Standing one’s ground

A few days ago, Dr. Mukwege survived an attempt on his life. A group of armed men burst into his home, held his two young daughters and their friend at gunpoint, and killed a man who worked for him. It is fair to conclude that he was targeted because of his extraordinary work.

5 thoughts on “Standing one’s ground”

  1. //In the past few days, the U.K. and the UN have put out statements in support of Mukwege. The United States has not. The State Department did not return requests for comment for this story.// http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/10/the-misogyny-behind-an-attempted-assassination-of-a-man-in-congo/264306/

    and: //Lewis told me that a doctor at Panzi Hospital told him within hours of the attack that they aren’t relying on the police or the United Nations to secure the hospital. Rather, he said, “They are protecting themselves.”

    Beyond that, the people who are trying to tell the world what is happening need immediate attention, said Van Woudenberg. She called the attack on Mukwege a “terrible sign” in light of a recent rash of attacks on human rights defenders, including journalists.

    “When there starts to be attacks on individuals like him, it makes so many lower-level people scared and it silences people,” she said. “I’d say we’re at a peak of attacks on civilians and those who speak out. When I heard about Dr. Mukwege being attacked, my antennae began vibrating, saying that we’re in real trouble again in eastern Congo.”

    On top of the attacks on human-rights defenders, rapes are on the rise, according to Van Woudenberg and Mukwege himself, who told us in New York: “This year, I am once again operating on women whose genitals were destroyed by rape and other atrocities.”

    Christine Schuler Deschryver, the Congo director of V-Day, told me: “We just see the never-ending lines of women and girls waiting in the corridor of the hospital to be repaired.”

    Women Under Siege, the project I direct at the Women’s Media Center, has documented at least 10 different reasons women are being raped in Congo — everything from attempts to gain hold of natural resources to a belief that Satan made them do it. The conflict and its attending rape, not to mention the lack of political will that allows it to continue, are complex, but not incomprehensible.// (same report)

    One would wonder the outcry of atrocities would escalate, more resources given, if were a western country.

  2. Honestly goodrumo? I suppose because the only way to really stop it is to re-imperialize large parts of the Third World.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *