Endangered Scholars Worldwide

Endangered Scholars Worldwide The lastfour months have been exceptionally bad onesfor academicfreedom. As well as thefour new cases listed below, many instances ofgeneralized repression have victimized countless teachers and students around the world. InFebruary a decision ofthe Federal High Court ofEthiopia effectively dissolved the Ethiopian Teachers’ Association, in violation ofInternational Labor Organization conven­ tions to whichEthiopia is a signatory. Teachers have come under evenmore severe attack in Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe’s campaign against the Progressive Teachers’ Unionhas led to hundreds ofteachersfleeing the country in fear ofpolice violence. During this same period, students in Iran have continued toface brutal repression, with over50 student activists arrested and manyfeared tortured since the clampdownbegan inDecember. Lessgrave than any ofthese cases but also worthy ofmentionis an instance ofconcernto academicfreedom that has emerged in the United States. In May of this year, Wendy Gonaver was fired from her newjob teaching American stud­ ies at California State University, Fullerton due to her refusal to sign a loyalty oath committing her to “defend” the US and California constitutions “against all enemies,foreign and domestic.” Gonaver, a Quaker, had offered to sign the state­ ment ifshe could amend a personal statement declaring her pacifist beliefs, but was refused. Her casefollows that ofanother Quaker, Marianne Kearney-Brown, whowasfired inFebruaryfrom California State University, East Bayfor inserting the word “nonviolently” into the oath. Kearney-Brown was rehired after her case attracted media attention. The oath is a remnant ofan anticommunistpolicy of the 1950s that requires all Californiapublicservants to sign it. —Alien Mack Information current, to the best o f our knowledge, as o fJune 8, 2008. Endangered Scholars Worldwide vii SAUDI ARABIA d r . m a t r o o k a l -f a l e h , a professor of political science of King Saud University in Riyadh, was arrested on May 19 by Saudi secret police. His arrest came only days after Dr. al-Faleh had issued a statement on torture and prison conditions following a recent visit to his jailed colleague, d r . a b d u l l a h a l -h a m e d (featured in the previous issue of Social Research). Dr. al-Faleh is a member of the Arab Committee for Human Rights and an active advocate of civil society and consti­ tutional reform in Saudi Arabia. He was previously arrested and pardoned after serving two years of a six-year sentence—along with Dr. al-Hamed and two others—for circulating a petition call­ ing for constitutionally guaranteed human rights. According to Dr al-Falah’s wife, he has been on a hunger strike since his arrest and his health is deteriorating. d r . m u h a m m a d ‘a l i a b u r a z i z a , a professor of psychology at the University of Um al-Qura in the city of Makkah (Mecca), was arrested by religious police in January after meeting with a young woman in a coffee shop. Under Sharia law, it is an offense to be alone in the company of a member of the opposite sex who is not an immedi­ ate relative. According to press reports, Dr. Abu Raziza had upset officials from the religious police who were his students during an argument in one of his classes. He later received a telephone call from a woman asking him to meet her at a coffee shop to discuss a problem. He was said to have agreed to the meeting on the condi­ tion that she bring a male guardian but upon his arrival at the coffee shop he found the woman alone. He was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment and 150 lashes by a criminal court in Makkah on March 3. He has also been prevented from teaching classes and carrying out other jobs involving direct contact with members of the public. Prince Khalid Al-Faisal Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, the gover­ nor of Makkah Province, is currently deciding whether the sentence will be carried out. viii social research Appeals to: Am bassador Adel A. Al-Jubeir Royal Embassy o f Saudi Arabia 601 New Hampshire Ave. NW W ashington, D.C. 20037 King Abdullah bin...