Press Releases and Statements

Promoting Racial Justice

Dear SAR friends, We write to echo the grief, anger and frustration felt during these past days in the United States catalyzed by the murder of Mr. George Floyd, and by the persistent racial injustice and brutality that led to

Europe-wide forum on supporting researchers at risk

Europe-wide forum on supporting researchers at risk June 8, 2020: The 2020 Inspireurope Virtual Stakeholder Forum, a Europe-wide virtual gathering of researchers at risk, universities, policymakers, foundations, and employers from the public and private sectors, takes place today in support

SAR speaks with the International Observatory of Human Rights about Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali

SAR’s Executive Director, Rob Quinn, speaks with Valerie Peay, the Director of the International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR), about Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, a scholar of disaster medicine imprisoned in Iran’s Evin Prison. Today marks four years since Dr. Djalali

SAR responds to COVID-19: Now more than ever

We share our best wishes for your health and well-being in these challenging times, together with our hopes for a speedy and safe resolution of the crisis and our thanks to the many experts, inside and outside of higher education,

SAR Sweden calls for the release of Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali

The SAR Sweden section issued the below letter to Iranian and Swedish authorities, among other governments, to call for the immediate release of Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali. Dr. Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian citizen, received his PhD from Karolinska Institute in Sweden and

Release Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali amidst concerns of COVID-19

Iranian authorities have reportedly released roughly 85,000 individuals from prisons, in an effort to contain the outbreak of a novel coronavirus disease known as COVID-19. Authorities have not, however, released Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali who has long been in need of

SAR Italy calls for the release of Patrick George Zaki

Twelve university rectors of the SAR Italy section issued the below letter to call for the release of Patrick George Zaki, a graduate student at the University of Bologna who has been wrongfully detained in Egypt since February 7, 2020.

Iran: Free Fariba Adelkhah and Roland Marchal!

Fariba Adelkhah and Roland Marchal are researchers at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) who have been wrongfully detained in Iran since June 2019. On February 11, 2020, Scholars at Risk joins 18 academic associations and human rights

Pakistan: SAR Stands with Wrongfully-Convicted Scholar Junaid Hafeez

Scholars at Risk is gravely concerned by today’s conviction and sentencing to death of Junaid Hafeez, a former Bahauddin Zakaria University lecturer and a scholar of comparative literature. Mr. Hafeez was detained in 2013 after a group of students accused

SAR’s Response to the US Executive Order Titled “Combating Anti-Semitism”

Scholars at Risk (SAR) is greatly concerned by the recent US Executive Order titled “Combating Anti-Semitism”, which appears to be a dangerous intrusion of executive authority into the substance of research, teaching, and discourse on US higher education campuses, and

Hong Kong: Authorities Must Exercise Restraint and End Violent Sieges on Universities

Scholars at Risk (SAR) is gravely concerned about a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters on Hong Kong’s university campuses, and calls on government and university authorities to take immediate steps to de-escalate violence and to ensure the safety and well-being

Free to Think 2019: Distressing phenomenon of attacks on higher education demands global action

New York, NY — Scholars at Risk announces the release of Free to Think 2019, a report analyzing 324 attacks on higher education communities in 56 countries between September 1, 2018 and August 31, 2019. “Attacks on higher education communities

Threats to Academic Freedom Jeopardize China’s Higher Education Ambitions

Scholars at Risk announces the release of Obstacles to Excellence: Academic Freedom & China’s Quest for World Class Universities, a new report mapping threats to academic freedom that jeopardize China’s higher education ambitions.

Capacity-building gift from the Charles Koch Foundation

Scholars at Risk (SAR) is pleased to announce a capacity-building gift from the Charles Koch Foundation (CKF). The gift will allow SAR to strengthen the network office, which has been under pressure to keep up with increasing attacks on higher

Egypt: End Probationary Measures Against Waleed K. Salem

Waleed K. Salem is a doctoral candidate at the University of Washington who was arrested while conducting dissertation research in Cairo in May 2018 and detained without charge until December 2018. Following his release, he has been required to regularly

The Future of Value-Based Higher Education and Quality Assurance – The Future of Academic Freedom

The Webinar debated the contours of academic freedom both as it relates to institutions and quality assurance: What rights and obligations are attached to it from a European, Latin American and Scholars at Risk perspectives, and how these concepts are

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Free Universities: Putting the Academic Freedom Index Into Action

This joint report by the Global Public Policy Institute and Scholars at Risk introduces the Academic Freedom Index (AFi), a new time series and near-global dataset on several dimensions of academic freedom. It calls on decision-makers in higher education and