Memorial
To all board and staff members

Antwerp, 16 July 2009

Dear Oleg and Tatjana, dear Alexander, Svetlana, Lidija, Katja and all others,

With great sadness Pax Christi Flanders learned of the cruel murder of Natalya, who was dear to us as a sister. She has given her life in service for peace and justice in her country that was so gravely suffering under war, terror and repression.

We got to know her at a seminar in Saint-Petersburg in 2003. She had her then 9-year old daughter with her. She impressed us with her tranquil perseverance. End of September 2004 Natalya joined us for the Flemish Peace Week as one of the most impressive guest speakers on the issue “Women as force for peace”. She wanted to continue her dangerous job at any cost...

Thanks to her never-ending energy she collected fact after fact, story after story, picture after picture, in order to compile huge reports on the deplorable human rights situation in her home country. Also our organisation used gratefully these reports.

We invited her several times for conferences to Belgium: she was always well-prepared and could provide any audience with trustworthy information.

We will miss her very much. We wish you, her colleagues and friends, and her daughter Lana and other family members strength and courage in these days of mourning and grief. We are with you.

We will also continue our work in order to bring justice to people in the Russian Federation. We call upon all forces to join hands to stop the brutal violations. We call upon the Russian and Chechen governments to protect those who peacefully and honestly defend human rights.

Jo Hanssens, president Pax Christi Flanders

Josée Goethals, chairman Working Group Eastern-Europe

Annemarie Gielen, Department Violence Prevention/ Eastern-Europe