The 213° week of the vigil
in front of WHO
The Vigil for the month of January 2009 was maintained by ...
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Jean Marie Frontini - from 29th December 2008 to 2nd January 2009 Carole Bouvier, Hannelore Schmid and Michel Mégard - 5th January 2009 Carole Bouvier, Jean Marie Dyon and André Larivière - from 6th to 8th January 2009 Claude Proust and Jean Marie Dyon - 9th January 2009 Ingrid Mair, Jean François Hamon and François Rittmeyer - from 12th to 13th January 2009 Anne Marie Jeanneret, Pierre Douart and Yann Forget - from 14th to 16th January 2009 Khaled Deghane and François Gillard - from 19th to 23rd January 2009 Sophie Morel, Albert Monti and Guy Chatelan - from 26th to 30th January 2009 |
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Jean Marie Frontini (Chazé sur Argos-France) from 29th December 2008 to 2nd January 2009 |
 Hannelore Schmid (Geneva-Switzerland) |
5th January 2009 Carole Bouvier (Geneva-Switzerland) |
 Michel Mégard (Geneva-Switzerland) |  |
Carole Bouvier (Geneva-Switzerland) |
from 6th to 8th January 2009 |  Jean Marie Dyon (Herbeys-France) and André Larivière (Champagnac le Vieux-France) |
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Claude Proust (Grenoble-France) and Jean Marie Dyon (Herbeys-France) 9th January 2009 |
 Ingrid Mair (Vienna-Austria) |
from 12th to 13th January 2009 François Rittmeyer (Vevey-Switzerland) |
 Jean François Hamon (Bégaar-France) |  |
 Ingrid Mair (Vienna-Austria) |
from 14th to 16th January 2009 Yann Forget (Annemasse-France) |
 Pierre Douart (Meythet-France) |  |
from 19th to 23rd January 2009
AN IMPOSSIBLE MOURNING. 91ST WEEK, From 19th to 23rd January 2009 :
Monday morning. The forecast was right: it’s raining! People look furious. A concerto of hooting and brakes screeching; several near accidents. I don’t know the code for the padlock on the trailer so I put on the placard that I wore during the first few days of the vigil- with its simple basic message. “The crime of Chernobyl WHO accomplice” ; “Revise the agreement WHA 12-40 between IAEA/WHO”…and the photo of Nesterenko. It’s the regular passers by that are surprised. We say hello as usual, but this week there are only a few contacts. The vigil has become part of the scenery and most people know what they think about the reasons for us being here. Our presence is troubling. Some familiar faces with whom we have established a neighbourly and supportive relationship over the months, avoid eye contact today. Alison arrives at midday and helps me to set up the rest of the stall. Clear skies Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. There is a frost which clears the air. As agreed, Simone Dalex, Khaled Dehgane and Jean-Yves Peillard take over on Tuesday afternoon.. Hannelore Schmid, Guy Demenge and Éric Peytremann spend a bit of time here in the following days. The way the world is going…it’s a bit schizoid..
Hours go by and there is no communication between those adrift between two poles: WHO and IndependentWHO. Many look uncomfortable. Maybe they feel a vague sense of guilt, collaborating, willingly or not, in a corrupt system. We are their bad conscience. Each of us is enclosed in an obstinate silence, caught between two stools, making compromises or surrendering principles. In a double bind between surviving oneself, at the price of your own health, or someone else’s. The price of Progress… Like the dilemma of a young man I met recently at a festival in Rhône-Alpes, unemployed and looking for work, aware of the dangers of radioactivity, but faced with only one offer of work – in a nuclear power station. Should he take it or not? A pact with the Devil! Them and Us – WHO and IndependentWHO – both sides claiming the truth about the health consequences of Chernobyl and about the nuclear industry in general. Scientific truth hi-jacked, reduced to silence and impotence by the power of the nuclear lobby, as were Bandajevsky, Nesterenko and many others. The death of the soul. Reality sacrificed, the liquidators liquidated, the population abandoned, fallen prey to a terrible death. The impossibility of mourning when the numbers vary so widely. What is the point of our action? With our continued presence here, day after day, we demand that the world pay a dignified tribute to the innumerable heroes and victims, so that they are not forgotten by the collective unconscious. A modern Antigone, a duty to remember and a wake up call for future generations … so that “never again!” as we said about the death-camps? We are responsible for these souls. A period of latency: slowly the word passes round, until a critical mass is reached. But how many more victims will this necro-technological Moloch claim, before this inhuman Accord is revised? It is a war of nerves; who will crack first?
And then, the happiest moment of the week! On Wednesday, at half past five, a woman who works at the Irish Embassy comes over to ask how she can join our organization: she suggests we organize a press conference and invite all the embassies. She herself is a supporter of our action. We spend a few minutes discussing radioactive pollution and the ban on fishing in the Irish Sea, the Karen Silkwood case, Chris Busby’s work etc. She will get in touch with Alison and leaves with many encouraging and enthusiastic words: Keep it up! This is what keeps us going and cheers you up…
Friday, and the fine weather comes to an end. The Angels, the Saints and Lucifer piss down on us: a real downpour. The passers-by huddle in on themselves, the drivers have their noses up against the windscreen. The rain has one good affect; it glues the exhaust fumes and nano-particles to the ground: the air is better to breathe.
La lucha sigue ! The struggle goes on … François Gillard
 Guy Chatelan (Gex-France) and Sophie Morel (Caen-France) |
from 26th to 30th January 2009 Sophie Morel (Caen-France) |
 Albert Monti (Amiens-France) and Sophie Morel (Caen-France) |  |
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