The gynecologist's career has spanned more than 20 years, during which time he has treated tens of thousands of rape victims. He was a joint winner of the Nobel peace prize in 2018 alongside Nadia Murad for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.
Death threats
The UN said the recent threats against Dr. Mukwege via social media and in direct phone calls to him and his family "followed his condemnation of the continued killing of civilians in eastern DRC and his renewed calls for accountability for human rights violations and abuses." His family and colleagues at Panzi hospital, where he works, have also been targeted.UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet also recently warned Mukwege is "at serious risk.""We welcome the redeployment of elements from #MONUSCO to #Panzi this morning to ensure the safety of our patients and staff," Mukwege said in a tweet. "Thank you to the #UN for ensuring our protection."Mukwege has received deaths threats in the past and survived a major assassination attempt in October 2012 when armed men entered his home, firing shots and killing his bodyguard.The attempt came several weeks after a speech at the United Nations where he denounced the Democratic Republic of the Congo's 16-year-long conflict and called for justice.Mukwege has often asked for the implementation of recommendations of a 2010 UN investigation which described more than 600 alleged violent incidents occurring in the country between 1993 and 2003. This 550-page report titled, 'DRC: Mapping human rights violations 1993-2003,' points specifically to the role of Rwandan troops and proxies in crimes committed between the two Congo wars, which killed millions. Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, denied these accusations in a televised national interview on Sunday and described the report as "nonsense.""People are starting their narrative at the time of their choosing. They choose to pick a point in time and start from there… the very long history of either Rwanda or DRC. People talk about mapping report, I don't know what that nonsense is about."The New Times, a Rwandan newspaper described by Human Rights Watch (HRW) as state-owned, Read More – Source
