U.N. Human Rights Watchdogs Blast Columbia for Using Immigration Status to Suppress Students’ Pro-Palestine Speech

A commission of top United Nations human rights watchdogs sent a series of blistering letters to the heads of five U S universities raising sharp concerns over the restoration of pro-Palestine students The Intercept has learned The letters which were sent on October to the presidents and provosts of Columbia Cornell Georgetown Minnesota State and Tufts universities called out school authorities and U S law enforcement agencies for cracking down on participant protesters and subsequently using immigration administration to single out foreign students for detention and deportation We are highly concerned over reports that students were arrested suspended and expelled and lost their university accommodation campus access and their immigration status merely because of assembling peacefully to express their solidarity with casualties of the conflict in Gaza wrote the group of U N special rapporteurs independent experts who monitor human rights violations We fear that such pressure and residents attacks on scholars and institutions can upshot in repression of free expression and in self-censorship thus damaging academic freedom and the autonomy of universities The letters suggest the international body has taken notice of domestic protest repression on U S campuses Since President Donald Trump returned to office his administration has weaponized immigration executives against international students and investigations over alleged antisemitism at universities across the country ratcheting up a crackdown on pupil protests for Palestine that began under former President Joe Biden The letter to Columbia highlighted the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil Mohsen Mahdawi and Leqaa Kordia as well as the attempted arrest of Yunseo Chung Columbia did not straightaway respond to a request for comment Khalil and Mahdawi both spent months in detention earlier this year Kordia a Palestinian apprentice who was arrested on March was still in U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody as just now as December according to a review by Drop Site News It has been announced that the conditions of Ms Kordia s detention are particularly severe Due to overcrowding she sleeps on the floor where cockroaches and other bugs abound and several showers and sinks do not work the authors wrote She is also not given materials her faith requires to have to pray and she is not allowed to wear a hijab in the presence of men as her religion requires The authors of the letter include Mary Lawlor the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Farida Shaheed the special rapporteur on the right to teaching Irene Khan the special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression Gina Romero the special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and Gehad Madi the special rapporteur on the human rights of refugees Representatives of the U N rapporteurs who drafted the letters did not at once respond to The Intercept s requests for comment The U N letter also highlighted the cases of R meysa zt rk a Turkish learner at Tufts who was snatched by masked ICE agents on the streets of Somerville Massachusetts on March Badar Khan Suri the Indian-born researcher at Georgetown arrested on March Momodou Taal a Cornell grad trainee with dual citizenship from the United Kingdom and Gambia who was ordered to turn himself in to ICE agents on March and Mohammed Hoque a Minnesota State candidate arrested at his home on March Cornell Minnesota State and Tufts did not promptly respond to requests for comment Related How Columbia s Leadership Refashioned the University in Trump s Image In the letter the authors singled out Columbia for bowing to pressure from the Trump administration which they noted set a standard that chilled speech nationwide The restrictive measures at Columbia University reflect nationwide structural changes at universities to suppress Palestine solidarity movements the authors wrote In each letter the authors inquired the universities to provide information on the accusations of mistreatment any measures taken by the schools to protect the rights of its students and scholars and details on how the schools plan to safeguard the rights to freedom of expression and assembly Students document self-censoring political expression and particularly international students are withdrawing from activism due to deportation fears the authors wrote Campus organizing has diminished significantly with activists reporting less attendance from international students who had to quit their activism because of the anticipated hazard of repercussions This intimidating effect extends beyond issues concerning Israel and Palestine with students reporting reluctance to engage in any political activism The post U N Human Rights Watchdogs Blast Columbia for Using Immigration Status to Suppress Students Pro-Palestine Speech appeared first on The Intercept