The HRDD framework is a tool designed to provide an informed assessment of whether partner institutions anywhere in the world are involved in human rights violations or other international crimes. The Executive Board first announced the framework in early 2024, prompted by pro-Palestinian protests at universities including UM. However, UM President Letschert has emphasised that the framework does not exclusively apply to Israel. As early as autumn 2023, a working group started developing a global engagement policy regarding partners in “sensitive” regions such as Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Clean hands
The University Council publicly discussed the assessment tool for the first time in January. During that meeting, no fewer than three guest speakers took the floor to urge members to vote against it. Shouldn’t it be up to the International Criminal Court to determine whether a country has “clean hands”, one speaker pointed out. “Such investigations take years, and now UM wants to take matters into its own hands. Is that diligent?”
At last week’s meeting, two of the three speakers took the floor again. Eliyahu Sapir, assistant professor in Social Science Research Methods at UM, finds it unacceptable that the university will first determine whether a country is violating human rights before assessing the involvement of its partner institutions. “This is discrimination based on nationality”, he argued before the council, adding that the introduction of this policy instrument is clearly linked to the war between Israel and Hamas. He pointed out that UM has been collaborating for years with countries – “take Turkey and Saudi Arabia” – where human rights are not guaranteed.
Fifteen votes in favour
Assistant professor Ewout Meijer from the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience stressed that the university as an institution should be politically neutral – a principle he believes UM is now abandoning. “We should strive to be a platform for individual expression that embraces rather than suppresses dissent. That’s the only way a university can thrive.” Like Sapir, he urged council members to vote against the framework, but only two did. With fifteen votes in favour, the HRDD framework has now been adopted.
Pilot
This year will serve as a pilot phase, during which all existing administrative partnerships with institutions that have signed contracts with UM administrators will be reviewed. This process will hopefully be completed by October, Letschert previously said. Israel is one of the first three cases to be evaluated. The process will be overseen by a newly established body, the Sensitive Partnerships Committee, which will include the chairs of three subcommittees on human rights, knowledge security, and fossil/sensitive industries. The University Council will be closely involved in the evaluation of the pilot.