Asian Lawyers Network (ALN) - 2024.07.22 Joint Statement to Harvard University

ALN has joined 205 other organisations in calling on Harvard University administrators to respond to transnational repression concerns after student protestors were violently dragged, interrogated, and followed by Chinese individuals during an April protest of Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng at Harvard.

206 Groups Call Upon Harvard to Respond to Concerns About Transnational Repression

July 22, 2024

On July 1, 2024, the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party launched a probe into Harvard University, seeking answers after student protestors were violently dragged, interrogated, and followed by Chinese individuals during an April protest of Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng’s speech at the Harvard Kennedy School. The Select Committee expressed grave concerns about transnational repression by the Chinese government and the involvement of international students from China in acts of harassment and intimidation condoned by the Chinese government against its critics. In a letter to Harvard University’s President Garber, the Select Committee requested that Harvard provide it with a briefing and answers to a series of questions.

We the undersigned 206 organizations call upon Harvard to provide this response to the Select Committee’s questions publicly and thoroughly.

After this incident, the student victims at Harvard felt terrified, unsupported, and unsafe. Their peaceful protest of the Chinese government’s human rights abuses resulted in violence and threats as well as disciplinary action from the university. The injustice and censorship of an authoritarian regime have permeated this democratic country and been condoned at one of America’s most prestigious academic institutions.

Unfortunately, this case is not an isolated one. The CCP has increasingly applied its surveillance and censorship capabilities to monitor, deter, and punish protesters and activists overseas. Numerous human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Freedom House, and Human Rights Watch, have released detailed reports documenting transnational repression at American universities and issued guidelines for universities to best protect their students and staff. Unfortunately, current practices at Harvard and elsewhere fall far short of these guidelines.

Universities have a responsibility to protect and promote the human rights of their community members. Both the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression have defined such responsibilities that higher education institutions owe to their staff and students based on international law and statements of intergovernmental bodies.

Harvard’s response to this probe is crucial to the safety of all current and future students at Harvard. To counter censorship, whether external or self-imposed, and protect academic freedom and freedom of expression, Harvard must provide a public response to ensure that all students at risk of transnational repression have knowledge of and access to support mechanisms. Moreover, clarification of existing policies and practices is a necessary first step toward instituting sufficient protections.

For this reason, we call on Harvard to:

1. Publicly provide thorough responses to the questions posed by the US House Select Committee on the CCP in a timely fashion;

2. Commit to identifying and addressing gaps in existing safety and support mechanisms for students facing transnational repression in close consultation with students (including the victims of the case in question), student organizations, and human rights organizations;

3. Commit to combating transnational repression by the Chinese government and the involvement of international students from China in acts of harassment and intimidation condoned by the Chinese government against its critics in close consultation with students (including the victims of the case in question), student organizations, and human rights organizations

Signed,