December 2013

By Roos Kistemaker“Holy Mother, Blessed Virgin, chase Putin out!” was one of the phrases in Pussy Riot’s punk prayer they performed on 21 February 2012 in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow. Whether the Holy Mother has heard them still remains un-clear, but the world certainly has.Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, bet-ter know as Nadya, a 24-year-old philosophy student, poli-tical activist, and mother of Gera (5), was one of the mem-bers of Pussy Riot. They prote-sted against Putin and the pa-triarch of the Russian Orthodox Church who openly supports him. Even though there were not many people who saw the punk prayer, she became well-known because of the case that was filed against her. She was charged with ‘Hooli-ganism motivated by religious hatred’ and was sentenced to two years in a penal colony in Mordovia, a prison camp in which human rights are viola-ted every day.

“Mordovian prisoners are afraid of their own shadows. They are completely terrified.” But Na-dya is not. She decided to go on a hunger strike and tell the world about the situation in the colony. “I demand that the colony administration respect human rights; I demand that the Mordovia camp function in accordance with the law. I de-mand that we be treated like human beings, not slaves,” she wrote in her open letter.In the letter she tells about the

conditions in the camp. The prisoners work 16-17 hours a day in a sewing workshop whe-re they make police uniforms. Officially, they are supposed to work 8 hours a day, 6 days a week; but because of the high quota (the group has to finish 150 uniforms a day) they have no choice but to work over-time. If they don’t meet the quota or if they complain the-re are many punishments to be afraid of.

The fate of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova

Prisoners can be denied ac-cess to the barracks, leaving them outside in the cold for several hours. One old lady got such severe frostbite that three fingers and one foot had to be amputated. Another pu-nishment is the loss of hygiene privileges (not being allowed to use a toilet and having to wait another week before they can wash themselves). Nadya writes: “The hygienic and resi-dential conditions of the camp are calculated to make the pri-soner feel like a filthy animal without any rights.” Or they are beaten up by other priso-ners, who do so after the or-ders of the administration.

Because of her hunger strike, Nadya was put in solitary con-finement: a very cold cell in which she is not allowed to lie down during the day. Shortly after, she was to be moved to another prison camp, but for 26 days there was no sign of her. According to her husband cutting her of from the outsi-de world was the only punish-ment that would really affect her. After 26 days her friends and family finally got a mes-sage from her that she was in the medical department of a prison camp in Siberia. Even though the conditions in this colony are better, she will keep on fighting for the rights of the prisoners in Mordovia. On March 3, she will finally be released. Just in time for her daughter’s sixth birthday.

By Esra DedeThe International Documentary Festival Amsterdam was held at different locations in Am-sterdam from November 20th till December 1st. “Return to Homs” was one of the docu-mentaries that were shown on Friday November 22nd. This documentary was a wonder-ful and tragic insight into the uprising in Syria, especially in Homs. The filmmaker Talal Derki followed an icon in the media activist circuit of Syria, a 19-year old young boy named Basset. Basset was a promising goalkeeper of the national Sy-rian soccer team when the pro-tests had started. He tried to persuade the government by singing; his songs went viral all over the country. What started as a peaceful protest with dan-cing children, became a civil war. Dancing had to make room for guns and more violence on both sides. The viewer is so clo-se to Basset, experiencing both good times with his friends,

and sad times when he loses one. We see the struggles, the setbacks, and the emergency operations in small deserted living rooms. We see the hope Bassets eyes fade, and return whenever he would remember a song and sing it with his re-maining companions.

Viewing this documentary was not in my schedule when a friend called me. He told me he had a spare ticket and that I had to hurry to make it. I am very grateful I did so: this do-cumentary will certainly leave a trace. For me, it was very difficult to watch this without feeling utterly useless. Sitting there in one of the biggest ci-nema halls of Tuschinski, wat-ching Basset fighting until he has almost nothing left

“I demand that we be treated like human beings, not slaves”

Doc review: Return to Homs

“The world is wat-ching us getting killed one by one, but yet it is silent as a grave”

to fight for. He wants to return to Homs, to his hometown, where the army is in control. Even when he knows he might not survive, he has a smile on his face. Because not surviving this war is one of the grea-ter achievements. To become a martyr is the wish of every single man in the documen-tary. Basset also had a message that he had written on a small piece of paper: “The world is watching us getting killed one by one, but yet it is silent as a grave.” After the Q&A with the filmmaker, a Syrian woman sit-ting next to me stood up and raised the Syrian flag. She told everyone that there is a way to help, through solidarity.

Through this review I also want to send her message. January 11th 2014 will be international solidarity day for Syria. Basset is still alive, but he is counting the days until he can be a mar-tyr as well. Let’s show the wor-ld that these heroes don’t die in vain.

By Roos KistemakerA little more than a month ago the Philippines were hit by ty-phoon Haiyan, or Yolanda as it is known locally. This was one of the heaviest storms ever, stronger than Katrina and San-dy combined. More than 5600 people have been reported dead, and the death toll still rises; 1761 people are missing. 4.13 million people are dis-placed from their homes.

A disaster like this brings about many medical problems. Du-ring the storm many people got injured; doctors see many pa-tients with fractures and head wounds. Also, people injure themselves while searching for their belongings between the rubble. The risk of tetanus in-fection is very high. Therefore Doctors without Borders works on vaccinating as many people as possible.

In addition, there is a lack of clean drinking water. The flood brought a lot of salty water into the rivers and streams. In many areas it took days befo-re the bodies of the dead were buried or burnt. This

Doctors without Borders in the Philippines

“Both malaria and denque are endemic in this region”

causes a major risk of serious infections as well.

The high amount of stagnant water creates a perfect en-vironment for mosquitoes (both malaria and dengue are endemic in this region) and snails that bear S. mansoni (causing schistomiasis).

But there are more problems besides infectious diseases. Chronically ill patients don’t have their medications anymo-re. Imagine a patient suffering from epilepsy whose medicati-on has been taken away by the flood. And then I haven’t even spoken about the psychological

problems people go through after a traumatising experien-ce like this. Fearing for their lives, the loss of their loved ones and everything they own, living in an apocalyptic lands-cape where they have to cope without sufficient housing, food or drinking water. Doctors without Borders has brought a team of psychologists to help these people.The teams of Doctors without Borders assist local hospitals, set up ‘inflatable’ hospitals and reach out to remote areas with mobile clinics. Besides that, they also distribute emergency packages and hygiene kits.

“Living in an apoca-lyptic landscape whe-re they have to cope without sufficient housing, food or drin-king water”

Furthermore, they supply clean drinking water by treating wa-ter with chlorine and installing water pumps.

During this December AV, IF-MSA-NL will raise money to support the work of Doctors without Borders in the Philip-pines. This Saturday, Hedwig (secretary) and I (Roos, NORP) will tell you how you can con-tribute!

This newsletter is made possible by:Roos Kistemaker norp@ifsma.nlEsra Dedepeacetest@ifsma.nl Layout: Arend van VurenEditing: Mariska Kortie