This report examines barriers to
academic freedom and the exercise of basic rights erected during the
thirty-two year authoritarian rule of President Soeharto in Indonesia. As this
report was being prepared, Indonesia was undergoing what appeared to be a
momentous transition, spurred on by students and faculty, toward a more
democratic society. Although many of the barriers had been rendered
ineffective by the momentum of the reform movement, a series of legal
limitations on citizens’ exercise of basic rights remained in place and
military authorities continued to have broad discretionary power to limit
citizen’s rights in the name of “national stability.”
Indonesia was also facing a deep economic crisis and sporadic outbreaks of
violence against ethnic Chinese. One of the central contentions of this report
is that, under Soeharto, open inquiry and debate on just such issues was
stymied by far-reaching censorship, surveillance, and ideological pressures,
and by intimidation, harassment, and imprisonment of outspoken critics.
Scholars and students, well-situated to explore the social and political
realities that underlie such problems and help in the search for solutions,
were among those targeted by the government. Objective criticism is the basis
of social progress; it is difficult to imagine how that progress can be
achieved without uninhibited research and dialogue.
The preamble to the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights declares that “every individual and every organ of society,
keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and
education to promote respect for [human rights].” To this end, the
declaration specifically provides for the right to education, mandates that
access to educational institutions and to the cultural and scientific
resources of society shall be available to all, and provides that
“education shall be directed to the full development of the human
personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms.” Human Rights Watch believes that educational
institutions cannot fulfil their mission of strengthening respect for human
rights when the basic rights of educators and students themselves are not
respected.
While academic
freedom is not a self-contained right, the freedom to pursue research and
scholarship unfettered by censorship and persecution cannot be separated from
freedom to exercise basic civil and political rights as set forth in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR). This essential linkage is expressly recognized
in the Lima Declaration on Academic Freedom and Autonomy of Institutions of
Higher Education, adopted by the World University Service in 1988 as a
guidepost for the defense of academic freedom worldwide. The Lima Declaration
states: “Every member of the academic community shall enjoy, in
particular, freedom of thought, conscience, religion, expression, assembly and
association as well as the right to liberty and security of person and liberty
of movement.” As a human rights organization, it is not our intention to
support or dispute the opinions, ideas, or research
findings of the academics and students whose cases we discuss. It is, however, a
central feature of our mandate to defend their right to express their views and
to study, research, teach, and publish without interference.
As set forth in Article 19 of the ICCPR,
freedom of expression “shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers.” This
freedom is essential to academic excellence. A university fulfills its mission
when academics are not forced to
support an official line, an economic agenda, or a political ideology, but
rather are free to use their talents to advance human knowledge and
understanding. Freedom of expression is also a core civil and political right
essential to citizen autonomy. There can be no liberty and no meaningful
citizenship where individuals are denied the basic right to ask questions and
seek information about what is going on in society, and to share their ideas
and views with others. To date, international attention to this basic right
has understandably emphasized artistic freedom and freedom of the press,
essential attributes of a free society. Relatively little attention, however,
has been paid to the crucial role played by academic institutions, dedicated
to inquiry, information and ideas, in preserving and giving meaning to the
right.
In principle, the
university is an institution open to all on the basis of merit, and should
serve as an important intellectual resource not only to governments and
industry, but also to individuals and interests independent of the state. In
practice, attacks on campus-based critics and politically motivated government
interventions often threaten to turn the university into an institution that
exclusively serves the interests of state power holders. Because the great
majority of universities around the world are public institutions or are
dependent on government funding, and because such institutions typically are
viewed by governments as “prime instruments of national purpose,”
governments have considerable power to influence what takes place on campus
and an incentive to wield that power.
A wide range of governments abuse their power. In cases such as
Indonesia under Soeharto, politically motivated attacks on dissident faculty
and students were accompanied by damaging ideological and institutional
constraints, including political screening of faculty, restrictions on what
could be discussed in seminars, limitations on autonomous organizational
activity on campus, and restrictions on access to campuses by groups and
individuals whose ideas did not meet the approval of state authorities.
Political assaults on the academic community thus not only claimed individual
victims, they also served as a crucial component in broader government efforts
to limit citizens’ basic rights and as an important barrier to the
development of independent institutions and a dynamic civil society.
There is another reason why we have
published this report: Compared to other professional groups, including
doctors, scientists, journalists, writers, and lawyers, academics worldwide
have been slow to campaign against human rights abuses, and slow to take
action aimed at addressing the plight of colleagues overseas. Higher education
is fast becoming a global concern. As barriers fall, there is increasing
opportunity to assist those who have been arbitrarily targeted by their
governments, and increasing need to articulate principles for the defense of
academic freedom worldwide. By visiting or attempting to visit students and
scholars in prison, keeping in touch with their families, colleagues, and
unions, raising money for their legal defense and medical needs, raising their
cases with governments and international organizations, academics ensure that
their colleagues are not forgotten. By speaking out when students and scholars
are censored, constrained in their exercise of basic rights as citizens, or
targeted for imprisonment and torture, academics fulfill an important part of
their mission as educators.
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