ICRC staff remember colleagues killed in course
of duties
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Geneva/Moscow/Grozny (ICRC) – On 17 December the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will hold a ceremony in the Chechen village of Novye Atagi to mark the 10th anniversary of the brutal murder of six of its delegates there.
Geneva/Moscow/Grozny (ICRC) – On 17 December the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will hold a ceremony in the Chechen village of Novye Atagi to mark the 10th anniversary of the brutal murder of six of its delegates there.
Staff members and former colleagues of the deceased will gather at the school building which the organization was using as a hospital at the time.
Ten years have gone by, but time has done little to ease the pain caused by this tragic event.
In the early morning hours of 17 December 1996, Fernanda Calado (the hospital's head nurse and a Spanish national), Hans Elkerbout (a construction technician, from the Netherlands Red Cross), IngebjØrg Foss (a nurse from the Norwegian Red Cross), Nancy Malloy (a medical administrator from the Canadian Red Cross Society), Gunnhild Myklebust (a nurse from the Norwegian Red Cross), and Sheryl Thayer (a nurse from the New Zealand Red Cross) were murdered in their bedrooms by unidentified gunmen.
"It was a terrible blow not only for the victims' loved ones but for our village and for all Chechens", says Aina Shaikhidova, an ICRC staff member, who used to work as an administrator at the hospital.
"I remember an old man got up and addressed the villagers.
'Atagians, he said, this is an unspeakable disgrace.
Chechens have a sacred duty toward visitors! These people were our guests.
They came to help us.
We have failed them!' " The Novye Atagi hospital had opened only three and a half months before the attack, but had already admitted over 300 patients, carried out nearly 600 surgical operations and given over 1,700 outpatient consultations.
Following the attack, the Chechen and Russian federal judicial authorities launched an inquiry.
To date, the ICRC – despite numerous representations – has received no information about how the investigation is proceeding.
The ICRC has no knowledge of the identity or motives of either the attackers themselves or those who ordered the killings.
Staff in Geneva will pay tribute to those killed in Novye Atagi during the ICRC Day of Remembrance on 18 December, a day to honour all Red Cross and Red Crescent staff who have been killed while aiding the victims of war.
For further information, please contact:
Annick Bouvier, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 24 58 or +41 79 217 32 24
Anastasia Isyuk, ICRC Moscow, tel: +7 495 926 5426 or +7 903 545 3534 or + 7 928 785 47 56
See also ICRC media contacts
This article on www.icrc.org
Geneva/Moscow/Grozny (ICRC) – On 17 December the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will hold a ceremony in the Chechen village of Novye Atagi to mark the 10th anniversary of the brutal murder of six of its delegates there.
Staff members and former colleagues of the deceased will gather at the school building which the organization was using as a hospital at the time.
Ten years have gone by, but time has done little to ease the pain caused by this tragic event.
In the early morning hours of 17 December 1996, Fernanda Calado (the hospital's head nurse and a Spanish national), Hans Elkerbout (a construction technician, from the Netherlands Red Cross), IngebjØrg Foss (a nurse from the Norwegian Red Cross), Nancy Malloy (a medical administrator from the Canadian Red Cross Society), Gunnhild Myklebust (a nurse from the Norwegian Red Cross), and Sheryl Thayer (a nurse from the New Zealand Red Cross) were murdered in their bedrooms by unidentified gunmen.
"It was a terrible blow not only for the victims' loved ones but for our village and for all Chechens", says Aina Shaikhidova, an ICRC staff member, who used to work as an administrator at the hospital.
"I remember an old man got up and addressed the villagers.
'Atagians, he said, this is an unspeakable disgrace.
Chechens have a sacred duty toward visitors! These people were our guests.
They came to help us.
We have failed them!' " The Novye Atagi hospital had opened only three and a half months before the attack, but had already admitted over 300 patients, carried out nearly 600 surgical operations and given over 1,700 outpatient consultations.
Following the attack, the Chechen and Russian federal judicial authorities launched an inquiry.
To date, the ICRC – despite numerous representations – has received no information about how the investigation is proceeding.
The ICRC has no knowledge of the identity or motives of either the attackers themselves or those who ordered the killings.
Staff in Geneva will pay tribute to those killed in Novye Atagi during the ICRC Day of Remembrance on 18 December, a day to honour all Red Cross and Red Crescent staff who have been killed while aiding the victims of war.
For further information, please contact:
Annick Bouvier, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 24 58 or +41 79 217 32 24
Anastasia Isyuk, ICRC Moscow, tel: +7 495 926 5426 or +7 903 545 3534 or + 7 928 785 47 56
See also ICRC media contacts
This article on www.icrc.org
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