| Protocol
The Committee for Academic Freedom on the Middle East and North
Africa (CAFMENA) seeks to foster the free exchange of knowledge as a human right and to
inhibit infringements on that right by government restrictions on scholars. The United
Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provide the principal
standards by which human rights violations are identified today. Those rights include the
right to education and work, freedom of movement and residence, and freedom of association
and assembly.
Through the Committee for Academic Freedom on the Middle East and North
Africa, MESA monitors infringements on academic freedom in the Middle East and North
Africa. Such infringements include governmental refusal to allow scholars to conduct
scholarly research, publish their findings, deliver academic lectures, and travel to
international scholarly meetings. The Committee documents instances where professors and
academic researchers in all disciplines are persecuted for their peaceful professional or
personal activities, particularly when engaged in activities to ensure respect for human
rights. The Committee documents such violations as government revocation of academic
degrees; demotion or dismissal; denial of a petition to emigrate, travel abroad or return
to one’s country of origin; and arrest, arbitrary detention, disappearance, and
extrajudicial killing.
The Committee obtains information on human rights violations directly
from the concerned persons, from their professional associates, or from reputable third
parties. Evaluation of requests for action may be coordinated with other professional
organizations, such as the Science and Human Rights Program of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science. Once case information is compiled, the Committee decides
on the action to be taken. The Committee may write a letter of inquiry to the appropriate
authorities and, if necessary, follow up with additional letters. If the Committee deems
appropriate additional activities, such as representations to embassies or visits to
detainees, authorization for incurring related expenses must be obtained from the MESA
Board of Directors. When possible, such activities are undertaken in coordination with
other scholarly associations. Given the limited time and resources of the Committee, only
the most egregious cases of human rights violations can be considered.
The members of the Committee are appointed by the President of MESA upon
the recommendation of the Board of Directors. The Committee consists of seven members: the
President of MESA, ex-officio; the Executive Director of MESA, ex-officio;
two members of the Board of Directors; and three members of MESA who serve three year
terms, renewable once.
The Committee convenes in a formal session once a year at the annual
meeting of MESA. Members maintain close contact between sessions and can take up new cases
at any time during the year. Correspondence and administration for the Committee are
handled by the MESA Secretariat. Letters of inquiry and concern may be signed by either
the President or the Executive Director of MESA, as deemed appropriate.
Committee Members
(as a courtesy to the members of the Committee, please do not add their
e-mail addresses to listservs without their express permission!)
Joe Stork,
Chair
Human Rights
Watch, Middle East
1630 Connecticut Ave, NW 500
Washington DC 20009
202 612–4321; fax: 202
612–4333
storkj@hrw.org
Laurie Brand, Vice Chair
International
Relations
University of Southern California
Los Angeles CA 90089
213 740–3651; fax: 213
742–0281
brand@usc.edu
Juan Cole
(ex officio)
Dept of History
University of Michigan
1029 Tisch
Ann Arbor MI 48109
734 764–6305; fax: 734
647–4881
jrcole@umich.edu
Amy W. Newhall
(ex officio)
Executive Director, MESA
1219 N Santa Rita Ave
The University of Arizona
Tucson AZ 85721
520 621–5851; fax: 520 626–9095
newhall@u.arizona.edu
Beshara Doumani
Dept of History
University of California
3229 Dwinelle Hall
Berkeley CA 94720
510 643–3147; fax: 510
643–5323
bdoumani@berkeley.edu
Dina Rizk Khoury
Dept of History
George Washington University
801 22nd St NW
Washington DC 20052
202 994–6239; fax: 703
748–1266
dikhy@gwu.edu
Ussama Makdisi
Arab American Educational Foundation, Chair of Arab Studies
Dept of History, MS-42
Rice University
PO Box 1892
Houston TX 77251
713 348–2561; fax: 348
626–5207
makdisi@rice.edu
Afshin Marashi
Dept of History
California State University Sacramento
6000 J St
Sacramento CA 95819
916 278–6465; fax: 916
278–7476
amarashi@csus.edu
Marcie Patton
Dept of Politics
Fairfield University
1073 N Benson Rd
Fairfield CT 06824
203 254–4000 X 2649;
fax: 203 254–4074
mpatton309@sbcglobal.net
Lisa Pollard
2 Midan Simon Bolivar
Garden City Cairo
Egypt 11461
+202 735 5520
pollardl@uncw.edu
Marsha Pripstein Posusney
Dept of Political
Science
Bryant College
1150 Douglas Pike
Smithfield RI 02917
401 232–6419; fax: 401
232–6319
marsha2p@leonardo.bryant.edu
Gershon Shafir
Dept of Sociology
0533
University of California San Diego
La Jolla CA 92093-0533
858 534–2575; fax: 858
534–4753
gshafir@ucsd.edu
Mary Ann Tetreault
Dept of Political
Science
Trinity University
715 Stadium Dr
San Antonio TX 78212
210 999–8339; fax: 210
999–8320
moontyger@earthlink.net
Yektan Turkyilmaz
Cultural
Anthropology
Duke University
PO Box 90091
Durham NC 27708
919 684–5012; fax: 919 681–8483
yt8@duke.edu
Keith D. Watenpaugh
Tanner
Humanities Center
University of Utah
380 South 1400 East Rm 201
Salt Lake City UT 84112
801 585–0402; fax: 801 585–3510
kwatenpaugh@ucdavis.edu
How You Can Help the
Committee
The Committee for Academic Freedom on the Middle East and North Africa
encourages all MESA members and others to help keep it informed of human rights violations
affecting academics in the Middle East and North Africa. If you learn of human rights
violations, please contact a member of the CAFMENA or the MESA Secretariat, supplying as
much information as possible. |
