Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider / Dr. Denis Mukwege addresses the United Nations Security Council on sexual violence in conflict, at UN world headquarters in New York, 23 April 2019.

By Gary Raynaldo   DIPLOMATIC TIMES

UNITED NATIONS  –  NEW  YORK  –  UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has condemned death threats made against Congolese Nobel Prize laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege and called for his protection.  Dr. Mukwege founded a hospital in eastern Congo that is renowned for its work treating survivors of sexual violence. For decades, the doctor has also called for perpetrators to be brought to justice and advocated against the use of rape as a weapon of war. He survived an assassination attempt at his home in 2012.  In Geneva, spokesperson for the UN rights chief, Rupert Colville, said that the recent surge of threats against him had been conveyed via social media and in phone calls to him and his family.  He said these were likely connected with Dr. Mukwege’s condemnation of rights abuses linked to longstanding violence in the highlands of South Kivu, where mainly Banyamulenge herders have been involved in conflict against the Babembe, Bafuliru, and Banyindu communitie

“The threats appear to be more linked to his advocacy, you know his very robust positions taken on accountability, on the protection of women, as a result of what he’s seen in decades in hospital. In terms of protection…this is a difficult part of the country, it’s a very, very violent region, so that is part of our call to the authorities that they absolutely make sure they do provide really comprehensive physical protection to Dr. Mukwege and to the rest of his team, so that they can continue their vital work on which so many women depend.”

-spokesperson for the UN rights chief, Rupert Colville

In a statement, Ms. Bachelet said that Dr. Mukwege’s life “seems to be at serious risk”, before welcoming President Felix Tshisekedi’s public commitment to ensure his security.

🇨🇩 #DRC: Deeply concerned over the death threats directed at Congolese human rights defender and Nobel Prize laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege, @mbachelet is calling for swift action to investigate who is behind the threats and bring them to justice. Learn more: https://t.co/303jCrJc7j pic.twitter.com/dB7zzLkKrr

— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) August 28, 2020

“Dr. Mukwege is a true hero – determined, courageous and extremely effective,”

-the UN rights chief insisted.

“For years, he helped thousands of gravely injured and traumatized women when there was nobody else to take care of them, and at the same time he did a great deal to publicize their plight and stimulate others to try to grapple with the uncontrolled epidemic of sexual violence in the eastern DRC.”  Ms. Bachelet also called for an effective, prompt, thorough and imartial investigation into the threats made against him.

“It is essential those responsible are brought to justice and that the truth is known, both as a means to protect Dr. Mukwege’s life, but also as a deterrent to others who attack, threaten or intimidate medical workers and human rights defenders who, like him, work for the benefit of the Congolese people, often in exceptionally difficult circumstances,” she maintained.

Dr. Mukwege was born: 1 March 1955, Bukavu, Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo)   In 1999 he founded Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, where thousands of victims of sexual violence during armed conflicts have been treated. Although he has been a target of attempted murder, he is still active there.

Nobel Prize motivation: “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.”