Faculty organization questions denial of visa to Afghan

AAUP Joins Other Groups in Questioning Denial of Visa to Afghan Activist

March 22, 2011, 2:37 pm

The American Association of University Professors has joined the American Civil Liberties Union and the Pen American Center in issuing a statement questioning the U.S. State Department’s decision to deny a visa to Malalai Joya, an Afghan politician and human-rights activist. The groups do not have any evidence that Ms. Joya, a critic of American policy, was denied a visa based on her views, and the U.S. Department of State has signaled that it is ending the controversial practice of “ideological exclusion.” But even if the visa was denied for other reasons, the three groups want the State Department to grant Ms. Joya a denial waiver so she can undertake a planned three-week speaking tour of the United States.
More: http://www.chronicle.com

March 21, 2011

Contacts:
Rachel Levinson, AAUP
Rachel Myers, ACLU
Larry Siems, PEN

New York – The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the American Civil Liberties Union, and PEN American Center today sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano expressing concern over the denial of a visa to Afghan politician, writer and human rights activist Malalai Joya.

Joya was denied a visa to visit the United States for a three-week speaking tour relating to the paperback edition of her memoir, A Woman Among Warlords. Joya toured the U.S. last year in connection with the release of the hardcover edition of the book. Last year, Joya was named to the “TIME 100” list, the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and Foreign Policy magazine named Joya one of the “Top 100 Global Thinkers.”

In 2010, State Department Legal Advisor Harold Koh wrote that, in assessing whether to grant a visa, the State Department would “give significant and sympathetic weight to the fact that the primary purpose of the visa applicant’s travel will be to assume a university teaching post, to fulfill speaking engagements, to attend academic conferences, or for similar expressive or educational activities.”

According to today’s letter, “[t]he factors that Mr. Koh outlined in his letter weigh in favor of granting a waiver to Ms. Joya…. Ms. Joya has an extraordinary story and a great deal to add to the ongoing discussion about the lives of the Afghan people, women in particular, about the current political and social realities in her country, and about the wisdom and success of American diplomatic and military efforts in Afghanistan. Americans should not be denied the chance to meet with her, to hear her speak, and to engage her in debate.”

About the visa denial, AAUP president Cary Nelson says,“Do I think that American audiences might welcome an opportunity to talk to the first female member of the Afghanistan parliament, a woman who is on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world?” Unsurprisingly, my answer is a emphatic ‘yes.’ The decision to bar Malalai Joya from entering the country is embarrassing, foolish, and assault on academic freedom and free speech. It should be immediately reversed.”

More information about ideological exclusion and the full text of the letter is below and available online.
More at: http://www.aaup.org