movement defending the constitution, which guarantees academic freedom.

However, the official position remains unclear since Mukhito declared that academic freedom had to be balanced with issues of national security.

Students recently showed their solidarity with academic staff by demonstrating despite calls from the president not to do so. Students declared that interference in academic freedom might affect the quality of their education.

Police tried to break up the demonstration by using teargas. According to a police spokesman, several students were arrested, including Chancellor College Student Union president Lonjezo Sithole.

Extra information here.

* Noemi Bouet is an intern at the Network for Education and Academic Rights, NEAR, a non-profit organisation that facilitates the rapid global transfer of accurate information in response to breaches of academic freedom and human rights in education.