Boaventura Sousa Santos announced this Friday, through a message to his “colleagues” of the Center for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, that he has decided to resign from the organization. In a brief statement, called “removal”, Boaventura says that “due to the news that was published this week and understanding the need to make everything clear, I made the decision to resign from CES”.
Director emeritus of CES explains that “The purpose of this decision is to ensure that the organization can carry out, with all the freedom of independence, to investigate the information provided and provide the results of the internal security from an independent organization, without interference from any party”.
CES announced today that researchers Boaventura Sousa Santos and Bruno Sena Martins have been suspended from all positions they held at CES. investigate the allegations made by the two researchers and professors.
In another note sent to the media on Friday night, written by RTP; CES also explained that Boaventura Sousa Santos and Bruno Sena Martins were suspended at the request of “official and/or union representatives”.
Three researchers who went through the CES criticized the incidents of harassment and sexual abuse by the two members of the academic environment, in the title of the book “Sexual Misconduct in Academia – For an Ethics of Care at the University”, published by an International publisher. Routledge.
“CES respects the right of every person to answer, but it disassociates itself from all the positions that Boaventura de Sousa Santos and Bruno Sena Martins assume, meaning the intention to take charges against the authors of the title of the book”. added the agency, in the same letter sent to Lusa.
The CES says that the ‘graffiti’ mentioned in the title and in the article (which is called: “Fora Boaventura / We all know”) is not “followed by legal participation, raising the need for clear explanations. corrective and complaint procedures”.
According to his statement, the organization led by António Sousa Ribeiro indicates that the current members of the CES governing bodies “declared that they are not aware of any attempt to investigate or cover up anything inappropriate that may have existed in the past”.
According to what he wrote, the CES approved in 2017 the regulation of the cultural commission and, in 2019, approved the regulations, after establishing the office of the ombudsman at the end of 2020, which began its work in 2021, which received two complaints since then. then, “none of them because of character or sex”.
CES rejects “any form of abuse or harassment”
“Regardless of the type of complaint received, and knowing the difficulties that victims may have in reporting cases like this, CES emphasizes the rejection of torture or harassment, and represents solidarity with all those who are subjected to this type of violence “, he emphasizes.
The organization’s governing bodies also consider the need to review the code of conduct and “other ethical leadership documents”, as well as “define aspects of the procedures for complaint procedures and the training and awareness of all people in the organizations. received at CES”.
“The last cases of inappropriate or unacceptable behavior do not reflect the nature of the work of the CES as a whole. Today the CES is a large organization, gathering hundreds of researchers, students and employees. It works in various areas of science and science, the right to science. The CES It maintains its commitment to its mission of protecting human rights and the responsibility of transparency, security and justice for all its members”, he says.
Boaventura Sousa Santos is director of the CES and coordinator of science of the Permanent Observatory of Portuguese Justice at the organization, and is part of the permanent committee of the scientific council of the CES.
Bruno Sena Martins, trained in anthropology, is, according to the CES website, coordinator of the doctoral program “Human Rights in Modern Societies” and professor in the doctoral program “Post-Colonialism and Global Citizenship”, being vice president. of the scientific council between 2017 and 2019.
When news broke about the topic, the two researchers refuted all of the claims.