International syndicate of assistance to the liquidators of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and to the victims of nuclear effects

Speech by Roland Mérieux, Secretary of the Syndicate, at the Kyiv Conference

As secretary of the International Syndicate for Assistance to Liquidators of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and Victims of Nuclear Effects, I firmly believe that defending those who took the first and most severe blow of radiation is a duty of conscience for all humanity.

The establishment of our Syndicate was a direct response to the growing reluctance of governments and international institutions to acknowledge the scale of this tragedy and take proper responsibility for the victims. Recognizing their numbers would mean admitting the vast damage of the past, present, and future, and holding authorities accountable. It is far easier to look away.

We in Europe, and in France particularly, must remember our immense debt to the Chernobyl liquidators whose sacrifice prevented irreversible radioactive contamination across much of Europe.

The Syndicate decisively supports the Coordination and Analytical Center "Ecology and Health" in Ukraine led by Professor Yury Bandazhevsky, as well as the independent Belrad Institute in Belarus founded by Professor Vassili Nesterenko.