Celebrating Courage: Nasrin Sotoudeh, Rahile Dawut, & Olivier Vandecasteele

2023-12-14 17:43:00

Iranian lawyer and human rights defender, including women’s rights, Nasrin Sotoudeh has been convicted several times since 2010, and is currently imprisoned. Rahile Dawut, a Chinese ethnologist and expert on the Uighur minority, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Chinese authorities.

“Imprisoned for their convictions, their freedom of expression and their academic commitments, this evening we honor the courage of these two women, which echoes that of all prisoners of conscience,” declared the rector of the ULB, Annemie Schaus.

Olivier Vandecasteele speaks for the first time since his release: “I was a thousand miles from imagining the scale of the mobilization”

Humanitarian worker Olivier Vandecasteele, released on May 26 following 455 days of arbitrary detention in Iran, and Turkish sociologist Pinar Selek, were both honored with the university medal “for their courage in the face of injustice”, supported the rector.

“When we are prisoners, every burst of solidarity gives us oxygen, and gives us back a little power in the face of torturers,” declared Olivier Vandecasteele, in front of a packed and moved room. After returning to the horror of his conditions of detention, he recalled – in the name of all those arbitrarily detained – “that by correctly naming their evils, by pointing the finger at their tormentors and by rewarding their fights, you give them strength for one more round. And then one day, we hope, liberation will come,” he concluded.

The insignia of faculty honorary doctorate were also awarded to four scientific personalities (Roger Enoka, Didier Fassin, Francis Kéré and Naomi Oreskes).

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