Vincent Cochetel: I was held hostage for 317 days. Here's what I thought about…
Vincent Cochetel: V ujetništvu sem bil 317 dni. Sledi tisto, o čemer sem razmišljal...
Vincent Cochetel is the Director of the Bureau for Europe at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Full bio
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their humanity,
njihova človečnost
kot "varnostni incident".
of humanitarian aid workers
delavcev,
olajšati trpljenje
in Chechnya in the '90s.
shelter experts,
zavetišča,
for these crimes.
meaning every day.
dajo pomen.
the dark street of my mind.
to be at the side of the victim,
some comfort, some protection,
tolažbo, zaščito,
protection themselves,
of your newspaper these days
časopisih
talec umorjen --
so indifferent to these crimes?
do takih zločinov?
to remember them.
se jih spomnimo.
to which they dedicated their lives.
ki so jim posvetili svoje življenje.
for Refugees to the North Caucasus,
begunce poslal na Severni Kavkaz
vehicles, decoy cars,
uporabljali avte za vabo,
changing homes,
se selili,
of January '98, it was my turn.
januarja '98, prišel na vrsto.
in Vladikavkaz with a guard,
stanovanje v Vladikavkazu,
they put him on the floor,
ga položili na tla,
and forced to kneel,
in me prisilili, da pokleknem,
pressed against my neck.
dušilec pištole.
no time for praying.
ni časa za molitev.
the life I'd just left behind.
ga pustil za seboj.
sem ugotovil,
were not there to kill me,
da me ubijejo,
had ordered my kidnapping.
da me ugrabijo.
started that day.
some of those 317 days of captivity.
317 dni v ujetništvu.
would come, normally two.
Ponavadi sta bila dva.
and I returned to darkness.
no newspaper, no one to talk to.
niti časopisa ali koga za pogovor.
one for water, for one waste.
enega za odpadke.
can be a pastime for guards
usmrtitev kratkočasenje za stražarje,
or when they are just bored or drunk?
so preprosto zdolgočaseni ali pijani?
are particularly difficult to describe.
of loneliness I reached
samote, ki sem jo dosegel
between sanity and madness.
razumom in norostjo.
I played imaginary games of checkers.
igro dame.
trying to trick the other side.
prelisičiti nasprotnika.
family and my colleague, the guard, Edik.
kolegu, mojemu stražarju Ediku.
exercise on the spot.
of memorization games.
igre za izboljšanje spomina.
and thoughts that are not normal.
ki niso običajne.
to resist, to shout, to cry,
zakričati, jokati,
orders you to shut up
da utihneš
there is no one to arbitrate.
kjer ni nikogar, ki bi razsodil.
very aggressively, and he told me,
dokaj napadalno, in mi povedal:
and beg for your food."
za svojo hrano."
so I insulted him.
ga užalil.
I insulted his ancestors.
he threw the food into my waste.
med moje odpadke.
with the same demand.
zahteval isto.
the body was full of pain.
v bolečinah.
when you have so little.
ko imaš tako malo.
to make it to another candle.
da se prebijem do naslednje sveče.
from North Ossetia to Chechnya,
premestili v Čečenijo,
in the trunks of different cars,
avtomobilih in različnih prtljažnikih
to tie me on the chair,
I could not understand,
nisem niti razumel
I did not want to understand.
ki jih niti nisem hotel.
was the duration of the tape:
posnetkov:
I don't know what it was,
kaj se je dogajalo,
Is he feeling better?"
Se počuti bolje?"
may have leaked some details
stražarji izdali podrobnosti
supplying medicines to local clinics
dobavljali zdravila lokalnim klinikam,
we talked about families.
o družinah.
about cars, about women,
avtomobilih, o ženskah,
about cars, about women.
avtomobilih, o ženskah.
the last song on the tape.
do konca zadnjega posnetka.
ki sem ga kdajkoli spoznal.
to another place.
ponovno premeščen.
very close -- it was quite unusual --
kar je bilo dokaj neobičajno,
a very soft voice, he said,
provided my family
nudila moji družini,
in nearby Dagestan."
Dagestan.
It was like a blade in the belly.
Bilo je kot rezilo v trebuh.
to try to reconcile
da sem ugotovil
to assist that family
imeli, da smo pomagali tisti družini
ki smo jo storili,
kako oni vidijo nas.
that they know why we are there
da vedo zakaj smo tam
is not that easy,
a substitute for political solution.
za politično rešitev.
samo eno življenje pomembno.
difference you make --
a small group of individuals --
skupina ljudi --
an earthquake or a typhoon,
ali orkan,
coming from all over the world,
ki prihajajo z vsega sveta
tudi po več tednov.
when we help refugees,
by conflict, or stateless persons,
ali tisti brez države
by overwhelming suffering,
in ne storijo ničesar.
so many ways people can help.
možnosti, s katerimi bi lahko pomagali.
to provide some assistance,
I don't know, simply human.
ne vem, kot ljudje.
the day of my release.
ko so me izpustili.
I met the then-French prime minister.
Francoskega premierja.
to go to the North Caucasus.
si šel na Severni kavkaz.
problems you've created for us."
povzročil."
in danger is responsible.
seriously wanted to stop,
noče zares ustaviti,
and a bit of protection
ogroženim ljudem
for the people.
Responsibility to Protect.
on various parameters.
od različnih dejavnikov.
but there is worse than failing --
še kaj hujšega kot to --
if you sign up for this sort of job,
če se prijaviš za tako službo,
of joy and sadness,
veselja in žalosti,
we cannot help,
ki jim ne moremo pomagati,
a lot of people we did not save.
in jih nismo rešili.
their suffering from close,
of that suffering on yourself.
with a lot of bitterness.
z občutkom grenkobe.
where they are witness,
kjer so samo priče,
to bring any change.
into positive energy.
pozitivno energijo.
there is no other job like this.
službe kot je ta.
you make every day.
ki jo narediš vsak dan.
know the risk they are taking
in post-conflict environments,
increasingly life-threatening,
so vedno bolj ogrožene
tisočletja
aid workers has tripled?
in Somalia in the late '80s,
v Somaliji konec 80ih let
were sometimes victims
the target of these attacks.
a U.N. blue flag or a Red Cross
modra zastava ZN in zastava Rdečega Križa
over the last 20 years,
v zadnjih 20ih letih
questioned, and often ignored,
pod vprašajem in pogosto ignorirana,
we have abandoned the search for justice.
da smo opustili iskanje pravice.
no consequence whatsoever
kakršnihkoli,
humanitarian aid workers.
not to seek any form of justice.
naj ne iščem pravice.
that's what I was told.
the life of other colleagues.
ostalih kolegov."
obtožbo
with my kidnapping,
z mojo ugrabitvijo,
of the humanitarian aid workers
between '95 and '99,
med letoma '95 in '99 ni bilo pravice,
are war crimes in international law.
so vojni zločini po mednarodnem pravu.
against humanitarian aid workers
humanitarne delavce
compared to the refugees I work for.
z begunci za katere delam.
my whole town destroyed.
uničijo celotno mesto.
my relatives shot in front of me.
svojih sorodnikov.
the protection of my country.
svoje države.
compared to other hostages.
v primerjavi z ostalimi talci.
four hostages were beheaded
so 4 talce obglavili
I was kept in captivity.
kjer sem bil ujet.
that I got from my relatives,
in podpore, tako sorodniki
from people I didn't know.
ki jih nisem poznal.
to come out of the darkness.
da sem prišel iz teme.
with the same attention.
after a traumatic incident,
po tako travmatičnem dogodku,
went through a difficult divorce
s težko ločitvijo
anything anymore to their spouse?
mogli ničesar več razložiti?
this beautiful inscription at the top.
zelo lep napis.
nothing is forgotten."
njihove predanosti
aid workers around the world
po svetu
they have brought to be switched off.
upanja, ki so jo prižgali.
asked me, "But why do you continue?
vprašalo: "A zakaj nadaljuješ?
my kidnapper had won.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Vincent Cochetel - HumanitarianVincent Cochetel is the Director of the Bureau for Europe at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Why you should listen
Vincent Cochetel is the Director of the Bureau for Europe at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). There he focuses on the specific challenges of the region — maintaining quality in asylum-seeking procedures, ensuring access to protection for those fleeing the conflict in Syria, combatting a rise in xenophobia, and allocating resources for those affected by conflicts of the past.
In 1998, Cochetel was kidnapped near Chechnya. For 317 days, he was chained to a bed frame in a cellar and deprived of light. But far from withdrawing from humanitarian work, the experience made him more determined than ever to improve the rights of refugees worldwide. He has written articles on numerous refugee issues and contributed to the drafting of several UNHCR training manuals related to staff safety, emergency management, and protection.
Vincent Cochetel | Speaker | TED.com