SAR Press Release:

US revokes visa of Islamic scholar to visit Scholars at Risk Network member University of Notre Dame
SAR-PR-04-09 - September 3, 2004

New York, NY - Scholars at Risk is concerned about the recent decision by the US State Department to revoke the visa of Dr. Tariq Ramadan, a Geneva-based professor and internationally known Islamic intellectual.

Dr. Tariq Ramadan was scheduled to begin an appointment as Luce Professor of Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame, a joint tenured appointment with the Department of Classics. In preparation for his appointment, Dr. Ramadan applied for and received a work visa earlier this year from the U.S. State Department. He and his family were scheduled to arrive in Indiana in early August. Only two weeks prior to his departure, however, he was informed that his visa had been revoked at the request of the Department of Homeland Security. Until this situation can be resolved, Dr. Ramadan and his family must remain in Geneva.

Dr. Ramadan has gained attention during the past decade as one of Europe's most prominent Muslim scholar and has set off storms of debate about his views on Islam and Islam's place in the West. He was named by Time magazine in 2000 as one of the 100 most important innovators of the coming century, and last year his protest over the banning of the hijab in France increased his visibility.

Scholars at Risk is unaware of any evidence to suggest that Dr. Tariq Ramadan poses a threat to national security or that there was error in the US State Department's original decision to issue a visa to Dr. Ramadan after he had undergone the rigorous screening process earlier in the spring. Scholars at Risk is concerned that Dr. Ramadan's visa has been revoked for political reasons and is an effort to curb Islamic intellectual thought and discourse in the US.

Scott Appleby, director of the Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame, issued a statement which said, "Tariq Ramadan is a strong but moderate voice in a world plagued by extremism. He addresses issues that evoke strong feelings because they touch the heart of personal and communal identity. We have known from the start that he is controversial. But controversy cannot and should not be avoided in a place that examines the challenges to international peace."

Scholars at Risk joins in calls for the Government to review the decision revoking Dr. Ramadan's visa. Scholars at Risk reminds the Government that the free exchange of ideas is one of the most basic values of the education and of open, democratic societies. The freedom of travel is one of the most important ways of furthering that exchange.

Scholars at Risk is an international network of 90 universities and colleges working to promote academic freedom and to defend the human rights of scholars worldwide. Scholars at Risk's primary activity is to arrange short-term, emergency visits in the US and abroad for scholars like who suffer because of their work, prominence, or exercise of their basic human rights. For more information, please contact Scholars at Risk at

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