SAIHs Campaign by SAIH SAIH

Foto: Emmanuelle Françoy/Global Knowledge. Trykket med samtykke av avbildede. Støttet av Norad og Forskerforbundet

Support threatened academics right to speak freely. Urge your teaching institution to become a member of Scholars at Risk. Read more on www.saih.no

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Academic freedom 2-3. The fight for knowledge 4-5. ‘Academic Freedom in the 21st Century – Challenges and Opportunities’ 6-7. Scholars at Risk reaches out to Norway 8-9. Good prospects for Open Access 10-11. -You are a Saharawi – You are nothing

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Academic freedom is crucial for the development of a society, and academics and students are important agents of change. They play important roles in the development of a society by being critical public voices. Higher education and research are crucial conditions for development and liberation; education enables people to think critically and independently, but in order to achieve this academic freedom is necessary. Education is essential for social, political, civil and economic liberation. With this year campaign, SAIH wants to focus on academic freedom because the right to academic freedom should be a common battle that concerns us all. Our goal is to show our solidarity with those who have lost their freedom, to make structures and obstacles preventing freedom visible, and to put forward alternatives of action to how students and academics in Norway can contribute to change the situation for those who experience censorship, punishment, and have had their freedom taken away. SAIH’s campaign 2008 aims to therefore make the political obstacles visible, particularly obstacles for academics and students in the global South. As a specific approach to this, SAIH is now initiating a cooperation with the international network “Scholars at Risk”. The network works to increase freedom of expression and academic independence by offering temporary employment to academics that for political or other reasons cannot carry out their work at their own institutions. In this way, Norwegian students and academics have an op-

Sign the petition in support for scholars at risk: www.saih.no

portunity to show their solidarity with their colleagues and fellow-students in the global South Furthermore, by focusing on how global North/South-relations affect the global development of knowledge, and how lack of accessibility to academic research can be an obstacle to academic freedom, SAIH’s campaign will create awareness about how conditions in the global North can influence the situation of students and academics in the global South. One approach to improve the availability of scientific research is “Open Access”, which deals with making scientific publications freely accessible on the World Wide Web. The author or originator keeps the legal rights to the publication, but gives the user the permission to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search within or link to the full text without demanding compensation. SAIH wants to participate in the discussion about the global exchange of knowledge and hindrances connected to this. Read this paper, get involved in the topics and join our petition online and our activities in the local chapters!

B y: Si r i L u t h e n, V i c e P r e s i de nt SA IH

About SAIH

Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund (SAIH) is run by students and academics in Norway. SAIH’s objective is to contribute in such a manner that as many people as possible may obtain an education on their own terms and that marginalised groups get to influence their own situation and their society. SAIH cooperates with local organisations and educational institutions in Latin America and Southern Africa under the slogan «Education for Liberation». Get involved in one of SAIHs local chapters! The local chapters arrange debates, seminars and campaigns. By joining you’ll get to work with different topics and learn more about development cooperation and international politics: www.saih.no/lokallag

SAIH in Norway

In Norway, SAIH strives to spread information concerning North/ South-issues, where students and academics are the main target groups. SAIH also works on influencing the Norwegian aid- and development politics. A central element is to press the importance of more and better development cooperation targeting higher education in the South. As a solidarity organisation, SAIH wishes to put the spot light both on different peoples’ and groups’ living conditions, and on the international structures and the actions creating them. Through the work within Norway, SAIH passes on the viewpoints of our partners in the South and fosters the thought that education – formal and informal – is an important tool in order to promote development in the North and the South.

‘Academic Freedom in the 21st Century – Challenges and Opportunities’ by Jonat han Travi s, Ne t wor k for E d ucati on an d Aca de m i c Ri g h ts ( N E A R)

Academics and students around the world are at this very second being subjected to infringements of their professional and human rights and most of these violations are going unnoticed.

Ill u stration photo: Scholars at risk

From surveillance to corruption, from torture to murder, educators and the educated stand little chance against the full force of corrupt regimes and repressive agents, intent on stifling democracy. Violations of this kind are not limited to countries with poor human rights records – on the contrary, in the post 9/11 world even the most transparent democracies are showing signs of concern. Many institutions and academics in the ‘west’ are being subjected to an increasingly sophisticated infrastructure of surveillance, intervention and control. As a result, universities are operating within a climate of increased pressure and paranoia, to the detriment of academic freedom.

Why does Academic Freedom matter? Academic freedom is situated at the very core of the mission of the university and is essential to teaching and research. Often during times of political or social difficulty, academics and students are attacked because they hold the key to shaping the quality and availability of information in society. In their pursuit of new knowledge, academics

and students develop and express new ideas, exchange information and offer insightful opinions - all of which can trigger a violent reaction from a government or agency intent on controlling society and moulding the way people think. When academics attempt to teach or communicate ideas or facts that are inconvenient to external political groups or to authorities, they may find themselves dealing with job loss, imprisonment, or even death. Ultimately, the quality and flow of information on a local, national and international level is vital to the development of any society.

Challenges of the 21st Century Unfortunately, attacks on academics and students are far from a thing of the past. Respect for human rights in Iran, especially freedom of expression, has deteriorated rapidly in recent times. The government routinely tortures and mistreats detained dissidents, including many academics and students. In April this year, four students suffered physical and psychological abuse while in detention. The four students are active members of ‘Students Seeking Freedom and Equality,’ a group which clearly states

its peaceful intentions to resist various forms of inequality and exploitation. Recently ten students in China were sentenced to two years in prison with hard labour for taking part in the Buddhist monk-led peaceful demonstrations last September in Burma. Attacks such as these happen on a daily basis and only a few ever benefit from media attention. Concerns are appearing in wellestablished democratic nations as well. In the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, government agencies around the globe have been subjecting institutions of higher education to more intervention and more control. For example, in the UK there was the recent case at the University of Nottingham, when a graduate student and an administrative member of staff were arrested by armed police under the Terrorism Act of 2000. The student downloaded an edited version of the al-Qaeda handbook from a US government website and sent it to an administrative member of staff to print. Both were released from custody as soon as it became clear that the ‘controversial’ research material in question was publicly available and directly linked to the

student’s thesis. What has been questioned is the alarming speed at which the pair were reported to the police – it remains unclear as to whether there was clear policy guidance available to staff members, a process which they could follow in such a situation. Cases such as these highlight a very real dilemma - universities are operating within a climate of increased pressure and paranoia, to the detriment of academic freedom. These challenges affect the psyche of university decision-makers. Fear of extremism is stifling debate and forms of self-censorship in research and teaching are appearing. Universities and governments alike should be reminded that academic freedom is essential to cultural development and a useful tool in the fight against extremism. Western nations must lead by example and we should all be aware that free, open, academic debate within the university is the key to unlocking the possibilities of the future.

NEAR; The Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR) was set up to monitor academic rights violations and to facilitate international collaboration between organisations active in issues of academic freedom and educational rights.

Scholars at Risk reaches out to Norway By S inead O’Gor man, S c holars at R i s k

The rules are as follows: ‘Do not think. If you think, do not speak. If you speak, do not publish. If you publish, say it is not me’.

Ill u stration photo: Scholars at risk

These were the words of a distinguished Belarussian academic at a recent Scholars at Risk network meeting held in Vilnius, Lithuania in June 2008. The academic was relating the events surrounding his forced resignation from a senior position at a state university in Belarus. In his view, he was forced to resign because he had broken ‘the unspoken and unwritten rules of intellectual survival’ in a totalitarian state. Throughout the world today, scholars are attacked because of their words, their ideas and their place in society. Too often, governments or other political, cultural, or religious groups seek to limit access to information and new ideas by targeting scholars, restricting academic freedom and repressing research, publication, teaching and learning. This is a means of attaining or consolidating power and control. The Scholars at Risk Network (SAR) is an international network of over 175 institutions of higher education in 20 countries that aims to respond to such attacks and to prevent them. SAR promotes academic freedom and related higher education values and defends the

human rights of scholars and their communities worldwide. Since its founding in 2000, SAR has received over 1,000 requests for assistance from scholars in over 100 countries. Individual scholars have reported incidents ranging from ‘lower-level’ threats such as surveillance or professional slander to more severe threats including arbitrary dismissal, forced exile and detention without trial. The most extreme attacks take the form of imprisonment, torture, or extra-judicial killing. Likewise, attacks on academic freedom are sometimes aimed at entire university communities and take the form of ideological pressure and censorship, the closings of universities, and the suppression of strikes and protests. Authorities can also threaten academic freedom by imposing restrictions on travel or information exchange, or by restricting access to academic resources in order to discriminate against women or religious, cultural or ethnic groups. The SAR network responds to both individual and institutional threats. SAR arranges temporary positions at member institutions for scholars – of any discipline and

from any country – who need to escape immediate threats to their life or work. A temporary position at a SAR member institution provides a safe and supportive environment in which a scholar can continue her work until conditions improve at home and allow a safe return. SAR has assisted over 200 individuals with temporary placement, counseling or other direct services. SAR also undertakes capacitybuilding efforts to strengthen universities. In particular, SAR has launched a series of academic freedom workshops in partnership with the Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR) that aim to build solidarity among scholars and institutions and to help participants develop practical and strategic responses to threats against core higher education values. In 2008, SAR has held workshops in Jordan, Russia and Lithuania, and another workshop is planned for Ethiopia later this year. Each of those workshops has brought together academics and advocates both from within and beyond the region of the workshop site. This has given participants the opportunity to compare their experiences, which often leads to the discov-

ery of extensive common ground (despite the fact that threats to academic freedom may arise out of political pressures that are unique to one country or another). In this way, participants see firsthand how local oppression feeds into a problem that, ultimately, has no geographic limitation.

SAR is delighted to partner with SAIH to help mobilize students and academics around academic freedom and related higher education values. This is a new venture for SAR—it is the first time the network has partnered with a mainly student group—and one we will look to replicate in other places.

In the coming weeks and months, SAR will work with the University of Oslo (a SAR member since 2001) and SAIH to encourage Norwegian universities’ involvement in network activities. As leading lights of higher education, Norway’s universities are well-suited to the task. Participation can take many forms and is always at the discretion of the institution. Activities include hosting scholars as temporary visitors or organizing lectures concerning academic freedom or university autonomy; there are also opportunities to participate in SAR research and training initiatives. Most importantly, joining the network is a way for Norwegian universities to demonstrate their commitment to the principle that scholars should be free to work without fear or intimidation.

For information on joining the Scholars at Risk network, see www. scholarsatrisk.org or contact the network office at scholarsatrisk@ nyu.edu or +1-212-998-2179.

Good prospects for Open Access by Jan Er i k F rantsvåg, u n i v e rs i ty of tro ms ø

Open Access – what is it?

• Traditional model: Toll Access (TA), meaning that readers have to pay to get access to scientific publications. • Open Access (OA) means free access on the internet to scientific results, without having to pay for access to content. • There are two main varieties of OA: 1. Self-archiving in institutional repositories of copies of articles published in TA journals. Most journals accept some kind of self-archiving; many universities and colleges have established such repositories. 2. Publishing in online OA journals, with all content being made freely available to readers. OA journals have the same costs as TA journals, except for printing and distribution, and have to rely on others than readers to pay: • Authors or their institutions may pay a fee (article processing charge, APC) for each published article • Direct or indirect economic support from institutions that host journals or editorial boards • Direct financial support from third party benefactors

Open Access (OA) means free access on the internet to scientific results, without having to pay for access to content. Open Access (OA) is becoming increasingly important in the area of scientific journals. More than 3500 journals have been established as OA journals or have changed from Toll Access (TA) to OA. This means that somewhere between 10 and 15 per cent of scientific journals today are OA. Most areas of science will have one or more OA journal available for publishing articles in. The quality varies both in TA and OA journals, but of the 11 Norwegian OA journals 7 are accepted as journals that credits in the financing of Higher Education Institutions, i.e. that the institutions receive money for publishing articles in these journals.

Developing economies OA journals emerge all over the world, with Asia and South and

Central America being major regions. Western Europe and North America are major players but do not dominate in the field of OA journals to the same extent that they dominate in the field of TA journals. This could indicate that emerging economies find it beneficial to adopt OA models instead of TA, finding OA the most efficient model. There is no question that researchers and students, not to mention the general public, in emerging economies have a much greater chance of accessing OA content than TA content.

Future developments There are a lot of promising developments to be seen today, but there are still challenges to overcome in order to make scientific results freely available.

Open access: An authors dilemma Read the story about a Norwegian scholar’s attempt at getting an article published as open access in 2008. On www.saih.no/kampanje

Progress

Challenges

• Increasing number of OA journals through the establishing of new journals or transitioning of existing TA journals. • Increasing number of OA journals establishing themselves as important journals in their fields. • Increasing willingness from the research funders to pay article processing charges for publishing in OA journals. • Increasing demand from research funders that the results from research they fund should be made openly accessible, either through self archiving or through OA journals. • Increasing institutional awareness of the issues involved, and a willingness to formulate and follow up internal guidelines and regulations.

• Few researchers voluntarily self-archive. • Few institutions have mechanisms in place that make it reasonable for the researcher to choose OA publishing when facing article processing charges. • Financing of OA journals without article processing charges has not found solutions that will be viable over time. • Myths that OA means that quality control is sacrificed, are still being actively spread. • Strong economic interests, e.g. commercial publishers, actively work against OA. • Researchers, students and the general public are, in general, not updated or interested in many of the issues involved.

You are a Saharawi – You are nothing By Hann e Kjersti B e ntse n, S AIH volu nt e e r

Ill u stration photo: Scholars at risk

These were the last words Saharawi student Elwali Elqadmi heard before he woke up in a hospital bed after a police officer pushed him off a 4th floor balcony. Students from Western Sahara experience violence and harassments because of their peaceful demonstrations against Moroccan occupation and for human rights.

Demonstrations at campus. Every year in the month of May the Saharawi students in Morocco organize demonstrations at campus. Although these demonstrations are peaceful protests against the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara and for international human rights, the Moroccan authorities answer with violent attacks. Before these demonstrations are held many Saharawi students receive threatening phone calls from the police. In May 2008 student demonstrations were only held in Marrakech, and during one of these, in which Moroccan students also joined in, the young Sahrawi student Elwali Elqadmi was pushed off the balcony on the 4th floor by a police officer. He broke his back and is now paralyzed from the neck down. The violent actions towards Saharawi students are not just committed by the police, but also

by Moroccan fellow-students who are encouraged to beat and rape both men and women. The threats and violent actions from the police result in fear amongst the students and a lot of Saharawi students leave campus in fear of being attacked or having their rooms ransacked. Most of the students leaving campus have troubles finding new places to live as house owners are being told Saharawis are not to be trusted.

Exams in June. According to a group of students in Rabat, a similar situation to the one Elwali Elqadmi experienced occurred in 2005 and most Saharawi students ended up with very low grades on their exams as they were afraid of coming to the university. In fear of being arrested, attacked and threatened, many Saharawi

students are now afraid to join the peaceful demonstrations as these are held in the end of May, and the exam-period starts in June.

shocked as this was the first time they had ever seen a map in which Western Sahara was not integrated into the Moroccan map.

Moroccanization.

When moving to Morocco many students experience harassments both in and outside the classrooms, by students as well as professors. A Saharawi studying Arabic Law confirmed this and added “If they know your political profile, they will discriminate you”. Also outside the university area the Saharawi students have problems expressing their identity. If the students decide to wear their own traditional clothing they are likely to receive random comments like “you are an animal”. Mohammod, a Saharawi student, was beaten and stabbed on the street by civilians while the police was watching. When he turned to them for help, they knew he was Saharawi and told him to

Since there are no universities in Western Sahara, most young Saharawis move to Morocco when they start studying. The institutions in Western Sahara are controlled by Morocco so what the children learn in school is mostly based on the Moroccan perspective. Many Sahrawi students also claim they are being taught wrong facts and dates in for example history lessons during primary school so when they start studying at universities they have to go through all they know to double-check if what they know is correct. When being showed a Lonely Planet map where Morocco and Western Sahara were divided by a thick line, the students were

go home, refusing to thelp.

The continuous struggle for referendum. Even though the Saharawi’s struggle for self-determination has lasted for nearly 35 years and their peaceful demonstrations has been arranged since 1999, today the referendum is as distant as ever. The question of a new war has been raised, but still the majority of the Saharawis believe that non-violent demonstrations and international pressure is the only way to go in order to reach their goal. By spreading information about Morocco’s occupation and by pressuring the international society, students, academics and activists can help the Saharawis’ peaceful fight to claim their rights; the rights they are entitled to according to international law.

For more information on the Western Sahara issue go to: www.vest-sahara.no

Layout avis: Sindre Olav Edland-Gryt

Forskning og høyere utdanning er nødvendig for demokratisk samfunnsutvikling. I mange land er derimot den akademiske friheten truet. SAIH jobber i år for forfulgte og marginaliserte akademikeres rett til fri yrkesutøvelse, og for en fri og global utveksling av akademisk kunnskap. Scholars at Risk er et internasjonalt nettverk som fremmer akademisk frihet, blant annet gjennom å tilby midlertidig opphold og arbeid for akademikere som er forfulgt i sine hjemland.

Vis engasjement og oppfordre ditt lærested både til å bli medlem av Scholars at Risk og tilby utsatte akademikere midlertidig opphold og arbeid.

Skriv under kampanjen på saih.no

kampanjen er støttet av Norad. illustrasjonsfoto: Creative Commons / Global knowledge Supported by:

Dødsdømt agronom søker sikkert arbeid. Jeg er en agronom med gode resultater fra egen forskning som søker en sikker arbeidsplass, da jeg står på dødslisten til regimet i mitt hjemland. Gjennom årelang forskning har jeg dyrket frem en type ris som gir fattige bønder en stor økning i inntjeningen. Dette har gjort meg til regimets ﬁende. Mitt liv er i stor fare.

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