Press briefing notes on Republic Democratic du Congo

Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:  Rupert Colville   
Location: Geneva 
Date: 28 August 2020

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has today expressed deep concern over the death threats directed at the Congolese human rights defender and Nobel Prize laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege, and is calling for swift action to investigate who is behind the threats and bring them to justice.

Dr. Mukwege, who founded and runs the Panzi hospital in Bukavu, has won international recognition, including the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, for his decades of work helping thousands of women victims of sexual and gender-based violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He has been a determined advocate against the use of rape as a weapon of war, and for increased protection of women.

He has also been a strong and consistent voice calling for those responsible for sexual violence to be brought to justice. He was a staunch supporter of the 2010 ‘Mapping Report’ by the UN Human Rights Office which chronicled hundreds of serious human rights violations and abuses that occurred in the eastern DRC between 1993 and 2003, in many cases identifying the groups and entities believed to be responsible for perpetrating the crimes.

To read the full Press Release in English click here; in French click here.

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact: Rupert Colville - + 41 22 917 9767 / rcolville@ohchr.org or Jeremy Laurence - + 41 22 917 9383 / jlaurence@ohchr.orgor Marta Hurtado - + 41 22 917 9466 / mhurtado@ohchr.org

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