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. Starting July 1, 2026, SAR no longer publishes reports for the incidents that it records. SAR continues to monitor and record incidents that will be used in the annual Free to Think report. This page provides a record of incidents reported up to that date. Learn more about the Academic Freedom Monitoring Project.

Date of Incident: September 02, 2024

Attack Types: Other

Institution(s):Mothers of Plaza de Mayo University

Region & Country:Americas | Argentina

New or Ongoing:New Incident

On September 2, 2024, Argentine security forces forcibly closed the campus of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo University (UNMa). The closure lasted for approximately two months.

UNMa was established in 2000 as a “liberation project” by the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, a human rights organization founded by women protesting the disappearance of their children during the military dictatorship. In October 2023, the Argentine Congress formally designated UNMa as an autonomous national university. Under the National Higher Education Law, law enforcement is prohibited from entering national university grounds without a judicial order or an express request from a “legitimately constituted” university authority.

In September 2024, the government claimed the university was experiencing “administrative chaos” and ordered police intervention to close the campus. The claim came amid a series of administrative struggles between the government and the administration of UNMa (see report). Security forces surrounded one of the institution’s buildings, preventing faculty, staff, and students from accessing academic spaces. In November 2024, a federal court suspended the intervention and granted an injunction, ordering that classes resume, police hostility cease, and the government recognize the university’s autonomy.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the temporary forced closure of a higher education institution. State authorities have a responsibility to refrain from encroaching on university autonomy. Such actions undermine university autonomy and inhibit institutions’ ability to function freely, undermining academic freedom and democratic society generally.

Sources:
*This incident was identified by the Center for the Analysis of Liberty and Authoritarianism, a member of the Coalition for Academic Freedom in the America’s Monitoring Working Group.
https://www.cronista.com/economia-politica/toma-por-asalto-o-violacion-a-la-autonomia-que-paso-en-la-universidad-de-las-madres-de-plaza-de-mayo/
https://www.andes.org.br/conteudos/noticia/aNDES-sN-repudia-intervencao-policial-na-universidade-de-la-madres-de-plaza-de-mayo-na-argentina1
https://buenosairesherald.com/society/social-movements/mothers-of-plaza-de-mayo-ask-for-iachr-protection-after-police-blockade-university