SAR’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project investigates and reports attacks on higher education with the aim of raising awareness, generating advocacy, and increasing protection for scholars, students, and academic communities. Learn more.

Date of Incident: January 12, 2014

Attack Types: Killings, Violence, Disappearances

Institution(s):University of Mahajanga

Region & Country:Eastern Africa | Madagascar

New or Ongoing:New Incident

On January 11, 2014, government troops reportedly opened fire on protesting students at the University of Mahajenga, killing one student and seriously injuring 11 more. The incident occurred during a student march, protesting an alleged delay in allocation of rooms on campus and non-payment of grants by the state.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the use of disproportionate force by police against students engaged in the non-violent exercise of protected human rights, including free speech and association.  In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, such incidents have a chilling effect on academic freedom and undermine democratic society generally.  That harm is compounded when such attacks occur on campus, thus undermining institutional autonomy.
 
Sources:
– http://etudiant.lefigaro.fr/les-news/actu/detail/article/madagascar-un-etudiant-tue-dans-une-manifestation-4070/
– http://www.madagascar-tribune.com/Officiellement-un-mort-parmi-les,19523.html
– http://www.madagascar-tribune.com/Dilemme,19652.html
– http://www.digischool.fr/actualites/madagascar-un-etudiant-tue-au-cours-d-une-manifestation-19256.php
– http://www.newsmada.com/index.php/actualites/34343-universite-de-mahajanga–les-etudiants-campent-sur-leurs-positions#.U5C3wy99QmU
– http://mydago.com/2014/01/mahajanga-lemmo-reg-tire-des-balles-reelles-sur-les-etudiants/