Fees Must Fall: Joint statement from Amnesty International university groups: iLIVE

We would like to express our support to the nationwide #FeesMustFall movement.

The right to education, including higher education, is a human right. International human rights law and the South African constitution puts an obligation on the state to progressively make higher education more accessible to everyone.

By raising university fees without accounting for the decrease in access, the state is neglecting this obligation. The fee increase exacerbates the academic exclusion of poor and working class students. It may constitute a human rights violation and it may be unconstitutional.

According to the Ministerial Committee for the Review of the Funding of Universities, funding per student fell 1.1% between 2000 and 2010. The tuitions fees for students increased by 2.5% annually in the same period.

Both figures are in real terms. The state budget for funding of higher education, as a percentage of GDP, is below the average in Africa. Higher education is integral in combating poverty and inequality, and it is essential for the full development of the human personality and for human dignity.

If university education is restricted to the wealthy elite, then universities will fail in their duty to redress South Africa's historical injustices and address the staggering wealth inequality. It is unacceptable for our education system to only serve a privileged minority of society. We therefore denounce the fee hike. We express our support to the #FeesMustFall movement as one that aims to achieve social justice and defends the right to education.

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), one out of the two main pillars of international human rights law, and ratified by South Africa in January this year, states in article 13(c) that ?higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education.?

The South African Constitution, in Section 29(1) of the Bill of Rights, affirms that "everyone has the right to further education which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible."

Instead of making education progressively available and accessible, the decision to increase fees is reducing the access to higher education. We believe the government and university administrations around the country are failing in their duty the many affected students.

Students have the right to peacefully protest against the fee increase being proposed by their respective colleges. The right to freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and freedom of expression protects the rights of protestors. We commend all the brave students and others who are exercising their right to legitimately protest. We urge students and other activists to continue in the tradition of peaceful protest and appeal to the student leadership to ensure that protests remain peaceful.

We condemn the unacceptable excessive use of force by the police and private security contractors in dealing with the protests. The measures of riot police ? tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, stun grenades, and wanton arrest ? should never be used on peaceful protesters. As the joint bodies of Amnesty International university branches in South Africa, we call on the government, the police, and the university administrations to do everything in their power to protect students? rights in their protests.

We call on the Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande to release the No Fees Varsity Report which highlights South Africa's ability to provide free tertiary education for the poor. The process around deciding the budget for tertiary education funding needs to be streamlined and inclusive to award all deserving students the opportunity to change our country.

Finally, we call on Minister Nzimande and vice-chancellors around the country to listen to the plight of their students and stop criminalising those who are demanding what is guaranteed to them by international human rights law and the South African Constitution - an education.

Signed, Amnesty International chapters at:

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

University of Cape Town

University of KwaZulu-Natal

University of Pretoria

University of Venda

University of Witwatersrand