Tariq Ramadan’s allegations of rape and sexual assault have caught the attention of many academic communities worldwide, including in Thailand. We are writing this not with the presumption that he is either guilty or innocent, nor are we to defend him and condemn his complainants. But, we, as a network of Thai Muslim academics and the global citizens are deeply concerned with the way that the French justice has been handling this case: with a double standard of treatment and without a guarantee of fundamental human rights. Ramadan, a Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford, has been detained for more than a month without reasonable justifications and a due process. We, therefore, call for relevant French authorities to reconsider the non-professional and unethical treatments to Tariq Ramadan and to uphold the universal human rights, dignity, and equality, that Ramadan is entitled to. 

 

 

Ramadan is not a man without flaws, but his intellectual influence and projects have critically shaken a center of gravity of traditional Islam and shaped a new landscape of thought in the Muslim world. His works are almost all centered on the central messages of mutual respect, women's empowerment, freedom, and justice. He is an important asset of reformist Islam in the modern time. Although Ramadan has not made an academic visit to Thailand yet, his thought has been inspiring to Thai society. In 2012, there was a presentation about his theories in a seminar on tolerance organized by the Young Muslim Association of Thailand in Walailak University. In 2015, Thai students in Turkey translated his keynote speech on “critical thinking” and it was widely read and discussed in Thailand. In the same year, Professor Kasian Tejapira, a renowned Thai scholar of Political Science, translated Ramadan and his colleagues’ global call for Muslim democrats to commit to democratic principles. Among Muslim intellectuals in Thailand, Ramadan is recognized as a significant thinker for Islamic Revivalism and Modern Islam.

 

If this case is like a football match, then we expect to see a “fair play” game under the rules of law, in which both parties are protected by rights to defense and universal principles of human rights. If he is guilty, then this should be proven without a double standard of treatment and an abuse. We believe that women’s rights should be respected and protected by the law. However, we do not endorse the abuse of laws protecting women being used to degrade the name of human rights, dignity, and equality. Nor do we believe that fundamental human rights should be sacrificed for any politically motivated investigation. We, hence, join in solidarity with all scholars, human right groups, Muslim feminist movements, and non-governmental organizations in calling for French authorities to release Tariq Ramadan immediately and treat him with a due process and equal justice.

 

We hope that this event will not be allowed to become another sign of France’s decline in both ethical and political terms. While we will always support women who make accusations of abuse, we will be following this case closely, in the hope that justice is served without the abuse of human rights.

 

Signers;