International: Academic self-determination reports worldwide

In Uzbekistan, an Uzbek female student on vacation from studies in Germany committed suicide questioned after four days of police. In Turkey, 22 of 28 leftist youths detained for six months on accusations of terrorist links was released after a court rejected the accusations against them. Professor Nasser bin Gait Sorbonne University Abeu Dhabi detained along with four others for eight months for signing an online petition pro-reform, were freed after a presidential pardon. In Iran, a human rights activist imprisoned refused permission to complete a graduate admissions test. And in Tunisia, disrupting the Islamic fundamentalist groups of university classes and exams and have targeted female professors.

Uzbekistan: Student suicide after police questioning

Uzbek student Gumboil Navratilova killed herself after being questioned for four days by the local authorities in the Western Uzbek city Andiron, Radio Free Europe reported on 6 December.

Navratilova, who studied in Germany, the home was on vacation when she summoned by the local police and interrogated for four days at the beginning of December On December 4, his suicide by swallowing a large quantity of pills.

According to Yelena Underlay, chairman of the Uzbek NGO Human Rights Alliance, Navratilova was physically abused during her detention.

She was also forced to make a false statement against the leader of the opposition People's Movement of Uzbekistan (Ohm), Muhammad Salish, who lives in exile writing.

In a suicide note, Abdujalilova wrote: "They tried to kill me some opposition activists, but it is better if I die myself thane’s taking the life of someone else."

According Ohm, via its website expressed condolences to the student's family, Abdujalilova never part of the opposition movement.

No details were given for Abdujalilova summoned by the police and the authorities available for comment on the matter was.

Turkey: Court accusations releases students rejected

Twenty-two youths, mainly students, released by a court in Ankara after months in prison on charges of ties to terrorist organizations, Hurried reported on 10 December.

The trial of 28 youths left open at the main courthouse in Ankara on 9 December. At least 3,000 people, including academics, activists and lawmakers from the Republican People's Party and the Peace and Democracy Party, gathered outside the court to support the defendants.

Twenty-two of them were later released by the court after it rejected the accusations against them.

The students were arrested in May after participating in a violent protest against the brutal repression of a demonstration earlier in the day in Hope, on the Black Sea, to Prime Minister Rogan’s visit to the city.

The students were arrested for up to six months before the start of their trial.

Between the ages of 20 and 31, they are accused of membership leftist terrorist groups, spreading terrorist propaganda, deliberately injuring a public employee, damaged public property and resisting the security forces.

The prosecution made public a list of what was considered incriminating evidence. These include leftist publications, posters of Turkey's leftist movement leaders Maher Cayman and Denis Gizmo, kites request cheaper transport costs and on university campuses, and banners, sticks and an umbrella.

The case captured the attention of the public when it was learned that the indictment, the assumption that the left-wing associations Halkevleri (People's House) and Morenci Kolektifleri (Collective Students), who called for the protests of May civil wings the banned Turkish People's Liberation Front Party, a now-defunct radical group that drove the 1970 leftist movement in the country.

UAE: "Online petition academic and activists freed

Professor Nasser bin Gait, a lecturer in international economic law at Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi and four other convicted political activists, including a prominent blogger freed after eight months in prison, The Associated Press reported on 28 November.

The five men were pardoned by Sheik Halifax bin Bayed Al Nahant, president of the union on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the United Arab Emirates national day and was released on November 26, a day after he was sentenced to two to three years in prison by the security court in Abu Dhabi.

They were arrested in April after signing an online petition calling for political reforms and charged with insulting UAE leaders, against national security and inciting people to protest.

Although large-scale pro-reform protests had taken place in the country as it did elsewhere in the region, the Emirati authorities responded violence any sign of protest or criticism.

After his release, Gait his congratulations to back with his family, but also his shame for his country in the "a police state" has not commented.

According to the lawyer Mohammed al-smoking, the charges against the five men remain despite the presidential pardon.

Gait said that they planned to remove their names after eight months in prison for crimes they did not commit.

Iran: Student activist denied prison leave for examination

Abdolfazl Tabarzadi, a captive student and human right activist, was right to leave prison temporarily to take an exam refused, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported on 28 November.

Tabarzadi's father, Reza Tabarzadi, spend days advocates for the rights of his son's temporary leave from prison to take a graduate admission test on Wednesday, November 30, but only received negative responses from the Ahvaz prosecutor.

Arrested in December 2010 by the security forces Tabarzadi, a civil engineering student, was sentenced to 15 months in prison by the Ahvaz lower court, but later reduced his sentence to nine months by an appeal court.

Two months ago, he was transferred to Karoo Prison in Ahvaz begin serving his sentence.

According Tabarzadi's father, he is not a criminal, but only a human rights activist fighting for leave and visitation rights for inmates, including his uncle, Heshamtollah Tabarzadi, an activist and former secretary general of the Iran Democratic Front, Rajeev Shah Prison detained in Karaj.

It seems that the student's arrest is linked to activities of his uncle and his relationship with the opposition while being questioned about this matter during his detention.

Tabarzadi is still hoping his son will leave granted from prison.

TUNISIA: campuses disrupted by fundamentalists

Since October, at least four universities were disrupted by protests from religious groups motivated, violating academic freedom and students' rights to education, Human Rights Watch reported on 9 December.

Islamic fundamentalist groups have considerable disruption caused academic activities, including interruption of classes and examinations at the Faculty of letters, arts and humanities and the business school of the University of La Manobo near Tunis, the Higher Institute of Theology in Tunis, the school of arts and humanities Sousse and the Higher Institute of Arts and Crafts in Kairouan.

On 28 November, a group of 100 people, students and non-students, the University of La Manobo campus's interruption classes and examinations.

Habit Kazdaghli, dean of the faculty of letters, arts and humanities, stating that he personally threatened outside his office. Despite an attempt to prevent outsiders campus, intimidation and acts of violence continued and on December 6 Kazdaghli access to his office by the protesters refused.

Following these incidents, decided faculty members of the faculty included until further notice, asked the police to intervene, they have not done.

Other incidents of intimidation of academic staff, especially women professors who are involved.

Asthma Said an Pasha, an assistant professor at the Higher Institute of Arts and Crafts in Kairouan, was accused of insulting Islam in her class and was asked to publicly repent while off held by protesters.

A professor of Islamic studies at the Higher Institute of the Theology in Tunis, who asked remain anonymous, was intimidated for weeks by students who claimed a secular professor could teach Islamic beliefs (acid). She has since received permission to go to another university.

Another professor at the University of La Manobo’s business school, Raffia Ben Guitar was intimidated by students objected to her style of dress.

Protesters calling for the imposition of their own interpretation of Islam in curricula and campus life universities. They also called for an end to the ban on women wearing the full face veil in classrooms.

Human Rights Watch has called on the Tunisian authorities academic freedom and individuals from violence and protect intimidation by fundamentalist groups on campuses.

The organization called for the government's cooperation and the university authorities in providing security to students and academic staff and preventing outsiders disrupt academic activities.

Despite a breach of the law, no arrests had been made by the security forces so far.

After Zane El Abiding President Ben Ali was ousted in January 2011, the Tunisian government to remove police from university campuses, and is now the police can only intervene if they have received an explicit request from the dean of the institution.

* Noemi Bout is a program officer at the Network for Education and Academic Rights hand, a non-profit organization that facilitates the rapid global transfer of accurate information in response to violations of academic freedom and human rights in education.