The premises of Paris Diderot, of the University of Paris, January 30, 2020. - Vincent Loison / SIPA

  • Will the freedom of assembly of students and staff of the University of Paris soon be questioned by its new internal regulations?
  • This is affirmed by the militant site "Permanent Revolution" by disseminating certain articles, particularly restrictive, supposed to emanate from this draft new regulation.
  • The management of the University confirms to "20 Minutes" the authenticity of this "working document", the final version of which has yet to be voted.

"A liberticide project", "an unprecedented attack on the freedom to meet at university" ... The militant site "Permanent Revolution" does not mince words to denounce the changes that would await students and staff of the University of Paris, the entity which, since January 1, 2020, includes the universities of Paris Diderot (Paris 7) and Paris Descartes.

In an article entitled "The University of Paris wants to have student meetings controlled by the prefecture", the platform of the "revolutionary communist current of the [New anti-capitalist party]" thus denounces certain provisions of the draft new internal regulations, extracted from the document in question - marked "confidential" - in support.

Article 2 of this draft internal regulation dated February 4, 2020 obliges for example the “organizers of a public meeting within the university” to “present, two months in advance, a request for assignment of 'a room with the president of the university'. This must also be "filed in the form of an" event "file" which must "contain the prior declaration made in the prefecture and the receipt given to the declarants. "

😡The University of Paris is preparing to vote on new internal regulations. It includes measures threatening # freedom of assembly, which are part of a context of # extreme administrative and police repression.

Info: https://t.co/0NBbn9eg0W#FacsEtLabosEnLutte ✊ pic.twitter.com/QTOUBgnB8C

- Open University (@UnivOuverte) February 19, 2020

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Contacted by 20 Minutes , Philomène, the author of the article - and a student at Paris Diderot University, where many general meetings (GA) and other mobilizations have taken place since December 2019 - explains to us how she got her hands on this document: "We discovered it Thursday [February 13] thanks to teachers mobilized [against the higher education reform and the pension reform], who explained to us that the draft new internal regulations had leaked. I did not have access to the full document but extracts were shared, and that is how we were able to broadcast them on "Permanent Revolution" ".

The University of Paris confirms for its part the authenticity of these articles, while specifying that it is a "working document", a "text unsuccessful, which is essentially based on regulatory texts in force ”the“ final version of which will be submitted to the vote of the university authorities ”.

Certain elements provided for in this project - which 20 Minutes was able to consult in full - indeed already exist in the regulations of Paris Diderot University, as recognized by a collective of staff and students mobilized from Paris 7: " Extremely regulated access to university spaces, which is reserved for official "users" of the establishment and therefore requires that you present your identity card during the check-up or be excluded, or expose to disciplinary procedures if you refuse presenting your card or lending it to others is not new, but it is contrary to the idea of ​​having a free university. "

Article 24-2 of the institution's regulations provides, for example, that this card "must be presented to the university authorities or to the agents designated by them each time they request it" and that "any refusal to present exposes the student in disciplinary proceedings ".

"Any meeting would be subject to the same rules as the organization of an event"

On the other hand, the strict conditions for organizing a meeting within the premises envisaged by the new draft internal regulations are very new. "Not only would it be necessary to make a preliminary declaration of a meeting in the prefecture and to request a room for the management of the university two months before - while this type of general assembly is generally organized a few days before -, but this request must be signed by at least one person residing in the commune where the meeting is taking place, when many professors and students do not live in Paris ”, continues the collective.

He also denounces the "vagueness" surrounding the notions of "meeting" of "agents and users" - possible provided that the agreement is obtained eight days before the president of the establishment - and "public meeting", open to all, including those outside the university, subject to the restrictive criteria mentioned above: “In practice, any meeting would in reality be public and therefore subject to the same rules as the organization of an event. These rules will obviously not be applied every time, but what is created here are the repressive tools necessary to cancel these meetings or prosecute their organizers. "

Finally, the students and staff mobilized are concerned about potential restrictions on freedom of expression, an article in this project providing for certain limits to its "exercise", which for example should not "undermine respect for people and the image of the university ":" This is an extremely subjective element, and there is a real danger for freedom of expression if one can no longer express criticism of the university. "

According to our information, the vote on this draft new internal regulation is scheduled for March 13, at a board of directors of the University of Paris.

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