Qatar’s most prestigious university stands accused of fostering a climate of fear in which academics are afraid to speak out about persistent abuses.
Grievances came out into the open in February of this year, when a professor at Qatar University resigned and sent an open letter to colleagues and students alleging corruption and cronyism in the university, and in particular the College of Arts and Sciences.
The letter, by Dr Haydar Badawi, a US citizen of Sudanese origin, found its way onto Arabic Twitter, a platform to which Qataris are addicted. Many of those responding endorsed his view that corruption at the university was endemic. Among the issues Badawi raised in the letter (which is still on Twitter) was the way in which faculty members were subjected to harsh and unfair treatment as a result of their contractual terms and conditions.
