Olivier Vandecasteele, an experienced and respected Belgian humanitarian worker, is being arbitrarily detained in an unknown location in Iran.
He was sentenced to a cumulative total of 40 years of prison for “espionage against the Islamic Republic of Iran for the benefit of a foreign intelligence”, “cooperation with a hostile government, the United States, against the Islamic Republic of Iran”. He was also sentenced to 74 lashes.
At present, negotiations to secure his release in exchange for the return to Iran of a former Iranian diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, are on pause.
Given the charges against Assadi, who is accused of planning an attack on members of an Iranian political opposition group in France, the Belgian Constitutional Court has suspended the prisoner-exchange treaty. The negotiations will remain on pause pending the final legal decision on this treaty.
The judicial considerations related to internal Belgian policy and Iran’s current isolation is making any negotiation between the two countries even more difficult.
Vandecasteele’s imprisonment goes against everything he represents as a humanitarian worker. However, as recently stated by the UN Human Rights Council, his situation is first and foremost a denial of justice.
According to legal experts, the conditions of his imprisonment, his disappearance to unknown locations for various periods of time, the absence of a fair trial by an independent court, and ill-treatment, all constitute “violations of international law”.
Given this context and Vandecasteele’s profile, the European Union — the world’s second largest donor of international humanitarian aid — has a decisive role to play in supporting a constructive dialogue and negotiations between both countries. The EU should engage and work towards overturning the status quo which is becoming increasingly detrimental to Vandecasteele’s health.
In Afghanistan and more recently in Iran, Olivier has demonstrated his humanity and his ability to work in often very sensitive political and cultural environments. One key step that the EU could take is to press for an independent medical team to visit Vandecasteele.
Having just ended a hunger strike, a thorough medical check-up is critical to ensuring his health and safety.
Further action to ensure the protection and safety of this humanitarian actor, held against his will, would be in line with recent EU activities vis a vis Iran.
In 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the EU sent €20m in emergency aid to the Iranian people — despite the potential risk of sanctions from the US. In 2022, the EU allocated €11m to humanitarian programmes targeting the poorest in Iran.
The EU is not indifferent to the situation facing the population in Iran. It cannot be indifferent to those who contribute to, and implement its international solidarity.
The point is not to put the threat of cutting EU humanitarian aid on the table, which would be highly debatable, but to demand that EU funded humanitarian projects are used to maintain a dialogue with Iran.
This dialogue is key to altering the Iranian authorities’ current position which both undermines international law, and is jeopardising Vandecasteele’s physical and mental health. A total of 37 international organisations have mobilised unequivocally — a rare occurrence — to collectively call for concrete and effective European diplomacy on this issue.
If Vandecasteele is not released by the time the next European Humanitarian Forum (EHF) takes place in Brussels, at the end of March 2023, international humanitarian organisations — with his family’s approval — will use this opportunity to press the European Union for action to ensure his protection and safety.
Europe’s civil society’s voices can together contribute to making this call powerful.
Published by EUobserver.com : We call on EU leaders to work with Tehran to release Olivier Vandecasteele (euobserver.com)
List of signatories :
Accion Contra el Hambre, Spain, José Luis Maldonado, President
ActionAid International, Ana Alcalde, Director of International Programmes and Advocacy
Action Contre la Faim – France, Pierre Micheletti, President
ADRA Germany, Christian Molke, Executive Director
Aktion gegen den Hunger, Germany, Cornelia Richter, President
Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Germany e.V., Edith Wallmeier, Executive Committee Member
Avocats Sans Frontières, Chantal van Cutsem, Executive Director
Bioforce, Bernard Sinou, President
CARE Nederland – Reintje van Haeringen, Managing Director
Caritas Czech Republic, Jakub Licka, Secretary General
Christian Aid Ireland, Rev Dr Liz Hughes, President
Congodorpen, Jos Van Steenwinkel, President
COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale, Claudio Ceravolo, President
Coordination Sud, Olivier Bruyeron, President
EU-CORD, Ruth Faber, Executive Director
Finn Church Aid, Mr Tomi Järvinen, Executive Director
Handicap International / Humanity & Inclusion, Manuel Patrouillard, Executive Director
Initiatives of Change, Marina Benedik, Executive Director
International Rescue Committee, Harlem Désir, Vice-President for Europe
La Chaîne de l’Espoir, Anouchka Finker, Director General
LM International, Isabella Olsson, Advocacy Director
Médecins du Monde – Germany, François De Keersmaeker, Executive Director
Médecins du Monde – Belgium, Claire Bourgeois, President
Médecins du Monde – France, Florence Rigal, President
Médecins du Monde – Greece, Chara Tziouvara, President
Médecins du Monde – Switzerland, Dominik Schmid, President
Oxfam België/Belgium, Eva Smets, Executive Director
People in Need (PIN), Simon Panek, Executive Director
Première Urgence Internationale, Vincent Basquin, President
Solidarités internationale, Antoine Peigney, President
SOS Méditerranée, François Thomas, President
Terre des Hommes, International Federation, Valérie Ceccherini, Secretary General
Triangle Génération Humanitaire, Véronique Valty, President
VOICE, Dominic Crowley, President
Welthungerhilfe, Mathias Mogge, Executive Director
ZOA, Netherlands, Edwin Visser, Member of the Executive Committee
You must log in to post a comment.