« Leur crime? Etre filles et aller à l’école (Their crime? Being girls and going to school) » is the title of an article & appeal published by le Monde[1][2] on Saturday the 14.06.2014, signed by several French speaking personalities like Abdou Diouf (second President of Senegal from 1981 to 2000, Secretary-General of Organisation internationale de la Francophonie since 2003), Tahar Ben Jelloun (writer) , Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (singer & songwriter), Valérie Trierweiler (journalist) , Éric Orsenna (novelist), Isabelle Adjani (film actress), Jonathan Littell (writer), Monica Bellucci (film actress) , Denis Mukwege (gynecologist) and many others[3], which remembers us the faith of the 276 school girls kidnapped by Boko-Haram on the 14 of April 2014 in Chibok Nigeria. 53 of them had the luck to escape from their tortures. 223 of them are still raped, beaten …. and awaiting their sad destiny to be sold as slave somewhere in the backyards of the Sudan. Their crime? Being girls and going to High- School[4]!
Some weeks ago there was a worldwide campaign under the hashtags #BringBackOurGirls (in French #RamenezNosFilles[5]), to wake up the free world, but the 223 schoolgirls are still held as hostages by Boko Haram. For copyright reasons I will not translate the whole article published by le Monde, – even if the complete article would merit translation into English, to let the world know, that these 223 Nigerian High-School girls are still suffering, are still waiting for their liberation.
The article in Le Monde finished with the words: “We know the 223 high school girls are looking to the “Occident” , are waiting for freedom. They hope that the values of the free world – humanity and solidarity – are not only soundless words. We can hear their voices, we can imagine their agony. We ask Europe, we ask America, we ask the world humiliated by these crimes committed by Boko Haram to make pressure on the Nigerian responsible, and also on the United Nations, that for one time they could take a common initiative to bring back the girls home to their families[6]”.
I have written this combination of free translation & abstract of the “Leur crime? Etre filles et aller à l’école “ signed by Abdou Diouf and his cosigning authors, – and by writing this little blogposting in paysages also in some way cosigning it myself , – because we should not forget the faith of the 223 High-School Girls kidnapped by Boko-Haram. And furthermore we should also not forget that Boko-Haram is terrorizing Northern Nigeria since many years. The Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping is only one singulary element in long list of terrorist attack & man slaughter.
Time for action has come; – the 223 Schoolgirls should be liberated as soon as possible!
Christophe Neff, Grünstadt the 15.06.2014
[1] Published in Le Monde, Dimanche15- Lundi 16 juin 2014 p. 18, debats.
[2] Le Monde.fr has published the same article under the titel : « Nigeria : leur crime, être filles et aller à l’école ». Unfortunally, as I write this words, the article is only available for free, for the subscribers of the electronique version of Le Monde!
[3] The complete list of signature: “Un collectif de personnalités = Abdou Diouf, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Carla Bruni Sarkozy, Francoise Huguier, Valérie Trierweiler, Erik Orsenna, Abderrahmane Sissako, Isabelle Adjani, Jonathan Littell, Monica Bellucci, ; Denis Mukwege, Laure Adler, Adeline André, Yamina Benguigui, Jane Birkin, Cathy Bernheim, Anne Berou, Laurent Binet, Jacques Borgetto, Rachida Brakni, Valéria Bruni Tedeschi, Souleymane Cissé, Julien Falsimagne, Michèle Fitoussi, David Foenkinos, Isabel Gentil, Dicko Harandane, Thomas Johnson, Liliane Kandel, Georges Kiejman, Arnaud Le Barz, Robert Littell, Saïda Jawad, Marie Malissen, Camille Malissen, Malka Marcovitch, Françoise Nyssen, Marc Melki, Maya Nahum, Henri Pénal-Ruiz, Eric Reinhardt, Mahamat Saleh Haroun, Sophie Seydoux, Fabienne Servan Schreiber, Abnousse Shalmani, Sajede Sharifi, Karine Sylla, Agnès Soral, Maurice Trang-Tong Tinchant, Karine Tuil, Mélita Toscan Du Plantier, Régis Wargnier, Elsa Zylberstein,
[4] In the French original the text starts with: «La barbarie du mouvement de Boko Haram au Nigeria est sans limite. En face, une impuissance meurtrie des nations civilisées. Le 14 avril, des hordes sauvages ont envahi un lycée et ont capturé276filles âgées entre12et17ans; 53parmi elles parviendront à s’échapper. Les autres sont violées, battues en attendant qu’elles soient vendues comme esclaves. Leur crime? Etre fille et aller au lycée.Pour le champion de la régression et de la sauvagerie, ce sont là deux choses insupportables. »
[5] Paysages participated with this article „ Blognotice 11.05.2014: #RamenezNosFilles #BringBackOurGirls”
[6] The original French text: = «Nous savons que les 223 lycéennes regardent vers cet Occident, vers la liberté, vers les valeurs d’humanisme et de solidarité. Nous entendons leurs voix, nous imaginons leurs souffrances. Alors demandons à l’Europe, à l’Amérique, demandons au monde humilié par ces crimes de faire pression sur les responsables nigérians et aussi sur l’ONU qui, pour une fois, pourra prendre une initiative qui sorte de l’ordinaire et qu’elle fasse ce qu’il faut pour ramener ces filles dans leurs familles»
paysages 