Dr. Mukwege breaks the silence in Porto Alegre by FRONTEIRAS DO PENSAMENTO

Dr. Mukwege breaks the silence in Porto Alegre by FRONTEIRAS DO PENSAMENTO
Denis Mukwege and Marcos Rolim (clik on the picture above - part 1)

quarta-feira, 7 de novembro de 2012



Dr. Mukwege Fights Back




02 de novembro de 2012

Dr. Denis Mukwege no Hospital Panzi, no Congo.

Nicholas D. Kristof/The New York TimesDr. Denis Mukwege at the Panzi Hospital in the Congo.

For the past 16 years at the Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo, my staff and  I have been treating women who have been victimized by sexual violence, which has been systematically used as a weapon of war in the armed conflict that has ravaged our country.  Rape is one of the most deadly weapons of war, destroying families and communities and future generations, as well as the women brutally targeted.  Last year I had some hope that the situation was improving, but since the beginning of this year the security situation has again deteriorated and victims of sexual violence have started coming to the hospital again in greater numbers.
In our hospital near Bukavu, we have been helping women not only with medical treatment but also with psychological counseling, legal representation and financial support.  We work to address all the consequences of the sexual violence they have suffered, but none of the causes of this violence which bring the women back to the hospital again and again.  So now I am trying to use my voice, domestically and internationally, to address the causes of this violence and to call for peace and justice. I have attended many conferences in Europe and the United States on sexual violence in armed conflict and specifically on the situation in Eastern Congo.
A few weeks ago, I was attacked and almost killed in my home, which is in one of the most guarded and secure areas of Bukavu.  I had gone to accompany a patient who had come to see me for medical advice, and when I returned I was met by heavily armed men who forced me out of my car.  They had been in my house and forced my children onto the sofa at gunpoint, which is how I saw them when I arrived. I found myself with a gun to my head, and just as the gun was loaded and ready to shoot, a member of my staff heroically intervened to save me.  He shouted and came running to jump on this armed intruder, who turned and shot him.  He fell down, I fell down, and I can’t really remember what happened after that.  I realized he was shot, and I saw him give his life for me.  The attackers then got in the car and left.

Neither I nor anyone in my family have been questioned about this incident in an effort to find out who is responsible.  The lack of investigation is symptomatic of the indifference that prevails in my country. After this attack many people have demanded the assurance of my security – this has been very helpful to me, but my security is not the real issue. It is not enough to assure my security, if even that can be done, when women are being violated with impunity on a daily basis.
For 16 years, these women have come to the hospital time after time, and each time, following medical treatment, I have urged them to go back to their villages.  But after what has happened to me, I have a new understanding.  I have seen what has been done to them. I have heard them tell me that armed attackers raped them and killed their husband, raped them and killed their children. I now understand this in a different way and my thoughts are with the women of my country who have suffered so much.
We talk about them as numbers and we don’t fully appreciate that they are individual human beings who have each been through a horrifying and destructive experience.  Every one of these women should have the attention of the international community that I have received.  The violations continue because of indifference on the part of our government and inaction by the international community – this happened to someone else.  But really, it happened to one of us. We all belong to the same family of human society.
In the Congo, we have tried to make peace and we have sacrificed justice for the sake of peace. But today we have neither peace nor justice. And the problem is that the present Congolese army has been put together by the integration of former armed rebels who are responsible for rape and pillage.  Perpetrators have been given the job of protecting their victims – it is a death sentence.  It cannot work and we need international support to help our country make the security system function.
The dedicated and courageous staff who work at Panzi Hospital are scared, and my thoughts are with them.  I want them to respond to this hatred with love because I think that it is the only way we can make a difference.  If they continue to do what they do with love and care I have to believe that peace and justice will prevail.  Violence can only create violence.
I believe that together we can conquer this hatred and we can help the Congo end the long standing armed conflict that has caused so much suffering and so much destruction. This is an easy problem to solve. It is fundamentally a question of political will, not only at the Congolese level but at the regional level and the international level. At the international level there is much talk of the conflict as a problem, and one United Nations report after another has clearly stated the problem.  With political will we can solve the problem but unfortunately this political will is lacking.
We do not need more proof of what is happening, we need action to stop it, action to arrest those responsible for these crimes against humanity and to bring them to justice.  We need unanimous condemnation of the rebel groups who are responsible for these acts, and we need concrete action with regard to member states of the United Nations who support these barbarities from near or afar.  All the elements are there to put an end to an unjust war that has used violence against women and rape as a strategy of war.  Congolese women have a right to protection just as all the women on this planet.  It is an honor for me to serve these courageous survivors, these women who resist, these women who despite all remain standing.
Denis Mukwege is the Medical Director at the Panzi Hospital in the Congo.

Comments [...]


  • Milton Paulo de Oliveira
  • Brasil - Porto Alegre


Dear Mukwege, who writes here is your friend and colleague Milton Paulo de Oliveira. In your home in the Congo, where he suffered this terrible violence ,I was received by you and your wife on a Saturday morning, and in a way I will never forget. You're the kindest and most courageous person that I've met . We, in fighting for your cause, fighting for the dignity of all of us. The fact that local authorities are not investigating the attack shows us how far we are from a solution to the Congo. is a very difficult battle, but not impossible. Be assured that we your friends in Brazil will continue to multiply that voice with so much effort you have brought to our country. I regret the loss of life in this attack and hope you and your family find the strength to continue. Before arriving in Brazil in 2010, I wrote about our meeting in Congo and the title of my article was: A Quixote in the Heart of Africa. The more time passes, the more I see that Don Quixote. However, I see not only in Africa. Now I see that noble knigh in the centter of your heart. Your forever friend, Milton Paulo.


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


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.

15 Comments [...]


    • 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.)

    • M. Middleberg
    • Washington, D.C.
    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.

      • 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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