On March 13, in the Dagerman corner at the University of Gävle, it was announced that Anders Kompass is the Dagerman Award laureate in 2017.

Anders Kompass is awarded the Dagerman Award as he, as a director of field operations at the United Nations human rights office in Geneva, raised the alarm concerning the sexual abuse of children in the Central African Republic. Some of the perpetrators were French UN peacekeepers.

Ostracised and mistrusted

As a “whistleblower,” Anders Kompass was investigated and suspended. UN chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein even accused Kompass for hurting the victims in leaking the confidential documents.

However, Anders Kompass was exonerated from all suspicions in a UN report. Still, he chose to leave UN, as he could not work in an organisation which refuses all accountability. Anders Kompass now works for the Swedish Department for Foreign Affairs.

Admired and Celebrated

“Anders Kompass is awarded the Stig Dagerman Award for never veering from the direction of his own moral compass,” says Arne Ruth, chair of the Dagerman jury.

Now admired and celebrated, Anders Kompass will receive the prize, 50 000 SEK, at a ceremony in Älvkarleby on May 27, 2017.

The Stig Dagerman Award is an annual prize given to an individual, or people, or an organisation that in the spirit of Stig Dagerman works for freedom of speech by promoting its significance and its availability.

Stig Dagerman was a Swedish writer and journalist.

For more information on the Stig Dagerman award:

http://www.dagerman.us/society/annual-award





Text: Douglas Öhrbom

Photo: Ove Wall