Cauchemars d'enfants tchétchènes

In 1995, the first war in Chechnya left 95 000 dead, and ended with the defeat of the Russians one year later. But victory was bittersweet for the freedom fighters: 80,000 civilians dead, ten times more than fighters. Late last year, the survivors find themselves once again on the run, victims of Russian violence. "We will track them down right to their toilets". Vladimir Poutine’s brutal metaphor leaves the Chechens with no illusions. 400,000 civilians, half the population have fled their homes. 30,000 of them have ended up in the small neighbouring republic of Igoucetia and have been placed in three camps: Karaboulak, Sverny, and Spoutnik. Médecins du Monde is the only non-governmental organisation there, and has set up a program called “mental health” ruin by Chechen psychologists, themselves refugees. In a tent in Karaboulak, adolescents draw pictures trying to rid themselves of the nightmare that they can’t escape from.