Dushanbe, Tajikistan - UPF-Tajikistan, together with an organization that protects vulnerable citizens and refugees, held an event on November 30 dedicated to the death of Karine Mane, who was killed during the civil war on November 30, 1997.
Karine Mane is the daughter of a French woman who is an Ambassador for Peace. Karine came to Tajikistan before the civil war as an employee of an NGO and was doing charity programs. When the civil war started in 1992, Karine Mane decided to stay in the country. Later on she was kidnapped by those who initiated the war. The kidnappers proposed to the government to exchange Karine Mane for several criminals, and the government agreed to their conditions. At the prisoner exchange, Karine Mane was taken out of her car, accompanied by one criminal. While they were moving, a sniper from the government shot the criminal, but he still managed to blow up himself and Karine Mane with a bomb.
On the commemorative day, we went to the street where this happened and laid flowers at a memorial to Karine Mane. The Ambassador of France and a representative of the UN office in Tajikistan accompanied us, along with the Secretary General of UPF-Tajikistan, Alexander Fedorov.
The ceremony consisted of a speech about peace, a tribute to Karine Mane, laying flowers, and a minute of silence.