GLOBAL: Academic freedom reports international

Iraqi academics were once again the target of violent attacks by insurgents in a new wave of killings. According to the Brussels Tribunal on Iraq, at least 453 academics have been killed since 2003. In Iran, students have protested against growing security force presence at Tehran University, and the University Bahr students in Pakistan have gone against the dismissal of a professor who criticized university policies. A student has been jailed for three months in Sudan for participating in demonstrations against the government, and the students in the lesbian and gay US Christian universities have been stirring for official acceptance.

IRAQ: New offensive against the elite academic

Iraqi academics were once again the target of violent attacks by insurgents in a new wave of killings, United Press International reported on 11 April.

A dozen academics, researchers, scientists and other professionals and journalists have been killed in recent months. Apparently they were killed by insurgents or sectarian death squads. Few had known political affiliations.

Academics have become increasingly concerned about the rise in violence, and expressed its concerns public. Hickman Jalap, chief of the International Society of Iraqi scientists, criticized Prime Minister Nora al-Malice and his Shiite-dominated government was unable to protect them.

Al-Mustansiriya University, a leading university in Iraq, has been the target of recent attacks on particular academics and students.

Mohammed Alwen, dean of the faculty of medicine and a prominent surgeon, was killed March 29 by a bomb that exploded under his car. Said Abdul Minim, director of molecular research department, was murdered on 3 April.

Since 2007, more than 325 students and staff of Al-Mustansiriya University killed or maimed in violent attacks.

Under Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi higher education system was well seen, despite the repression of the regime.

Since 2004 and the beginning of the insurgency in Iraq, the country's academics have been the target of systematic death by gangs, including Islamic fanatics, wanting to eliminate the elite, either killing them or pushing them into exile.

As a result of this climate of fear and death, hundreds of academics and scientists, as well as journalists, doctors and lawyers, have fled Iraq to avoid being killed.

According to the Brussels Tribunal on Iraq, at least 453 academics have been killed in Iraq since 2003.

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United States: California vetoes bill transparency further education college

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have required foundations and other auxiliary groups linked to major universities of California, the California State University and University of California, to open its list of donors for the public Inside Higher Education reported on 1 October. Schwarzenegger said the bill does not "provide sufficient protection for many who rightfully deserve a level of privacy as part of their donations." The University of California and California State University said that the bill would have a "chilling effect" on private donations. The bill was proposed by Senator Leland Yee, a frequent critic of university governance practices and spending amid a dispute concerning the refusal of a foundation linked to the University of the State of California to disclose amount was spent to bring Sarah Plain to speak at school.

Inclusive: Academic autonomy reports worldwide

In Britain, police have asked the universities to spend them intelligence about planned protests, since students continue their vociferous campaign against education cuts and fee hikes. In Tunisia, the universities were closed last week, but is expected to be inaugurated tomorrow. Tartu University has sent a letter to the Croatian Parliament urging that the final version of a bill that affects their autonomy may change. President Barrack Osama has announced that educational exchanges between Cuba and the US eased, while in China the police and the security of the campus of Peking University have issued a ban on copying sensitive material. Minister of Higher Education Hani Hill Egypt has confirmed the government will comply with judicial decisions to end police presence at the campus. UK: Universities asked for intelligence information about the protests An officer from Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist command has contacted the universities of London requesting that transmi...

UKRAINE: Take into custody of historian do research activities

Historian Russian Ability has been arrested by the security service of Ukraine, SBU, allegedly based on his research in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Ukrainian independence movement in 1940 and 1950, the Kyiv Post reported 17 September. Ability, head of the National Memorial Museum of Victims of the occupation regime, Thurman an Lonskoho Lvov, was arrested on 8 September 2010 and held for 14 hours after his laptop computer and two external hard disks seized . The SBU says Ability illegally gathered state secrets with the intent to distribute. More than 100 academics from around the world have signed a petition in favor of releasing Ability, and expressing their concern about access to information on the higher education system of Ukraine.

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