By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS | 29 July 2024 (IDN) — When the Israeli-Hamas conflict kept escalating in Gaza, so did the largely non-violent protests and demonstrations in American campuses—both with pro-Israeli but mostly pro-Palestinian protestors.
But one of the biggest and long-drawn-out demonstrations was at Columbia University in New York—a prestigious Ivy League University—which cracked down on protestors summoning the Police to arrest students—despite the fact that American universities are known to be guardians of free speech.
The arrests, however, ended in a fiasco because Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, dropped most of the 46 cases against pro-Palestinian demonstrators charged in the April 30 siege of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University because prosecutors had little proof that the cases would stand up at trial.
According to NBC News, the prosecutor said it would have been “extremely difficult” to prove the dismissed cases because the district attorney’s office lacks evidence, including surveillance footage from cameras that were covered up. The fact that some of the defendants wore masks also made it difficult to identify their specific actions.
And, according to a Cable News Network (CNN) report last May, more than 2,000 people have been arrested on college and university campuses in the US since April. Protests in solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli siege in Gaza also spread to campuses in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
A grave violation
In a statement released July 25, a group of UN human rights experts* expressed grave concern at the massive crackdown on pro-Palestinian student protests at various university campuses across the United States.
“The banning and attacks on student protests are a grave violation of the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression guaranteed by international human rights law, and must stop immediately,” said the experts, who addressed their concerns to the US government in a previous communication.
Across the United States, students have organized anti-war encampments and peaceful protests to express solidarity with Palestinian civilians in Gaza and to oppose their universities’ affiliations with companies profiting from the conflict and occupation.
Many of these encampments have been removed by police upon the request of the university administrations, sometimes with the use of force leading to hospitalization of protestors. Such actions appear disproportionate and lack legal justification, according to a statement by the experts.
“Students report facing severe reprisals for their participation in the protests, including summons or arrests, deportation from the United States, expulsion and suspension from their studies, loss of university housing, undue surveillance, inability to graduate and other punitive measures that could significantly impact their liberty, health, education and future careers.
We urge the academic authorities to ensure that the students are not punished or treated unfairly for exercising their fundamental human rights,” the experts said, calling for those who have been expelled to be readmitted after the summer break”.
The United States, the experts said, must also ensure that freedom of peaceful assembly is respected, as required by Articles 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by the United States, and by Article 5 of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. Limitations need to be legitimate, necessary, and proportionate.
Private campuses have a responsibility to respect human rights under the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights. “Peaceful protests and rights movements need to be facilitated as part of democratic processes,” they added.
Anti-Semitic
Noting accusations from certain US politicians and university authorities that the protests are anti-semitic, the experts strongly rejected these characterizations.
“It is inaccurate and unjustified to bluntly label all peaceful demonstrations of solidarity with the Palestinian people or calls for a ceasefire in Gaza or criticism of Israel’s policies as antisemitic,” they said. “We strongly denounce antisemitism as a serious form of racial hatred and intolerance and urge authorities to properly investigate and take effective measures against it in line with international human rights law.”
“Political pressure exerted on university administrators and academics to take certain positions and actions regarding these protests is clear interference with academic freedom—a cornerstone of democracy,” the experts said.
They were concerned that the attacks, threats, reprisals, stigmatisation and accusations of antisemitism could have a chilling effect on the diversity of views, affecting academic freedom on campus, in and outside classrooms.
Uphold the rights
“We call on the government and university administrations to uphold the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and the right to defend rights, in line with international human rights law, and create a safe, enabling environment in which everyone can express their views freely on matters of public interest,” the experts said.
Meanwhile, Farida Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, said at the end of an official visit to the US in May: “I am deeply troubled by the violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators, arrests, detentions, police violence, surveillance and disciplinary measures and sanctions against members of the educational community exercising their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.”
“I am particularly concerned about the unequal treatment of protesters based on their political stance, particularly targeting pro-Palestinian demonstrators,” the Special Rapporteur said.
Shaheed’s 10-day visit coincided with anti-war demonstrations at universities across the United States and students setting up encampments inside campus premises in solidarity with Palestinians, calling for a ceasefire and for university administrations to review their investments with Israel, as civilian casualties mount in the besieged Gaza strip.
“These attacks signal a concerning erosion of intellectual freedom and democratic principles within educational settings,” the expert said. She urged the US Government to reaffirm its fundamental commitment to freedom of speech and ensure every student has unfettered access to a wide range of ideas and perspectives.
Shaheed also expressed grave concern over a disturbing trend which has emerged across the United States, with 307 educational gag order bills or policies introduced by States since January 2021.
“These policies, manifested through book bans and restrictions on curricula, have instilled a pervasive ‘chilling effect’ that stifles the free exchange of ideas and silences marginalised voices,” she said.
During her visit, the Special Rapporteur found that chronic underfunding of education systems in the United States was at the core of many issues, including teacher shortages and student mental health support challenges.

Education in the US stands as a testament to decentralised decision-making, with authority dispersed across federal, state and local levels, Shaheed said.
* The UN experts include: Farida Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the right to education; Cecilia M. Bailliet, Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity; Alexandra Xanthaki, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context; Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food; Gina Romero, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences; George Katrougalos, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, Dorothy Estrada Tanck (Chair), Laura Nyirinkindi (Vice-Chair), Claudia Flores, Ivana Krstić and Haina Lu, Working group on discrimination against women and girls; Fernanda Hopenhaym (Chair), Elżbieta Karska, Pichamon Yeophantong, Damilola Olawuyi and Robert McCorquodale, Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises; Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. [IDN-InDepthNews]
Photo: On college campuses across the nation, students are protesting U.S. support for Israel in its war on Hamas, leading to campus closures and arrests. Source: USA Today.