We call on EU leaders to work with Tehran to release Olivier Vandecasteele

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.

A French-language version of this op-ed was also published today in Belgium's Le Soir and France's Liberation newspapers