An Attack on One of My Heroes, Dr. Denis Mukwege

By

NICHOLAS KRISTOF

October 25, 2012

One of my heroes is Dr. Denis Mukwege, a Congolese doctor who repairs fistulas and is a ferocious advocate for women and for his country. I’ve suggested that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize—and I was horrified to learn that tonight four armed gunmen attacked him at his home, murdered his guard and shot at him. He seems to have narrowly escaped death.

Dr. Mukwege presumably was targeted because of a strong speech he gave at the United Nations last month, denouncing mass rape in Congo and the impunity for it. President Kabila has long been angry at Dr. Mukwege, and the UN speech can’t have helped. Meanwhile, Dr. Mukwege has also offended Rwanda with his denunciations of Rwanda’s role in the slaughter and rape in eastern Congo.

Although he is a skilled surgeon who could easily have left for other countries, Dr. Mukwege has toiled in Congo at the hospital he started in Bukavu, Panzi Hospital. Here’s an article I wrote about his work repairing fistulas there. But Dr. Mukwege doesn’t just repair individuals: He concluded that “there is no medical solution,” and so he has become an advocate for peace and for his country.

I hope the UN force in Bukavu will protect Dr. Mukwege and the Panzi Hospital for the time being. I hope foreign ambassadors will visit his hospital to show solidarity. Here’s a statement by Physicians for Human Rights, which works with Dr. Mukwege at Panzi Hospital. And I hope that Dr. Mukwege some day will get the Nobel Peace Prize for the humanitarian work he continuously risks his life to advance.

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15 Comments [...]

1. • necworld7
   • Washington, DC

   What a truly horrifying article to read. A doctor who dedicates his life to helping and saving women is attacked as part of an assassination attempt. So many horrifying aspects to this - the resources being fought of, the women being brutalized and women's obstetric fistula. While I think there are many, many things that we in the West do not understand, Obstetric Fistula is perhaps one of the least understood. Why? Because this no longer happens to "Western Women" - it has been eliminated as a problem. Instead, women in poor countries like the DRC continue to face Obstetric Fistula as a reality in the birth process. Often, in addition to the fistula, these women lose their children in childbirth. Worst, perhaps, once their fistula occurs, they often suffer for years and are ostracized by their families and communities. These women are already among the poorest of poor. If you would like to learn more about Obstetric Fistula and what you can do to help these women, please visit the Fistula Foundation's website:http://www.fistulafoundation.org/ (No, I do not work for the organization, but I do admire this group for their work.)

   
   
2. • Nov. 4, 2012 at 5:15 p.m.
3. • M. Middleberg
   • Washington, D.C.

   FLAG

   This important blog depicts a sad incident in a much larger problem, which is widespread violence against health workers and health facilities under conditions of armed conflict. The Safeguarding Health In Conflict Coalition (www.safeguardinghealth.org) has been created by leading NGOs to address this under-reported problem. Our goal is to promote adherence to international humanitarian and human rights laws that protect health facilities, health workers, ambulances and patients during conflict.
   
   Violations of these laws are all too common and take many forms. These include violence against health workers, obstructions to health care delivery, invasions and attacks on health facilities, and misuse of medical facilities and symbols to mask parties to conflict.
   
   At the May 2012 World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization was given a mandate to begin systematic data collection on violence against health in situations of armed conflict. The most important step that could be taken to prevent attacks against health providers like Dr. Mukwege is to ensure this mandate is fulfilled. Information is the key to prevention, mitigation and protection, as well as to holding perpetrators accountable. We urge those interested in this issue to visit the Coalition web site and encourage the WHO fulfill its mandate. The US government, which has taken a very constructive approach, has a critical role to play given its seat on the WHO Board of Directors.

   
   

   • Nov. 1, 2012 at 1:36 p.m.
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4. • Milton Paulo de Oliveira
   • Brasil - Porto Alegre

   Dear Kristow, I'm Brazilian surgeon and a humanitarian mission by Smile Train in Bukavu met Dr. Mukwege. I was received kindly at his home with his wife. I invited him through a wonderful cultural project called Frontiers of Thought. His speech in Brazil was exciting and impactful. I received it at my house in Porto Alegre. It's the kindest person I ever knew. You know him and know what I'm talking about. At the time I wrote an article called: A Quixote in the Heart of Africa.http://amanipucrs.blogspot.com.br/p/quixote-in-heart-of-africa.html Increasingly, I can not see it otherwise. I knew the attack Mukwege and his wife and daughter, as well as the murder of his friend. Because of his struggle for human rights in Africa their life is in danger every day. I try to establish cooperative ties with Brazilian institutions and Panzi Hospital, but the indifference and ignorance of the true hero is too big. Sadly. I appreciate your commitment to showcasing the work of this hero and also hope that the Nobel Prize do less politics and values ​​who truly deserves. Milton Paulo de Oliveira
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