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: October 15, 2024

Attack Types: Killings, Violence, Disappearances

Institution(s):National University of Quilmes

Region & Country:Americas | Argentina

New or Ongoing:New Incident

On October 15, 2024, unidentified individuals used pepper spray against students and staff at the National University of Quilmes (UNQ) in an apparent attempt to shut down an assembly.

At the time of the attack, over 500 students and staff members were holding a gathering to discuss the future of protests against Argentine President Javier Milei’s veto of the University Financing Law, a move that would effectively defund universities across the country. According to university rector Alfredo Alfonso, the intruders, who were unaffiliated with the university, entered the building, grabbed a megaphone, and began shouting and pushing the students and staff, apparently to prevent the discussion from continuing. Shortly thereafter, an individual sprayed the students and staff with pepper spray.

The attack forced the students to evacuate the building and suspend the assembly.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about violent attacks on campus, apparently intended to disrupt open and critical discourse. Students and members of the public must refrain from violence, especially on campus, and respect the right to freedom of association and freedom of expression, and university authorities must take reasonable measures to ensure safe conditions for living, learning, and expression for students. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, such actions undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://www.unq.edu.ar/noticias/la-verdad-de-los-hechos-la-agresion-a-los-estudiantes-de-la-unq/
https://noticiasargentinas.com/politica/estudiantes-libertarios-denunciaron-que-fueron-agredidos-en-una-universidad_a670dd4e503ea15dfe7c63ebc
https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/incidentes-entre-estudiantes-libertarios-y-de-otras-agrupaciones-en-la-universidad-de-quilmes-gas-nid14102024/
https://www.elobservador.com.uy/argentina/politica/denuncian-libertarios-atacar-gas-pimienta-estudiantes-una-asamblea-universitaria-n5965501
https://www.ambito.com/informacion-general/la-universidad-quilmes-denunciara-los-libertarios-que-tiraron-gas-pimienta-una-asamblea-estudiantes-n6070904
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO9BtgtnVlo&ab_channel=CLAR%C3%8DN