The attack on knowledge
Academic freedom is in danger. Thomas Docherty explains how cuts are damaging universities across the UK (more…)
Soldiers in the fight for the open society need reinforcements
Academics worldwide face economic and political attacks that restrict their freedom to challenge convention, says Jo Glanville
This piece was originally published on Times Higher Education
Harassment of anti-government students at Bahrain Polytechnic continues
Last year, a number of students from Bahrain Polytechnic were expelled from the university for “participating in unlicensed gatherings and marches”. Targeting anti-government students, evidence for the expulsions was mostly obtained from social media websites such as Facebook.
21 year-old Asma Darwish was among the 63 students expelled from the university in June 2011, after encouraging people to participate in unauthorised marches against the regime. In a subsequent interrogation from a committee of members from Bahrain Polytechnic and the Ministry of Interior, Darwish was shown Facebook activities that the committee had obtained from her account, including status updates and comments.
After an external review of the cases, 32 of those, including Darwish, were allowed to return to Bahrain Polytechnic, but following her return, she was repeatedly harassed and threatened by fellow students, forcing her to leave Bahrain and flee to Switzerland.
Darwish described initially being excited about her return to the university in late September 2011, but soon became aware that things were not going to be easy.
Upon her return, she was asked to sign a code of conduct saying she would not get involved in activities with a political nature, and recalls discussing the code with an employee whose responsibility it was to obtain signatures from the returning students.
She said: “I went through a discussion with her regarding some of the points in the code, she had no answers except “this is the law in Bahrain, we must follow the constitution. I told her several times that the constitution was the problem.”
Darwish was forced to re-sit courses she had been expelled from, and asked to pay her tuition fees again. She soon noticed that students were behaving differently around her.
“I went to my classes, and I saw many students staring at me. In the four months that I was on the polytechnic campus before I had to leave Bahrain, I was harassed more than once by some of the students who were loyal to the regime. Students would sing pro-government songs when they saw me passing.”
She described one occasion when a fellow student began chanting “we shall die for you Abu Ali”, referring to Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman, known as Abu Ali. On a different occasion, Darwish recalls another student staring at her until she was out of sight.
“I have always ignored these situations. But I was fed up of the polluted atmosphere that was not anything near an educational one. I decided to take my chance and report the harassment though I knew it was risky.”
Reporting the case sparked many concerns. Darwish explained it became apparent that the pro-government students who had been involved in her harassment could have her arrested, purely on the basis of her differing political views. She was determined to take her case further, despite the risks.
But it was not just through concern for herself that she progressed the case. Not alone in receiving harassment, Darwish wanted to help others who were being affected by similar treatment.
“So many other excellent, talented and creative students face difficulties learning in such an environment. Most of them don’t even enjoy studying at the Polytechnic after all they have gone through. Many are still harassed.”
Very few of the students report the cases of harassment: “Most of the students felt unsafe to come forward and report a case, saying “I prefer being harassed in campus than arrested and harassed in prison for reporting a case against a pro-government”.
She added: “The students who stand for democracy not only at Bahrain polytechnic, but other universities like the University of Bahrain are facing hardship getting the knowledge and education they deserve. Those students are being constantly targeted by the regime, through arrests, torture, and lack of appreciation and respect.
To this day, Darwish has not heard back from Bahrain Polytechnic on her case. Students who are disrupting the learning of others are still on campus, but she hopes that those who are being harassed will speak out. She advised students to write and talk about their harassment. “Your voice shall be heard,” she said.
Despite being forced to leave Bahrain in January 2012 and seek asylum in Switzerland, she was still subjected to phonecalls, threatening her with arrest, rape and murder. She cannot go back to Bahrain any time soon for fear of being persecuted.
“I left everything there and fled. I left my family, my friends and a country that I am in love with. I wanted to be a change maker, maybe I couldn’t while I was in Bahrain. But I promise that I will do my best to see the smile on the faces of my people in Bahrain once again.”
Egypt’s ministry of education censors young people’s political debate
Egypt’s secretary of education has instructed educational institutions to prohibit students from engaging in political activities.
The prohibition is understood to include taking part in political debates, writing articles, joining demonstrations, and setting up blogs. The Education Secretary’s announcement comes on the heels of escalating legal and electronic assaults that target Egyptian children who show an interest in future reforms to the political system of their country.
The case of Ayaa and friends
Ayaa is a 14 year old student. With other Egyptian youngsters she set up online activist group Revolution Under Age or “Thawra mama’hash bitaqa”. Their ages range from 14-16 and their backgrounds represent the range of religious and social groups of their country. Revolution Under Age has one purpose: to champion civil freedoms. Through art and words, these youngsters express their views on what they believe to be the threat of a return to the oppressive political culture that existed in Egypt before the Revolution un Tahrir Square. Although most have never met, these internet friends all want a civil democratic government that represents an egalitarian society.
In mid February, Ayaa and Ali Hisham, another 14-year old founder of the blog, appeared in a popular TV programme, Children of the Arab Spring. Also appearing in the programme were 9-year old Ali Hani and 17-year Mazen Hilmy. The four urged continued activism, saying this alone could prevent a return to the corruption of the past. Ayaa, whose parents both have a military background admitted that she was never allowed to join demonstrations. However, Ayaa and her fellow young guests of the programme rejected the continued rule of their country by the Military Council SCAF.
The youngsters also discussed the contents and approaches of Egyptian education. They noted that in their schools history, religion, and other subjects central to Egyptian identity were all geared to glorifying the rulers. They felt that questions were often discouraged, that school officials did not approve of dialogues. The TV series alarmed military rulers and those who defend the political culture that these young people hoped to change.
There are more and more young people like Ayaa and her friends in Egypt. In order to quash the example that their voices may set, the state apparatus went on an all fronts offensive against Egypt’s young people who dare to express political views. To further sustain its assault against adolescents, the state seeks to intimidate their parents and any media outlet that associates itself with young voices. Two lawyers with close ties to SCAF and former President Mubarak filed a complaint against the presenter of the programme to the Public Prosecutor. The complaint accuse him of abusing children by engaging them in political debates. Mubarak’s lawyers described the programme as the devil’s idea aimed at instilling novel standards in future generations. Children’s exposure must be restricted to children’s topics, the complainants noted. Other SCAF/Mubarak voices in the media repeated similar accusations in condemnation of the programme’s makers.
Yet more worrying, however, is the daily war of intimidation on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blog sphere, and email accounts directed at young Egyptians who campaign for civil freedoms and against the continued rule of the Military Council SCAF. The State’s electronic militias target their websites and use fake accounts to bombard the children’s Twitter and Facebook pages with abusive messages. The electronic militias, or electronic committees, as Egyptians now call them, were first set up by the party of the ousted President Mubarak. The ruling party’s Media and Youth officials ran their operations. Their official purpose was to reach younger Egyptians. In the case of Ayaa and her friends, they receive messages describing them as traitors soiled by Western ideas, and with a barrage of obscene insults. In the past week, young activists received a threat from an email account named “mubaraksons”.
In late 2010 younger Egyptians used the electronic media to organise themselves into what became the Tahrir Square Revolution. Now these electronic state-sponsored militias appear to be a key player in the struggle between two political cultures competing to decide the shape of Egypt. The keenness with which SCAF is using the might of the state apparatus to pursue the children of its country is cause for concern, and not only to groups that defend freedom of speech.
Haifaa G Khalafallah is a former Middle East Editor for Index on Censorship