The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar Condemns the Violence and Oppression Committed Against Iranian Women, Students and Academics
On 13 September 2022, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini was arrested by the so-called morality police in Tehran for allegedly not wearing her hijab in accordance with government standards. Some days after her arrest, Zhina (Mahsa) Amini died in hospital. Her death was caused by lethal police brutality while in custody.
Zhina (Mahsa) Amini’s death has resulted in a wave of protests — both in Iran and around the world — against decades of discrimination and oppression towards women in Iran, as well as their unequal treatment. Protests in Iran, especially those at Sharif University in Tehran and other universities, are being violently shut down by the Iranian government and any reporting on the protests is swiftly suppressed.
This situation is extremely concerning for the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar Presidium and we stand in solidarity with the oppressed people in Iran, the protesters and the global Iranian community. Members of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar are strongly committed to a free and open society, democracy and the equality of all people. The Presidium strongly condemns the current acts of violence being committed by the Iranian government and the social oppression of women, students and academics.
President (interim) of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Prof. Dr. Jutta Emes, has made the following statement on behalf of the Presidium: »We express our solidarity with the students, academics and university staff who are standing up for freedom and human rights in Iran through peaceful demonstrations. We strongly condemn the brutal violence being committed against university staff. The closure of Iranian universities as well as the disabling of mobile networks and the internet in Iran is extremely concerning to us. We especially express our sympathies to the approximately eighty Iranian students, doctoral candidates and employees at our university who, having been cut off from information from home, are also suffering from this situation. Our university is committed to freedom, tolerance and open-mindedness; we support the peaceful defence of human rights.«
The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar student body stands united behind the demonstrators and strongly opposes the violence that is being used: »Over the past three weeks, repressive forces and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps have killed, imprisoned and suppressed demonstrators. The disabling of the internet and widespread suppression and arrest of activists prevents the exact number of victims from being known. We, the students of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, demand the support of universities and media all over the world in reporting on the uprising in Iran. We demand that the legitimate voices of Iranians against the propaganda of the Islamic regime be heard. We, the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar student body, declare our solidarity with the demonstrators in Iran and their slogan of ›woman, life, freedom‹. We wish to show our support for the bravery of the protesters and to assure them that they are not alone.«
The current distressing situation in Iran may be negatively impacting your studies. If so, we strongly encourage you to take advantage of Studierendenwerk Thüringen’s Psychosocial Services counselling support: https://www.stw-thueringen.de/en/counselling/psycho-social-counselling/
In case of questions, concerns or advice, you can also contact the staff at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar International Office via e-mail: service-international[at]uni-weimar.de
DAAD 4 October 2022:
DAAD Condemns Violence at Iranian Universities
HRK, 5 October 2022
Iran: HRK Senate Expresses Concern About Violence Against University Members