IRAN: SAR and NEAR call for urgent action

Scholars at Risk (SAR) and the Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR) have expressed grave concern about the apparent detention of Dr Mehdi Zakerian, an Assistant Professor at Islamic Azad University in Tehran. Zakerian, a scholar of international law and international human rights, has more than 10 years of experience teaching international and Islamic human rights, has more than 50 publications to his name and has recently been appointed Chair of the International Studies Association of Iran.

SAR and NEAR have been made aware that Zakerian was detained on or around 15 August and that he has been held for more than two weeks at a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre. According to Iranian news reports, there has been no statement of any charges against him nor has there been any information issued regarding his current location and condition. SAR and NEAR also understand that Zakerian was dismissed from his university position in September last year without explanation.

US: Judge overturns ban on academic travel to Cuba

A federal judge has overturned a Florida law that restricts students, faculty members, and researchers at the state's public colleges and universities from travelling to Cuba and four other countries. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida challenged the law in court on behalf of the faculty senate at Florida International University, arguing that the law violated faculty members' First Amendment rights.

The law has been in place for two years and has prevented students, professors and researchers at public universities and community colleges in Florida from using state or federal funds to travel to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria.

IRAQ: University president accused of Al Qaeda links

An Iraqi university president who was arrested and led from his home with a hood over his head is suspected of aiding Al Qaeda terrorists by providing them with weapons, Associated Press reports. The president of Diyala University, Nazar al-Khafaji, and another high-profile detainee, are suspected of aiding Al Qaeda insurgents involved in sectarian killings, according to the arrest report.

The province of Diyala is still one of Iraq's most volatile areas and is constantly subjected to sectarian violence. Al-Khafaji and Hussein al-Zubaidi, the provincial council's security head who was arrested on the same day, are both Sunnis. Their arrests by Shiite-led forces have been branded by some as politically motivated.

IRAN: Students to sue Dutch government

A group of Iranian and Dutch students and scientists are planning to take legal action against the Dutch government for banning Iranian students from 'nuclear technology' study courses, Xinhua News Agency has said.

A spokesman for the Iran Students' action group said the ban violates the Dutch constitution and various international treaties. On 1 September, members of the action group staged a demonstration at the University of Amsterdam where Dutch Education Minister Ronald Plasterk was speaking at the opening of the academic year. According to Xinhua, the protestors handed him a copy of Article 11 of the constitution.

The decision by the Dutch government in July to exclude Iranian and Dutch nationals with an Iranian passport from nine degree programs related to nuclear expertise, has been met with a harsh response. The government said the decision was taken to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1737 which requires countries to prevent the spread of nuclear technology to Iran.

The Iran Students' action group, however, says the ban is discriminatory and in breach of the right to education.

US: AAUP enters dispute over professor's email account

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has entered a dispute at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, over the removal of a retired professor's email account, The Chronicle of Higher Education has said.

In early July, the institute disconnected Donald Steiner's email account after he criticised administrators on a faculty email list. Eric Combest, an associate secretary in the AAUP's Department on Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Governance, deplored the move to strip Steiner of his email access and said that such an action put academic freedom at risk.

According to the AAUP, Rensselaer shut off Steiner's email access in July when he retired. The association has argued that such access is normally provided to other emeritus professors, and that the sanction resulted from Steiner's criticism of administrators on a faculty email list hosted by the institute.

His actions reportedly broke Rensselaer's 'Policy on Electronic Citizenship'. The flap over the disconnected email is the latest flashpoint in a continuing war between the administration and professors over faculty governance at Rensselaer, The Chronicle said.

* Jonathan Travis is programme officer for the Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR). www.nearinternational.org