Zaida Maria Catalán (6 October 1980 – 12 March 2017) was a Swedish politician who was a member of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

and leader of the

Young Greens of Sweden The Young Greens (, ''GU'') are the youth wing of the Swedish Green Party, founded in 1986. GU is a part of the Swedish Green party, and membership in GU automatically includes membership in the Green Party for all members not turning 26 that y ...

between 2001 and 2005. She was an activist on issues including the environment, animal rights, and human rights (including support of Sweden's sex purchase law; see

Prostitution in Sweden The laws on prostitution in Sweden make it illegal to buy sex, but not ''to sell the use of one's own body for such services''. Procuring (prostitution), Procuring and operating a brothel remain illegal. The criminalisation of the purchase of sex ...

). Catalán was kidnapped and murdered while on a UN mission to the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

(DRC) in March 2017. Critics alleged that the UN was irresponsible in sending her to a high-conflict zone with limited training and support. On 29 January 2022, a DRC court sentenced over 50 people for the murders of Catalán and her American colleague Michael Sharp.

Biography

Early life

Zaida Catalán was born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

but grew up in

Högsby Högsby is a locality and the seat of Högsby Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 1,881 inhabitants in 2010. Other towns in the Högsby Municipality are Långemåla, Fågelfors, Berga and Fagerhult, of which Långemåla is probably the smal ...

Småland Småland () is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name ''Småland'' literally means "small la ...

. Her mother was Swedish while her father had come to Sweden as a political refugee from Chile in 1975. She studied law at

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

, obtaining a Master of Law degree.

Political career

With a background as an animal rights activist, Catalán became the leader of the

in 2001. After two years as the leader of the organisation along with Gustav Fridolin and two years along with Einar Westergaard, she resigned as leader of the Young Greens in 2005. In late 2008, she announced her candidacy for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

for 2009. Catalán came fifth in internal voting for the party's list for the European Parliament. Following her personal campaign, Catalán received 16,300 votes in the election, which wasn't enough to get a place in the European Parliament. After the Swedish general election in 2006 she was part of the Stockholm City Council for the Green Party. In December 2010, Catalán announced that she would leave her work as a lawyer for the Green Party's parliamentary group and start working as an expert on sexual violence for the

European Union Police Mission The European Union (EU) has undertaken a number of overseas missions and operations, drawing on civilian and military capabilities, in several countries across three continents (Europe, Africa and Asia), as part of its Common Security and Defen ...

Goma Goma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the North Kivu, North Kivu Province; it is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu and shares borders with the Bukumu Chiefdo ...

in the

. Catalán began working in an expert group for the United Nations in 2016, reporting to the

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

and directly to the

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

, investigating abuse against the population and human rights violations in the DRC.

Kidnapping and murder

On 12 March 2017, Catalán and another UN employee, American Michael Sharp, were kidnapped along with Congolese interpreter Betu Tshintela, driver Isaac Kabuayi and two motorbike drivers during a mission near the village Ngombe in the

Kasai Province Kasai or Kasaï may refer to: Places Congo * Congo-Kasaï, one of the four large provinces of Belgian Congo * Kasaï District, in the Kasai-Occidental province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo * Kasai Province, one of the provinc ...

in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Catalán and Sharp were found dead side by side in a shallow grave about deep on 27 March 2017. A video of the killing of the two surfaced in April 2017. Catalán's body was found

beheaded Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...

; it was speculated that this was some kind of ritual (''

muti is a traditional medicine practice in Southern Africa as far north as Lake Tanganyika. Name In South African English, the word is derived from the Zulu/Xhosa/ Northern Ndebele , meaning 'tree', whose root is . In Southern Africa, and othe ...

'') by the murderers. Despite the arrest of two primary suspects by Congolese authorities, the head was never found. On 26 March 2018, one of the perpetrators, Vincent Manga, was captured by Kananga's military authorities and moved the investigation into a new direction to solve the incident. On 29 March, Swedish authorities launched an investigation into Catalán's murder; the Minister for Education Gustav Fridolin and the Prime Minister

Stefan Löfven Kjell Stefan Löfven (; officially Löfvén; born 21 July 1957) is a Swedish politician who has served as the President of European Socialists since October 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Sweden from October 2014 to November 20 ...

both expressed their dismay and sadness over her death and offered their condolences to her family. UN Secretary-General

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

also offered his condolences. The UN's approach to Catalán and Sharp's mission received criticism. A ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' editorial described their dispatch to a violent region without safety equipment as an "astoundingly irresponsible approach by the United Nations to an obviously dangerous and hugely important task."

Trials and sentences

Over 50 people were tried for the murder of Catalán and her American colleague. On 29 January 2022, 51 people were sentenced in a DRC court to a variety of punishments, including death penalty and life imprisonment, the lowest sentence being 10 years of imprisonment. The sentences can be appealed.

Memorials

On 20 February 2018 the Zaida Catalán Room at the Chilean Embassy in Sweden was inaugurated, and in the same year the Network on Humanitarian Action (NOHA) foundation started a scholarship program in Catalán's memory. In 2020, the

Folke Bernadotte Academy The Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) () is the Swedish government agency for peace, security and development. FBA conducts training, research and method development in order to strengthen peacebuilding and statebuilding in conflict and post-confli ...

was asked by the Swedish Government to establish a scholarship aimed at supporting the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on women, peace and security. The scholarship was established in Catalán's memory.

Biography

Early life

Political career

Kidnapping and murder

Trials and sentences

Memorials

See also

References

Further reading