Omar Mohammed first gained international prominence in 2014 as the anonymous blogger “Mosul Eye”, risking his life to document daily existence in the occupied city of Mosul, Iraq. His blog was considered one of the few reliable, real-time sources of information on life under the Islamic State (aka ISIS or Daesh in Arabic), and proved to be a critical source of information for journalists, policy-makers, and scholars.

Mosul was liberated from ISIS in 2017 but only after an extended, months-long battle that left much of the city badly damaged. Omar, now based in France, remains deeply connected to Mosul, having launched numerous social initiatives to rebuild the city and document the stories of its inhabitants. “The moment you are labeled as a scholar, and the moment you are free, then you have to give back to the society,” he says. “It’s a must.”

Free to Think speaks with Dr. Khoo Ying Hooi, an Associate Professor at the University of Malaya and 2022-23 Mellon/SAR Academic Freedom Fellow, on academic freedom and coalition building in Southeast Asia.

Ying Hooi discusses her research and shares how building an academic freedom coalition across Southeast Asia – a region that spans 11 countries and represents a range of universities – can help academics and higher education institutions support one another. She emphasizes that academic freedom matters for all, and identifies the need for increased dialogue on related issues, particularly in states most at risk of repression. “It is really important that we embrace and understand why academic freedom is important for the future of countries,” she says. “Without being able to talk freely and write freely and express ourselves freely and learn freely, I think there will be a major obstacle for us to advance as a country.”

Free to Think speaks with three university students who express the profound impact of joining the SAR student advocacy community. “Being involved in the amplification of the voice of somebody who's marginalized doesn't just affect the person who's marginalized,” says Samkele Shange, a SAR Student Advocacy Seminar participant at the University of South Eastern Norway. “It also affects you, the person who lifts your voice.”

Samkele Shange describes how she and her peers advocated on behalf of GN Saibaba – an activist and formerly wrongfully imprisoned scholar of English literature at Delhi University. Laia Simó Garriga and Truc Hanh Vu share how interviewing scholars from Ethiopia through their SAR Legal Clinic, and compiling a UPR report for the United Nations Human Rights Council, shaped their understanding of academic freedom – and the power of their voices.

This episode is guest hosted by Clare Robinson, Advocacy Director at Scholars at Risk.