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Women who fight for freedom

Azar Nafisi, The Guardian, Tuesday 6th October 2009

Azar Nafisi When I first read Anna Politkovskaya,I was almost startled by her no-nonsense prose, her preoccupation with facts, whether they were about Russia's crimes in Chechnya or Vladimir Putin and corruption in the prime minister's regime, brutality and boorishness against Russian citizens or even the shortcomings of the Russian people whose rights she so ardently defended. She spared noone, not even her allies. The poetry of her prose was matched by her passion for truth. Her facts were lovingly gathered and made to march, leading us to the terrible truth of the realities she revealed. And it was that single-minded commitment to truth, and her demand for justice, that made her so dangerous to the tyrants in her country andinconvenient to leaders of western democracies.

This love for truth links her to the former recipients of the Raw in War Anna Politkovskaya award, Natalia Estermirova, and Malalai Joya, and this year's recipient – to be announced this evening– they come from different backgrounds and nationalities and speak different languages, yet they share a universal language that is the basis of both freedom and justice. Once we know of atrocities we cannot remain silent, and knowledge inevitably leads to an urge to protect the innocent. These women have recognised that their own fight for freedom would be meaningless without empathy for others and that the bestguarantee of their security and freedom lies in a guarantee of securityand freedom of others.

The award is given each year in the spirit of that common humanity, one for which Politkovskaya and the first recipient of the award in her name, Estermirova, gave their lives, and in celebrating those lives while mourning their untimely deaths we have to acknowledge both their love of truth and their empathy for others.

We want justice for Natasha

We are shocked and outraged by the killing of Natasha Estemirova in Chechnya today. Natasha was a dear friend of all of us at RAW in WAR.

Natasha Estemirova receiving Anna Politkovskaya Award

In 2007 we presented the first annual Anna Politkovskaya Award to Natasha for her courage in seeking and telling the truth about the torture, disappearances and murders of civilians in the war in Chechnya.

Natasha was a gentle, loving woman and a brave truth-teller, who was not afraid to speak out about the torture, rape and disappearances in Chechnya. She paid for it with her life. Like Anna did. Because there is nothing more dangerous than telling the truth in today’s Russia. And Natasha was a truth-seeker with every fiber of her being. She just couldn’t remain silent; she couldn’t play it safe. She was a fierce spirit, a whistle-blower, a caring and loyal friend, a deeply loving woman, who stood up for humanity…

Like Anna, she was killed, because of her describing and reporting the truth about the ‘dirty war’ in Chechnya. She was a condemned woman – giving voice to condemned people: the people of Chechnya.

Natasha was a unique woman whose courage has earned her death threats and abuse from the authorities at home. It has also earned her the love and admiration of human rights supporters at home and around the world. She lived a life of courage and truthtelling in the face of grave danger, as Anna did.

We call on the Russian Government to bring to justice, both those who killed Natalia Estemirova and those who have ordered her murder. We call on the Russian Government to bring to justice the killers of Anna Politkovskaya, for whose murder, three years on, justice has not been done.

Natasha

We also call on the world’s leaders, in honouring Natasha Estemirova in the coming days, to demand justice for Natasha and to pledge to do everything in their power to protect the journalists and human rights defenders who work in areas of war and conflict, and who speak out on behalf of the victims, as Natasha and Anna did.

On 6 October 2008, on the eve of the anniversary of Anna’s murder, Natasha presented the Anna Politkovskaya Award to the brave young parliamentarian from Afghanistan, Malalai Joya, with the words: “Malalai be brave”.

We owe it to the memory of Natasha and Anna to protect the very few who still speak out, on behalf of those to whom nobody wants to listen.

RAW in WAR

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