-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Dismissal of Deborah Diniz and academic freedom
Date: Fri, 04 Oct 2002 14:33:08 +1000
From: Susan Dodds <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
Organization: University of Wollongong
To: [log in to unmask]
CC: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]

Prof. Guy Capdeville
Chancellor
Catholic University of Brasilia

Dear Prof Capdeville,

Like many of my colleagues, I was shocked and deeply distressed to hear
that Professor Deborah Diniz has been dismissed from her position at the
Catholic University of Brazil. I am further concerned because I
understand that I her dismissal is the direct result of her invited
participation in a debate about abortion held to celebrate International
Women's Day at the Higher School of the Ministry Prosecution of the
Federal District and Territories in Brazil.

Abortion is a topic which raises many social, ethical, gender, health
and political issues. It is a topic of significant interest to a great
many people, some of whom hold views which have not been exposed to
critique or careful reflection. Respectful intellectual debate about
abortion is needed to avoid ideological responses which ignore the real
effects of existing and proposed practices, law and policies. Dr Diniz’s
paper ‘Bioethics and Abortion’ is an exemplary piece of work in which
she explains and analyses some of the arguments about abortion presented
in the bioethical literature. While deeply held emotional responses to
abortion must be acknowledged, the kind of work that Dr Diniz has
published must also be recognised and respected if there is to be any
progress in discussion beyond polarised opposition. A university that
silences serious debate by dismissing those who express alternative
views cannot expect to be recognised as a university worthy of the name.

It is an irony that Dr Diniz has so recently received international
recognition for the quality of her scholarship through the Manuel
Velasco-Suarez International Bioethics Award (PAHO/WHO)

A university need not condone the views of its academic staff, but it
does have an obligation, as an institution dedicated to knowledge,
understanding and scholarship, to defend against attacks on freedom of
expression, even where those views are unpopular. The Catholic
University's cowardly decision to dismiss Dr Diniz in light of the
abusive reaction to her participation in the International Women's Day
debate, strikes a death-knell for academic freedom, scholarly
independence and intellectual integrity at the University.

I repeat and second Dr Wendy Rogers' position: "Until such time that Dr
Diniz is fully reinstated and receives a meaningful apology, the
Catholic University of Brazil will attract international opprobrium and
be known as a place of bigotry and injustice rather than an academic
institution upholding international standards of academic freedom and
scholarship."

Yours sincerely,
Associate Professor Susan Dodds, PhD

cc: Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Ivan Rocha Neto ([log in to unmask]),
    Head of the Psychology Department: Dr. Tania Maria Rossi
([log in to unmask])

******************************
Dr Susan Dodds
Chair, University Ethics Committee
Associate Professor in Philosophy
University of Wollongong
Wollongong NSW 2522
AUSTRALIA
phone     +61 2 4221 3621                    email [log in to unmask]
fax         + 61 2 4221 4065
http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/staff/dodds/