Denis Mukwege, an African Voice Against Rape, Is Honored by Europe
New York Times, Oct 22, 2014
The European Parliament has awarded its highest human rights accolade, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought,
to Dr. Denis Mukwege, a Congolese gynecological surgeon who has treated
thousands of women and risked his life in a campaign to end the use of
mass rape as a weapon of war.
“In
many armed conflicts around the world, rape is used as a weapon of
war,” the statement said. Dr. Mukwege helped victims in his country, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, by founding the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu in 1998, and he still treats victims of sexual violence. While the war in Congo
may be formally over, the citation said, “the armed conflict still
continues in the eastern part of the country, and so do attacks against
civilians, including gang rapes.”
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