StatementDefending Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression – Against the Criminalization of Critical Thinking

19 December 2024

We were shocked to learn that the police raided the home of an employee of the AStA

(General Student Committee) simply because of her participation in the "We Want Our
World Back" conference in April 2023. It is already appalling that an international
conference addressing the urgent issues of our time was banned at the University of
Hamburg. What is even more alarming is that investigations were launched afterwards,
including the police raid.
We followed the events surrounding the conference in various capacities:
● As speakers, promoting dialogue between scholars and students from Europe, the
Middle East, South and North America, Africa, and Asia, refusing to be silenced in
the pursuit of international academic exchange.
● As employees of the University of Hamburg, deeply concerned about the significant
infringement on academic freedom, we condemn the attempt of the secret service
to influence academic conferences.
● As cultural institutions, we provided alternative venues at short notice to ensure the
conference’s success—because critical debates must continue to be held publicly in
Hamburg.
● As observers, we recognized the international dimensions of the attempts to
suppress the conference and condemned the disproportionate state repression.
It is hard to believe that a pluralistic conference addressing topics such as climate change,
democracy, global human rights, and alternatives to capitalism is being labeled as
"terrorist." This absurd development can only be explained by foreign policy considerations
and pressure from the Turkish government—the same government that is driving an
authoritarian transformation within its borders and attacking the Kurdish regional
self-administration in northeastern Syria, which for the past decade has represented the
greatest hope for a multi-ethnic, democratic societal model in the region.
The level of repression now being implemented in Germany is truly alarming. We strongly
condemn the disproportionate nature of these actions and stand in solidarity with the
affected employee.
In times of rising global authoritarianism, it is more important than ever to commit to the
fundamental rights of academic freedom and freedom of expression.
Against the criminalization of critical thinking!

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Show Solidarity – Write to: sozialebewegung"AT"asta.uni-hamburg.de