A/75/261
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and
protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression,
David Kaye
Summary
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of
the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, focuses on the freedom
of opinion and expression aspects of academic freedom, highlighting the special role
played by academics and academic institutions in democratic society and noting that,
without academic freedom, societies lose one of the essential elements of democratic
self-governance: the capacity for self-reflection, for knowledge generation and for a
constant search for improvements of people’s lives and social conditions .
The Special Rapporteur finds that threats to and restrictions on academic freedom
limit the sharing of information and knowledge, an integral componen t of the right to
freedom of expression. He reveals that academics and their institutions face social
harassment and State repression for their research, the questions t hat they pursue, the
points that they raise and the methodologies that they bring to be ar on public policy –
or simply for the stature that their academic work has given them in society.
While he focuses on the ways in which the freedom of opinion and ex pression
protects and promotes academic freedom, the Special Rapporteur also recognizes that
there is no single, exclusive international human rights framework for the subject. He
emphasizes one set of protections for academic freedom, while recognizing an d
reaffirming others. He concludes with a set of recommendations to States, academic
institutions, international organizations and civil society.
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20-10168