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FACULTY FEARS
The ability of students to learn
skills of critical thinking is highly dependent on the academic freedom of
their professors. Similarly, the professional life of academics and their
maximum contribution to society are threatened when academics are unable
to express their opinions. While it seems as though instructors have had
fewer problems with the security forces, there are a number of cases,
particularly in Gaza, of violations of academic freedom. The general
consensus is that these professors are used as example for others.
A. Dr. Fathi Subuh
Dr. Fathi Subuh's case is the
foremost case with respect to violations of academic freedom. However,
this example encompasses a number of human rights violations and is
therefore a good starting point for examining the ways in which academics
have suffered from the PA's non-compliance with international legal
standards.
On 2 July 1997, the Preventative
Security Service arrested Dr. Fathi Subuh, a professor at Al-Azhar
University in Gaza. Dr. Subuh gave a final exam in the same month with two
questions about corruption. The questions were: 1) Discuss administrative
corruption in the PA agencies; and 2) Discuss administrative corruption at
al-Azhar University. These two questions were generated from student
presentations from previous years. While PA spokesmen asserted that the
arrest was the result of security charges, the Director General of the
President's Office, Tayyeb Abdul-Rahim, stated that it was the result of
the questions he asked on the final exam. He taught the same course while
under Israeli occupation, with the same critical view of the Israeli
regime and its corruption, and he was not once questioned about the
course. Later that month, a squad of civil police officers searched Dr.
Subuh's home and confiscated the students' answers to the aforementioned
test questions.
His arrest, like so many others
related to academic freedom, was arbitrary and illegal. He was arrested
without a properly authorized arrest warrant, and he was held in arbitrary
detention for four months without being charged or presented to a civil
court. He was arraigned by the State Security Courts rather than by the
civil courts. Finally, he was released on strict conditions. Dr. Subuh was
arrested at his home and brought to interrogation after being presented
with a detention order by the PSS. Despite the request of the Palestinian
Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights (PICCR), he was not presented
to a judge in order to legitimate his detention, as required by Article 10
of the Law of Arrest and Interrogations Number 4 of 1924. He was held for
seven days at which point the High Court of Justice granted the Preventive
Security Service eight days to respond to a motion to declare Dr. Subuh's
arrest illegal. Several days later on 31 July, Dr. Subuh had still not
been allowed to meet with his lawyer. By mid-August the reasons for his
arrest were still not clear, although the Legal Advisor to the PSS had
asserted in a letter to the PICCR (the human rights body handling Dr.
Subuh's defense) that he had not been detained for disloyalty to the PA
and that his arrest had been legal. It was not until 6 September that Dr.
Subuh was able to meet with legal representation. Three days later, on 9
September, the High Court of Justice in Gaza announced that Dr. Subuh's
case was a "security file." It issued no further explanations. On 6
October, the High Court rejected the petition presented by Dr. Subuh's
attorney, claiming that the "High Court does not have jurisdiction to rule
on cases falling under the jurisdiction of the High Court for State
Security." At the end of November, Dr. Subuh was released on bail, with
the stipulation that he report daily to the police station; he also was
forbidden from leaving the country without special permission from the
attorney general, despite the fact that no charge had been made against
him.
All the while Dr. Subuh's physical
health had been declining. He had an inflammation of nasal sinuses due to
an unnatural perforation in the meniginal lining of his brain. When Dr.
Subuh was finally released, he had to go to Switzerland for medical
treatment, although the prison authorities denied that they had been
responsible for his the exacerbation of his condition.
Dr. Subuh's ordeal did not end when
he was released from jail. Although he was released without charge, the
president of the university would not allow Dr. Subuh to return to work
until his case was finished in the High Court. The High Court produced a
document stating that Dr. Subuh was innocent and that there was no case in
the court at all. Nevertheless, the university president did nothing.
Currently Dr. Subuh has a lawsuit against the University pending in the
High Court. Dr. Subuh was released after a significant international human
rights campaign on his behalf, and after intense pressure from several
European countries, which threatened to cut off funding to the PA.
The Palestinian National Authority
The Ministry of Justice
Office of the Minister
Date: 11/3/98
To Dr. Riyad al-Khudri
Director of al-Azhar University
Greetings.
We would like to inform you that Dr.
Fathi Ahmad Subuh has been released without any charges pressed against
him.
We do not oppose his going back to
work, as was the case before his arrest. He deserves to obtain all his
work rights for the time lost.
Best Regards,
Freih Abu Medein
Minister of Justice
B. Dr. Ayyub Othman: Academic
Research and Publishing
Dr. Ayyub Othman was dismissed from
his position as a professor of English at al-Azhar University in Gaza
because he made public information about incidents of forgery within the
university. For three years, Dr. Othman has been writing newspaper
articles detailing corruption within the university criticizing the
performance of the PA. Dr. Othman discovered information that was held as
"secret" and was released from his position for obtaining it. He was then
dismissed. Because of one article, in which he reported on the misbehavior
of the dean and of the president of the university, Dr. Othman was
summoned to the attorney general for defamation and for publishing illegal
material. Dr. Othman successfully defended himself using the Palestinian
Law of the Press.44
On 29 May 1997, Dr. Othman was
arrested for 25 hours, after he published an article on a report released
by the General Security Service, addressing corruption within the country.
While there was nothing previously unknown in the article, Dr. Othman was
the first person to open the al-Azhar University files in the High Court.
Since then, eight cases for academics and administrators were brought
before the High Court. Dr. Othman succeeded in subpoenaing the university
president to the Court, as well. 45
C. Dr. Ahmed Sa段d Dahlan: Academic
Promotions
Another issue prohibiting freedom
within the academy is that of the promotion system for professors.
According to the policies of the university, specifically at al-Azhar
University, in order to be considered for a promotion from Assistant
Professor to Associate Professor, one must have been an assistant
professor for five years and have published five articles. According to
Dr. Ahmed Sa段d Dahlan, the head of the employees union for the 1997-1998
academic year, "the issue of promotion is a basic issue that is a chronic
problem for academics here. The administration has violated its own
established legislation regarding the process of promotion, in that they
established the criteria that you must publish articles and spent five
years at each step before being granted a promotion. Then, after you
apply, you must wait for six months to hear the result. If you are
approved, you will be upgraded from Assistant to Associate Professor. But,
if you represent an opinion that is against the university administration,
the administration may postpone the results of your application for 2 to 3
years. It you are not critical of the university, you can get a response
more quickly, within as little as two months. "
In 1994, Dr. Dahlan was eligible to
receive a promotion. However, in 1993, he and a colleague, Dr. Sa段d Abdul
Wahed, placed a congratulatory advertisement in a newspaper upon fellow
professor Ayyub Othman's return to the university. Consequently, Dr.
Dahlan fell into disfavor with the university president. In 1994, when he
became head of the academics union in the university, Dr. Ayyub Othman
asked him to bring his case to the university, as part of his position as
head of the union. The administration attempted to make a bargain with Dr.
Dahlan: in order to receive his lawful promotion, Dr. Dahlan had to ignore
Dr. Othman and Dr. Abdul Wahed's cases. Dr. Dahlan did not ignore their
cases, and in July 1994, after organizing a teacher's strike, and after
receiving a decree from President Arafat, the two professors were allowed
to return to the university.
As a result, however, Dr. Dahlan's
promotion request was delayed. In December 1994, Dr. Dahlan, representing
himself, went before the High Court regarding the delay in receiving the
promotion he earned. After twelve months, the High Court reached a
decision. In September 1995, the court granted his promotion, which he had
qualified for a full year earlier.46
To: Al-Azhar University -- Gaza
Date: 29/4/98
To the Director of the University
Subject: Violation of Freedom of
Expression
At the time when head of the
Palestinian State Abu Ammar (Yasser Arafat) signed the document of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first leader to do so in the
Middle East, the University administration repeatedly violated freedom of
expression and followed the police in muffling voices of those in the
university. The last incident of this sort was directed to Dr. Sa'id Abdul
Wahed, who congratulated Ayyub Othman for returning to his academic work
at the university and for taking the capabilities of Mr. Ayyub and placing
State leadership in charge of him. The university administration did the
same thing against the rights of some professors, violating the current
rules and regulations of the university. The Employees Union considers
these violations very serious. We hope that the university administration
would commit to its rules and regulations, and respect human rights.
Signed by the Director of the
Employees Union
Dr. Ahmed Dahlan
Cc: Leader of the Palestinian State
Board of trustees
Ministry of Higher Education
Employees Union at the Universities
and Palestinian Study Centers
To all Departments
Copy to self
D. Dr. Sa段d Abdul Wahed: Freedom of
Opinion
When Dr. Ayyub Othman was allowed to
return to his post at the university, several other teachers, including
Dr. Sa段d Abdul Wahed, published a congratulatory message in a newspaper,
thanking President Arafat for the decree which allowed for his return, as
well as congratulating Dr. Othman for regaining his position. Dr. Abdul
Wahed was then accused of misleading the people by what was written in
that congratulatory note. Dr. Abdul Wahed reported the accusations to
various NGOs concerned with human rights, which in turn asked the
university president exactly how one could mislead the public with such a
message. Dr. Abdul Wahed has received no answer thus far.
Dr. Sa段d Abdul Wahed has also been
waiting for his promotion from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor,
according to the rules of the university. In May 1998, he requested his
promotion, "according to the law and not according to the president's
mood." He was promoted academically from that day, but financially the
promotion will not be in effect for one year.
Dr. Abdul Wahed has also experienced
the ramifications for speaking his mind within the university. For
example, he will not change a student's grades if the president asks him
to do so. Because of this, he has been harassed. The same dean who had
previously nominated him for a scholarship, two weeks later accused Dr.
Abdul Wahed of being an "unintelligent professor" and a "bad researcher."
The dean, who had sent him a letter of thanks and appreciation for his
academic performance and for following the guidelines of the university
for the 1997-98 academic year, five days later asked for answers to a list
of questions about a problem that occurred four months earlier. Again,
members of the administration held on to problems and accusations and
raised them when they found it useful to do so.47
E. Dr. Abdul Sattar Kassem
Professor Abdul Sattar Kassem of
al-Najah and Birzeit Universities is known for his criticism and reproof.
He was dismissed from the Jordan University in Amman for his candor.
Subsequently, his promotion was blocked for several years at al-Najah
University because he criticized the University administration. He has
also written a recent book that is very critical of the PA. The book is
not allowed to be sold in the University bookstore; he and his colleagues
sell it to students privately.
Dr. Kassem wrote an article in which
he said that Arafat was not democratic. Shortly following the publication
of his article, he was shot with four bullets 200 meters outside of the
al-Najah University by the PA.
While most professors agree that
book censorship is not a problem, the aforementioned book, by Dr. Abdul
Sattar Kassem, was not available in his university bookstore because the
staff refused to carry it. In addition, the book was published in Israel
because no publishing house in the West Bank was willing to print it.
There is, however, a degree of
control whether direct or indirect over freedom of speech. On 4 December
1998 a general decree to all the employees at al-Azhar University was
issued by the president, which prohibited employees from talking to the
press without consulting the president. His memo to the staff stated that
anyone who sends a press release needs specified permission from the
president directly.
The PHRMG recommends that professors
not be arrested without charge and that the PA ends its policy of singling
out professors as an example. Permitting professors to criticize and to
educate democratically is the best method for building a tolerant
Palestinian civil-society.
E. University Salaries: A
Political-Economic Concern
The PHRMG defines the payment of
staff and professor's salary as an economic and social right which can be
subsumed under academic freedom. In May 1999, Palestinian universities
beginning with al-Quds and Hebron Universities, and joined by the other
Palestinian universities, organized a strike to protest the PA's
non-compliance in paying its portion of recurrent costs to the
universities. Professors organized the strike because they had not been
paid for four months. In addition, the university coffers were depleted
and at that late point in the semester were supposed to have been aided by
the PA money. 1999 was the first year that European Union (EU) money
designated for recurrent costs would not be renewed.
The EU money was a temporary stopgap
for a five-year period until the PA could start allocating money to the
universities. The EU felt strongly that if the PA saw higher education as
a priority then the PA must fund it accordingly. The universities agreed.
Accordingly when the university employees learned that no money would be
forthcoming, the workers went on strike. Eventually, after meetings with
representatives from the PLC Finance Committee, it was established that
the money did exist and that it could be distributed to the universities.
Nonetheless, the universities continued to strike. They demanded not only
money for the current year disbursed through a stop-gap measure but that
an ongoing system be put in place to fund their mission of higher
education. As of this writing, the institutions of higher education
continued to strike. The PHRMG considers this a critical issue and calls
on the PA to support wholeheartedly the Palestinian higher education
system. The PHRMG hopes that a thorough investigation into this matter can
be carried out in the future.
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