LONDON-University protests turn to occupied buildings and clashes with the police. Free protest on campus is banned. Meanwhile, in other parts of the same university spectrum, an attempt to enforce the segregation of classes based on gender for Muslims escalates into a political row.
These stories, and the issues accompanying them, will probably not be surprising to readers used to similar incidents around the world, in the Middle East, Latin America and other parts of the world. But this isn’t happening in those places; it’s happening in the UK.
The last two weeks have seen both of these problems, regarding the freedom of students to demonstrate in the environs of their universities and whether Muslim students should be segregated by gender in lectures, make a splash in the news.
The first garnered headlines when protests threatened to turn violent and the police intervened, while the second gained greater prominence in the last five days, culminating in the involvement of the Prime Minister. Both issues hinge on very specific issues regarding human rights and their respect at some of the leading educational establishments in the UK.
The debate on whether students should be allowed to protest or not is considered by many to be moot; freedom of assembly is a right enjoyed under British laws, and traditionally students have not held back from expressing their views en masse.
The last major protest was in November 2010, when an increase in tuition fees and public education spending cuts was narrowly approved by parliament, sparking demonstrations by thousands of students across the country (between 32-50,000 students participated in the protest in London), to no avail. The protest itself was remarkable for occasional outbursts of violence, despite a generally peaceful climate.
The numbers over the last fortnight have not been nearly as great as those seen during 2010, but the implications are just as worrying. A protest organized by the University of London Union (ULU) calling for pay for outsourced workers on the university campuses led to the occupation of Senate House, a building in Central London tied to the University of London, on December 4.
Of more concern for students and human rights observers alike was the injunction that the University of London took out on December 4, making it illegal for students to protest on campus until June 2014.
To describe this as worrying would be an understatement. The University of London groups 18 of the leading universities and institutes in the capital, including the London School of Economics (LSE), the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University College London (UCL) and King’s College London.
The administrative body’s decision to rule it illegal for students to protest in an area of London that is central to all campuses is an active encroachment on the freedom of expression enjoyed by the students within these universities.
Representatives of the ULU were quick to slam the move as “disproportionate and draconian” and organized a new peaceful protest for December 11, under the moniker “Cops Off Campus.”
The protest involved the participation of roughly 1,000 people, although the number of those involved varied according to the source. The University of London downplayed the incident, which received remarkably little coverage in the national media.
The cause for concern is clear. In the view of the ULU, as made clear in a statement published on December 5, the debate is between “a university management that is attacking its staff, shutting down student representation, and that systematically colludes with police in order to keep control of its affairs.
“On the other (side) is an increasingly united campaign of the academic community – in all its forms – committed to reclaiming our university.”
Despite the lack of media coverage, the issue has not escaped the notice of some in positions of power. John McDonnell MP tabled an early day motion in the House of Commons on December 9 calling for an end to the persecution of students, as the student protests were “being met with real intimidation and suspending students for an occupation is not acceptable.
“It’s outrageous that students exercising their traditional democratic right to protest have been persecuted in this way.”
However, the University of London has been working to portray the protests as peaceful for the most part with a smattering of violence. In an interview with the Independent published on December 15, University Vice-Chancellor Adrian Smith accused a minority group of “actually want(ing) to be aggressive and intimidatory.” Smith also dismissed concerns about freedom of speech violations as “gibberish” and decried a “sea change in the level of aggression.”
An issue that has gained greater coverage in the media is the apparent support shown by British universities to segregating classrooms for Muslims. The body Universities UK (UUK), which represents all universities in the UK, was put under the spotlight when it emerged that a passage of guidance in its policy included a case study calling for the segregation of men and women during visits from guest lecturers — with evidence that this had actually happened at the University of Leicester and UCL in April and March this year.
According to the guidance, published on November 22 in response to the furore, a “balance of interests is most likely to be achieved” at similar events when segregation is put into practice. Once again, the implications within the move are concerning. A petition was drafted condemning UUK for a policy endorsing “gender apartheid,” signed by over 9,000 people, while a protest was held on December 10 outside the UUK headquarters in London.
On this issue, the government did get involved. Education Secretary Michael Gove described the guidance as “pandering to extremism” on December 13, while a spokesperson for Prime Minister David Cameron stated on the same day that the British leader did not agree with the UUK position and urged the body to “urgently review its guidance.”
UUK initially defended the policy, but by December 13, the group had withdrawn the guidance while calling for “greater clarification” on the issue. In a statement released by Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive of Universities UK, the group insisted that it agreed that “universities should not enforce gender segregation on audiences at the request of guest speakers.
“However, where the gender segregation is voluntary, the law is unclear. We are working with our lawyers and the EHRC (European Human Rights Commission) to clarify the position.”
Although the right to protest and the enforcement of non-segregation are two distinct issues, what links them is the infringement of human rights as recognized by the state. Banning protest is illegal, as is allowing the separation of genders in classrooms.
The reason why the latter has received more coverage and debate in the media is probably related to the minority group which it involves: the integration of Muslims is still a thorny issue. It is entirely possible that some members of this same group would actually prefer gender segregation. However, the freedoms enjoyed by society should be enjoyed freely by all — and not depending on what universities deem appropriate.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald
Felipe 
More than 6.6 million people attended events with Pope Francis at the Vatican from his election in March to the end of 2013, figures released this week showed, compared to 2.3 million for former Pope Benedict in all of 2012.
ALEJ 
