Protest at murder of Giulio Regeni. Press Association/AP/Amr Nabil. All rights reserved.The call below was launched on 24 February by a number of academics based in the UK. It has been signed by over 200 university teachers from all over the world.

The undersigned are university teachers concerned over recent events that point to a serious reversal of gains in democracy and academic freedom achieved over the last decades in many countries.

Three cases have been most prominent in that regard since the beginning of 2016: the crackdown by Turkish authorities on the more than 1200 signatories in Turkey of the petition by “Academics for Peace” criticizing the anti-Kurdish war drive launched by the Turkish government; the crackdown by Indian authorities on students involved in a non-violent campus protest against the death penalty at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Hyderabad University, and an attempt to shoot and kill a professor by groups affiliated to the ruling party; and the savage torture and assassination in Cairo of Italian research student Giulio Regeni.

When they are not tacitly approving it, governments of countries where academic freedoms are better respected and which include most global powers have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to calls on them to protest against this repression. The worst attitude has been displayed in Italy where the government kept stressing the importance of its economic ties with Egypt while a gutter press accused Giulio Regeni’s supervisors of letting him gather dangerous information, thus resorting to an old worn-out paranoid argument of all dictatorships and tacitly making the student himself responsible for his own atrocious death.

Academic freedoms are a key indicator of the overall status of political freedom and democracy. The acceleration of privatisation across the public higher education system is undermining these freedoms on a global scale. The events described above point to a much deeper and sweeping onslaught on democratic freedoms, which must be halted immediately lest it leads to increasingly tragic events and a most nefarious consolidation and extension of the authoritarian turn in global politics.

We call on the global community of teachers and students to join us in protesting against this most dangerous trend by signing, translating and circulating this statement, and organizing protest meetings in all universities.

List of signatories (by title, and alphabetical order of last name) 

Prof.

Gilbert

Achcar

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Prof.

Nadje

Al-Ali

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Prof.

Aziz

Al-Azmeh

Central European University

Budapest

Hungary

Prof.

Peter

Alexander

University of Johannesburg

Johannesburg

South Africa

Prof.

Kevin

Anderson

University of California

Santa Barbara

USA

Prof.

Gil

Anidjar

Columbia University

New York

USA

Prof.

Joel

Beinin

Stanford University

Stanford

USA

Prof.

Joseph

Boyd-Barrett

Bowling Green State University

Ojai

USA

Prof.

Renate

Bridenthal

Brooklyn College, CUNY

New York

USA

Prof.

Ray

Bush

University of Leeds

Leeds

UK

Prof.

Edouard

Bustin

Boston University

Boston

USA

Prof.

Claude

Calame

EHESS

Paris

France

Prof.

Noam

Chomsky

MIT

Cambridge

USA

Prof.

Mohan

Dutta

National University of Singapore

Singapore

Singapore

Prof.

Susan

Feiner

University of Southern Maine

Portland

USA

Prof.

Nigel

Gibson

Emerson College

Boston

USA

Prof.

Alan

Gilbert

University of Denver

Denver

US

Prof.

Neve

Gordon

Ben-Gurion University

Beer-Sheva

Israel

Prof.

Sari

Hanafi

American University of Beirut

Beirut

Lebanon

Prof.

Jens

Hanssen

University of Toronto

Toronto

Canada

Prof.

John

Hartmann

Northern Illinois University

DeKalb

USA

Prof.

Konrad

Hirschler

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Prof.

Peter

Jackson

Australian National University

Canberra

Australia

Prof.

Haider

Khan

JKSIS, University of Denver

Denver

USA

Prof.

Farida

Khan

University of Wisconsin

Kenosha

USA

Prof.

Mary

King

Portland State University

Portland

USA

Prof.

David

Lelyveld

William Paterson University

Wayne, NJ

USA

Prof.

Zachary

Lockman

New York University

New York

USA

Prof.

Ania

Loomba

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia

USA

Prof.

Moshé

Machover

King’s College London

London

UK

Prof.

Clea

McNeely

University of Tennessee

Knoxville

USA

Prof.

Gerald

Meyer

Hostos Community College, CUNY

New York

USA

Prof.

Mark C.

Miller

New York University

New York

USA

Prof.

Haideh

Moghissi

York University

Toronto

Canada

Prof.

Deborah

Mutnick

Long Island University

Brooklyn

U.S.

Prof.

Ved

Nanda

University of Denver

Denver

USA

Prof.

Ravi

Palat

State University of New York

Binghamton

USA

Prof..

Teoman

Pamukçu

Middle East Technical university

Ankara

Turkey

Prof.

Jaime

Pastor

UNED

Madrid

Spain

Prof.

Charles

Post

CUNY, Graduate Center

New York

USA

Prof.

Mohan

Rao

Jawaharlal Nehru University

New Delhi

India

Prof.

William

Robinson

University of California

Santa Barbara

USA

Prof.

Stephen

Roddy

University of San Francisco

San Francisco

USA

Prof.

Andrew

Ross

New York University

New York

USA

Prof.

Alfredo

Saad Filho

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Prof.

Oscar

Salemink

University of Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Denmark

Prof.

Pritam

Singh

Oxford Brookes University

Oxford

UK

Prof.

Annabelle

Sreberny

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Prof.

Nicola

Tannenbaum

Lehigh University

Bethlehem

USA

Prof.

Alan

Wald

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor

USA

Prof.

David

Wilmsen

American University of Beirut

Beirut

Lebanon

Prof.

Howard

Winant

University of California, Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara

USA

Prof.

Bronwyn

Winter

University of Sydney

Sydney

Australia

Prof.

Idoye

Zabala

UPV/EHU

Bilbao

Spain

 

Dr.

Sadia

Abbas

Rutgers University

Newark

USA

Dr.

Maha

Abdelrahman

University of Cambridge

Cambridge

UK

Dr.

Brian

Aboud

Vanier College

Montreal

Canada

Dr.

Bashir

Abu-Manneh

University of Kent

Canterbury

Britain

Dr.

Shrinkhla

Agrawal

Columbia memorial hospital

Hudson

USA

Dr.

Anne

Alexander

University of Cambridge

Cambridge

UK

Dr.

Richard

Alexander

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Hanife

Aliefendioğlu

Eastern Mediterranean University

Famagusta

N. Cyprus

Dr.

Ayten

Alkan

Istanbul University

Istanbul

Turkey

Dr.

Diana

Allan

McGill University

Montreal

Canada

Dr.

Daniele

Amoroso

Università  di Napoli Federico II

Naples

Italy

Dr.

Math

Antoine

IRES

Paris

France

Dr.

Kiran

Asher

University of Massachusetts

Amherst

USA

Dr.

Johny

Augustine

St. Ambrose University

Davenport

USA

Dr.

Abdulsemet

Aydeniz

Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi

Van

Turkey

Dr.

Pierre

Beaudet

University of Ottawa

Ottawa

Canada

Dr.

Gareth

Bentley

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Raffaella

Bianchi

University of Westminster

London

UK

Dr.

Swati

Birla

University of Massachusetts

Amherst

USA

Dr.

Giuseppe

Bolotta

National University of Singapore

Singapore

Singapore

Dr.

Ibrahim

Bor

Mardin Artuklu University

Mardin

Turkey

Dr.

Shannon

Brincat

Griffith University

Jindalee

Australia

Dr.

Heidi

Brooks

University of Johannesburg 

Johannesburg

South Africa

Dr.

Terry

Burnsed

Metropolitan State University

Denver

USA

Dr.

Ananya

Chakravarti

Georgetown University

Washington

USA

Dr.

Aditi

Chandra

University of California

Merced

USA

Dr.

Secil

Dagtas

University of Waterloo

Waterloo

Canada

Dr.

Joseph

Daher

University of Lausanne

Lausanne

Switzerland

Dr.

Russell

Dale

Lehman College, CUNY

New York

USA

Dr.

Rajarshi

Dasgupta

Jawaharlal Nehru University

New Delhi

India

Dr.

Sheila

Delany

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby

Canada

Dr.

Shruti

Devgan

Rutgers University

New Brunswick

USA

Dr.

James

Eastwood

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Taylor

Easum

University of Wisconsin

Stevens Point

USA

Dr.

Rabab

El-Mahdi

American University in Cairo

Cairo

Egypt

Dr.

May

Farah

American University of Beirut

Beirut

Lebanon

Dr.

Krzysztof

Fleszar

American University of Beirut

Beirut

Lebanon

Dr.

Barbara

Foley

Rutgers University

Newark

USA

Dr.

Samuel

Friedman

NDRI

New York

USA

Dr.

Mneesha

Gellman

Emerson College

Boston

USA

Dr.

Lia

Genovese

Thammasat University

Bangkok

Thailand

Dr.

Arthur

Gilbert

University of Denver

Denver

USA

Dr.

Sherna

Gluck

California State University

Long Beach

USA

Dr.

Bettina

Gräf

Freie Universität Berlin

Berlin

Germany

Dr.

Laura

Hammond

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Vanja

Hamzic

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Rachel

Harrison

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Amir

Hassanpour

University of Toronto

Toronto

Canada

Dr.

Holly

High

University of Sydney

Sydney

Australia

Dr.

Katarina

Katz

Karlstad University

Karlstad

Sweden

Dr.

Janroj Y.

Keles

Middlesex University

London

UK

Dr.

Arang

Keshavarzian

New York University

New York

USA

Dr.

Alexandra

Kleinlercher

University of Surrey

Guildford

UK

Dr.

Jeanne

Koopman

Boston University

Boston

USA

Dr.

Deepa

Kumar

Rutgers University

New Brunswick

USA

Dr.

Lars Peter

Laamann

SOAS, University of London

London

England

Dr.

David

Laibman

City University of New York

Brooklyn

USA

Dr.

Paul

Lavy

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Honolulu

USA

Dr.

Jens

Lerche

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Laura

Lomas

Rutgers University

Newark

USA

Dr.

Rima

Majed

American University of Beirut

Beirut

Lebanon

Dr.

Thomas

Marois

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Giuliano

Martiniello

American University of Beirut

Beirut

Lebanon

Dr.

Rania

Masri

American University of Beirut

Beirut

Lebanon

Dr.

Tariq

Mehmood

American University of Beirut

Beirut

Lebanon

Dr.

Minakshi

Menon

Max Planck Institute

Berlin

Germany

Dr.

Alessandra

Mezzadri

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Sanjay K.

Misra

Dept of English, R.B.S. College

Agra

India

Dr.

Shayoni

Mitra

Barnard College, Columbia Univ.

New York

USA

Dr.

Prabhu

Mohapatra

University of Delhi

Delhi

India

Dr.

Lorenza

Monaco

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Tracy

Mott

University of Denver

Denver

USA

Dr.

Yasser

Munif

Emerson College

Boston

USA

Dr.

Cinzia

Nachira

Università del Salento

Lecce

Italy

Dr.

Usha

Natarajan

American University in Cairo

Cairo

Egypt

Dr.

Kerem

Nisancioglu

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Manzoor

Nowshari

Kinderwunschzentrum

Potsdam

Germany

Dr.

Francis

O'Connor

COSMOS SNS

Florence

Italy

Dr.

Cem

Ozatalay

Galatasaray University

Istanbul

Turkey

Eng.

Ajit

Patil

Walchand College of Engineering

Mumbai

India

Dr.

Nicola

Perugini

Brown University

Providence

USA

Dr.

Nicole

Phelouzat

EHESS

Paris

France

Dr.

Tim

Pringle

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Navtej

Purewal

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Mathieu

Quet

IRD

Paris

France

Dr.

Nandagopal

R. Menon

University of Göttingen

Göttingen

Germany

Dr.

Saeed

Rahnema

York University

Toronto

Canada

Dr.

Manjeet

Ramgotra

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Rahul

Rao

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Catherine

Rottenberg

Ben-Gurion University

Beer Sheva

Israel

Dr.

Sara

Roy

Harvard University

Cambridge

USA

Dr.

Rim

Saab

American University of Beirut

Beirut

Lebanon

Dr.

Hanan

Sabea

American University in Cairo

Cairo

Egypt

Dr.

Catherine

Samary

Université Paris Dauphine

Paris

France

Dr.

Sermin

Sarica

Istanbul University

Istanbul

Turkey

Dr.

Amrita

Shodhan

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Salma

Siddique

Freie University

Berlin

Germany

Dr.

Subir

Sinha

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Semra

Somersan

Resigned

Istanbul

Turkey

Dr.

Priyanka

Srivastava

University of Massachusetts

Amherst

USA

Dr.

Justin

Stearns

New York University Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi

UAE

Dr.

Nikos

Stravelakis

National Kapodistrian Univ. of Athens

Athens

Greece

Dr.

Kiven

Strohm

American University in Cairo

Cairo

Egypt

Dr.

Sanjukta

Sunderason

Leiden University

Leiden

Netherlands

Dr.

Ted

Swedenburg

University of Arkansas

Fayetteville

USA

Dr.

Helga

Tawil-Souri

New York University

New York

USA

Dr.

Shabnum

Tejani

SOAS University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Hasan

Tekgüç

Kadir Has University

Istanbul

Turkey

Dr.

Andrea

Teti

University of Aberdeen

Aberdeen

UK

Dr.

Damian

Tobin

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Elisa

V. Waeyenberge

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Rashmi

Varma

University of Warwick

Warwick

UK

Dr.

Leandro

Vergara-Camus

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Ramya

Vijaya

Stockton University

Galloway, NJ

USA

Dr.

Adam

Waterman

American University of Beirut

Beirut

Lebanon

Dr.

Vijay K.

Yadavendu

Magadh University

Nalanda

India

Dr.

Veli

Yadirgi

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Dr.

Yavuz

Yasar

University of Denver

Denver

USA

Dr.

Bilge

Yesil

CUNY, College of Staten Island

New York

USA

Dr.

Hela

Yousfi

Université Paris Dauphine

Paris

France

Dr.

Sami

Zemni

Ghent University

Ghent

Belgium

Dr.

Cosimo

Zene

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

 

Mr.

Mitul

Baruah

Syracuse University

Syracuse, NY

USA

Ms.

Uma

Chandru

WSS

Bangalore

India

Mr.

Mahendran

Chokkalingam

Central European University

Budapest

Hungary

Ms.

Aditi

Deshpande

Indian Institute of Trop. Meteorology

Pune

India

Ms.

Devika

Dutt

University of Massachusetts

Amherst

USA

Ms.

Dina

El-Sharnouby

BGSMCS

Berlin

Germany

Ms.

Mary

Ferguson

NYC Dept. Of Education

NYC

USA

Ms.

Mei Lan

Frame

University of Massachusetts

Amherst

USA

Mr.

John

Green

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Mr.

Baris

Guven

University of Massachusetts

Amherst

USA

Mr.

Jyoti

Iyer

University of Massachusetts

Amherst

USA

Mr.

Orkide

Izci

University of Padua

Padua

Italy

Mr.

Anirban

Karak

University of Massachusetts

Amherst

USA

Mr.

Rami

Khouri

American University of Beirut

Beirut

Lebanon

Mr.

Abdul

Kidwai

University of Massachusetts

Amherst

USA

Ms.

Farah

Kobaissy

American University of Beirut

Beirut

Lebanon

Mr.

Marco

Mogiani

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Mr.

Kazhal

Mohammadi

York University

Toronto

Canada

Mr.

Piyawit

Moonkham

Washington State University

Pullman

USA

Ms.

Pritika

Nehra

I.I.T

Delhi

India

Ms.

Fiorella

Picchioni

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Mr.

Sameena

Sameena

University of British Columbia

Vancouver

Canada

Mr.

Thomas

Schad

Humboldt Universität/BGSMCS

Berlin

Germany

Mr.

Jayprakash

Sharma

Delhi University

New Delhi

India

Ms.

Smriti

Singh

JNU

New Delhi

India

Ms.

Kanika

Singh

Ashoka University

Delhi

India

Mr.

Amitesh

Singhal

School of Creative Business

New Delhi

India

Ms.

Shreya

Sinha

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Ms.

Shreya

Sinha

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Mr.

Oishik

Sircar

Melbourne Law School

Melbourne

Australia

Mr.

Durgesh

Solanki

Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Mumbai

India

Ms.

Aarthi

Sridhar

University of Amsterdam

New Delhi

India

Ms.

Noli

Tirkey

Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Mumbai

India

Ms.

Ezgi

Unsal

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Mr.

Kartik

Verma

University of Utah

Salt Lake City

USA

Mr.

David

Wearing

SOAS, University of London

London

UK

Mr.

Adrian

Wilson

London School of Economics

London

UK

Mr.

Emrah

Yildiz

Harvard University

Cambridge

USA

Ms.

Katrina

Yoshida

University of Denver

Denver

USA