Academic freedom essential for democracy, activists say

Human rights activists in Egypt have reiterated a call that freedom and independence of universities are essential to a successful democratic transformation in Egypt. The comments follow a Human Rights Watch Report (HRW) published in May which outlined limitations to academic independence and freedom in the country. “The university is a place for exchange and development of thought,” Dr Raouf Abbas, an Egyptian historian and an academic freedom activist, said. “Most importantly, universities can be a good place for training the youth to participate in the public sphere. This is through participation in activities and student union elections,” he added. According to the HRW report, entitled ‘Reading Between the Red Lines: The Repression of Academic Freedom in Egyptian Universities’, “academic freedom violations pervade the country’s system of higher education.” The report cited that since the early 1990s, Egyptian academics have faced public condemnation, judicial convictions, physical violence, and other forms of intimidation from both government officials and private groups and individuals, particularly Islamist militants. HRW is discussing the findings of the report with the government, which is said to be considering reforms. “Egyptian universities suffer from different forms of interference,” Atef Al-Saadawy, a political researcher for the Democracy Journal and a human rights activist said. He recalled many incidents in which students and professors were not allowed to express their views freely. “When they expressed themselves, they faced punitive action,” he explained. He talked of an incident when a student was dragged out of an award ceremony simply because he dedicated his prize to a jailed Egyptian professor arrested for political activity. “The student was dragged out of the ceremony by two university security officers and was submitted to an investigation by the university’s administration,” he said. Al-Saadawy also recalled a time when a seminar had to be cancelled because university security refused to allow the guest speaker in. “Hamdi Kandil, a famous TV presenter, was invited to speak in a seminar held at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science in Cairo University. University security said that they would not allow him to enter university premises,” he said. “This was because Kandil is known to have crossed red lines in his programme that was banned from Egyptian television,” Al-Saadawy explained. Hossam Al-Hamalawy, currently a reporter for the US-based LA Times, was also intimidated when in university for his insistence on freedom of expression. “I was threatened to be put on probation if I chose to continue expressing my political beliefs,” Al-Hamalawy said. Al-Hamalawy, previously a student of the American University in Cairo, was banned from entering the campus for a whole semester after he graduated. No one was available from the government to comment on these incidents. The HRW report also revealed many incidents of book censorship within Egyptian universities. According to Sayed Mahmoud, an Egyptian cultural reporter, many professors were questioned for teaching certain books in class. “Five years ago, Dr Abdel Moneim Al-Gome’y, professor of modern history in Cairo University, was stopped from teaching and interrogated for using a book that was critical of Egyptian regimes,” he said. “It was ironic to find that the book was written in the 19th century,” he added. Sometimes books are banned as a result of pressures exerted by parents. “The American University in Cairo, which does not fall under the supervision of the Higher Council for Education, had to ban a couple of books taught by professors, such as Maxime Rodinson’s Muhammad, simply because parents found it offensive,” Sayed Mahmoud said. Dr Raouf sees that this, to a certain extent, is the result of lack of academic freedom. “In the long run this creates a society that does not accept dialogue and different points of view,” he said.