On Monday and Tuesday (24-25 November), leaders from Africa and the EU will meet in Luanda, the capital of Angola, for the 7th EU-AU summit. There, they will reaffirm their shared commitment to multilateralism, solidarity, and joint action to address common challenges.
They will celebrate 25 years of partnership and praise its guiding pillars of prosperity, peace, people and planet.
What they won’t do is travel north to Bangui, in the Central African Republic, where a European humanitarian worker has spent the past 500 days arbitrarily detained.
No one should spend even a single day in prison for bringing help to others. Yet on 4 November, the Bangui High Court unjustly condemned Joseph Figueira Martin, a Portuguese-Belgian humanitarian, to a 10 year sentence of forced labour, following an unfair trial marred by serious procedural flaws.
Figueira Martin was conducting research for FHI 360, an American non profit organisation engaged in reducing poverty and preventing gender-based violence, when he was abducted by Russian mercenary group Wagner in Zémio.
For over a year, he has been held in Camp de Roux, a military prison for high-profile prisoners.
Here, he has endured torture, death threats, and inhumane treatment, as documented in May by the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries. He even resorted to a hunger strike to protest his situation. His health has seriously deteriorated, and he urgently requires medical evacuation. All requests for unconditional release have however been ignored.
His imprisonment coincided with the spread of anti-Western disinformation and debates over “foreign agents” in CAR, turning Joseph into the target of a smear campaign.
Anonymous accounts linked to Russian disinformation networks accused him of espionage and sabotage, fuelling suspicion towards all humanitarian actors. Figueira Martin quickly became collateral damage in the wider geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West taking place in the Central African Republic.
Joseph’s ordeal is personal, a man unjustly detained and a family in despair. But it is also collective. To imprison a humanitarian is to attack humanitarian aid itself.
“Hostage diplomacy,” the arbitrary detention of individuals for leverage, is not new, but it is spreading.
Researchers have documented how foreign citizens are increasingly used as bargaining chips. Initiatives such as the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations, led by Canada, highlight the growing international recognition of this abuse.
Humanitarian workers are particularly exposed. The Aid Worker Security Database shows a steady rise in arbitrary detentions and intimidation of aid workers.
Each arrest sends a chilling signal. With their freedom curtailed, the communities they once served are left isolated, without access to life-saving services. Trust in the entire humanitarian system is eroded.
On 22 September, all EU member states joined the global declaration to protect aid workers at the UN General Assembly. International law is clear. Humanitarian aid workers must be respected and protected.
If the enduring partnership between the EU and the AU is to mean anything, it must include the protection of humanitarian personnel and the defence of international law.
Every day that Figueira Martin remains behind bars sends the message that abducting, torturing or convicting a humanitarian carries no consequence. It weakens the entire humanitarian system that both the AU and EU claim to uphold.
A resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 10 July demanded that the CAR authorities immediately and unconditionally release Joseph. To date, no concrete action has followed.
As leaders meet in Luanda, they have a choice. They can let this summit be another exercise in rhetoric, or they can prove that “partnership” includes the courage to defend those who embody its highest ideals.
The European Union and the African Union should jointly call for Figueira Martin’s immediate and unconditional release. Anything less would betray the very principles they claim to share.
Protect Humanitarians have launched a petition to call for Figueira Martin's freedom. Signing it is more than symbolic. It sends a message that Joseph is not forgotten, and that humanitarian workers everywhere deserve safety and respect.
Because 500 days is already too long.
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Olivier Vandecasteele is the founder and director of Protect Humanitarians. Kristof Titeca is professor at the Institute of Development Policy (IOB) at the University of Antwerp.
Olivier Vandecasteele is the founder and director of Protect Humanitarians. Kristof Titeca is professor at the Institute of Development Policy (IOB) at the University of Antwerp.