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Academic
freedom is a cherished and necessary part of the academic process.
Academics have an important function that is compromised when academic
freedom is compromised.
Drastic pruning of academic freedom leads to disaster. There are
numerous well-known cases in which academics were dismissed or resigned
from University of Asmara (UoA) on account of their views on social,
economic and political life in Eritrea. Dr.
Abdulkader Saleh Mohammed, who was the Department Chair of Sociology and
Social Work and Dr. Alexander Naty, a faculty member of the Department of
Anthropology and Archaeology at UoA were fired from their jobs because
they took part in an International Conference of Ethiopian Studies - a
conference that was held in Germany in July 03. Both academics were briefly
arrested and then dismissed from their jobs upon their return to
Asmara. According to
reports we have received, ‘the academics are well within their rights to
attend an academic conference and exercise their academic freedom. The government labelled
their ‘unauthorised’ visit as ‘giving aid and comfort to the enemy’. There are also reports of similar
mishandlings of the academic staff.
It is in such international conferences that we can make our case
to our neighbours, the world and influence policy makers.
EHDR-UK
is concerned about the lack of academic freedom at UoA and is seriously
concerned about the conditions of the academics who are unjustifiably
targeted by the government.
Academic freedom is ‘of transcendent value to all of us’ and the
government, the President of the University, government enthusiasts and
the secret services are violating it. Eritrea
has never enjoyed real academic freedom, not even during post-independence
era (1991). The main method used to restrict academic freedom in Eritrea,
which is not known to the Western world, is through its tacit
operations. The situation in
Eritrea started changing noticeably over the last few years when students
and its diasporic population showed a growing keenness to question the
government. Under
the current regime, where Eritrea is being ruled without any constitution,
the PFDJ Party dominates all cultural and academic activities. Moreover,
in Eritrea’s political system, academic activities are monitored regularly
not only by PFDJ’s propaganda departments, but also by Dr Woldeab Isaac,
the President of the University, who works very closely with government
officials. Many of his
colleagues accuse him of curtailing the culture of free inquiry and for
running the establishment with a management style that is similar to civil
service bureaucracy. Anyone
who exercises his/her academic rights faces penalties, as Dr. Abdulkader
Saleh Mohammed and Dr. Alexander Naty did. When those who are entrusted to
promote academic freedom are the same ones who are restricting it, as is
the case with Dr Woldeab Isaac, then the university is not a place of
learning and does not possess transcendent value anymore. The tragedy is that those very
people who benefited from such institutions of higher education are now
aiding those who are abating such fundamental
freedoms. Eritrea
needs academic freedom because it creates an environment in which faculty
members can be outspoken, courageous and unafraid of controversy. Instead, what Eritrea has now is a
political system that penetrates every corner of the society including the
UoA. The faculty members of UoA cannot be high achievers if they are
denied to possess attributes such as fearlessness and commitment to truth
by the government.
EHDR-UK
denounces the harsh actions taken by the government against faculty
members of UoA and expresses its concern from unwarranted encroachment by
the state. Academic Freedom
is a Human Right and restricting it in any shape or form will prove to be
destructive to our nation. EHDR-UK |
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