Ban pays tribute to late rights activist who spotlighted horrors of Rwandan genocide

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today paid tribute to the late Alison des Forges, a human rights campaigner who worked unrelentlessly to document the horrors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and bring those behind the slaughter to justice.

April 1994 saw the beginning of a slaughter in the tiny East African country in which more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and Hutu moderates died, mostly by machete, during a period of less than 100 days.

“The repercussions of the slaughter that traumatized Rwanda travelled far beyond its borders and reverberate to this day,” Mr. Ban said in a message to a memorial service for Ms. des Forges, one of the world’s foremost experts on the genocide, who died in a plane crash in New York in February.

He said he draws his strength to ensure that victims’ rights are respected from the late expert, who was the senior advisor for the Africa division of the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch at the time of her death.

“She worked tirelessly to document the atrocities and bring the perpetrators to justice, and made a significant contribution to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [ICTR] and related judicial proceedings,” the Secretary-General said. “That she campaigned for justice impartially, without fear or favour, earned her some enemies, but many more allies.”

Ms. des Forges, who began her work on Rwanda as a student, spent four years interviewing both organizers of the genocide and those targeted for extermination. She appeared as an expert witness in 11 trials for genocide at the ICTR, as well as for trials in Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Canada, as well as giving evidence to expert panels of the UN, the United States Congress and the French National Assembly, among others.

“Thanks in large part to the commitment of people like Alison des Forges, the world is better equipped to hold despots and war criminals to account,” Mr. Ban said.

“She was a resolute advocate for the fundamental principle that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person,” he added. “The world will miss her insight, courage and dedication.”