Congo must protect Dr. Denis Mukwege Stop Rape and Gender Violence

Dr. Mukwege is a founding member of the Advisory Committee of the International Campaign to Stop Rape Gender Violence in Conflict. At his clinic has treated more than 30,000 sexual violance survivors. Dr. Mukwege is a world-renowned surgeon and director of Panzi Hospital in Eastern Congo.

The International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict urgently calls on the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to protect Doctor Denis Mukwege after a violent attack and assassination attempt at his home in Bukavu.


Yesterday, four armed men entered Dr. Mukwege's home in his absence and held several family members at gunpoint. Upon his arrival, they forced him out of his car, shooting and killing a security guard who tried to intervene. Dr. Mukwege ducked when the armed men fired shots towards him, before driving off in his car, which was found abandoned.
Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee said, “Dr. Mukwege embodies the strength of Congolese women who never relent in the face of such senseless violence. I join the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict, and others, in calling for the Democratic Republic of Congo to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice.”

He recently become more a target when Dr. Mukwege stated, “This year I am once again operating on women whose genitals were destroyed by rape and other atrocities. There are many women who are barely getting by, and rape is continuing. The rainy season is coming soon in North Kivu and the vulnerability of women is increasing.” He ended by calling for “urgent action to arrest those responsible for these crimes against humanity and to bring them to justice.”

Updated: 10/29/2012 Story, Photo from PR Newswire.