November 27, 2014

The looming meaninglessness of the Sakharov Prize

located:	Republic of the Congo
editor:	Murat Suner

The European Parliament has awarded its highest human rights accolade, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, to Dr. Denis Mukwege.

Mukwege has helped thousands of rape victims in his country. Rival forces fighting in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have used mass rape as a weapon against local civilian populations for decades.

The gynecologist and surgeon is the founder of Panzi Hospital near Bukavu in DRC's south Kivu Province which has seen some of the worst violence.

“It’s not a women question; it’s a humanity question, and men have to take responsibility to end it,” Mukwege said in an interview in 2013. “It’s not an Africa problem. In Bosnia, Syria, Liberia, Colombia, you have the same thing.” writes the NYT.

One year before, Dr. Mukwege gave a fiery speech at the United Nations, reproaching the Congolese government and other nations for not doing enough to stop what he called “an unjust war that has used violence against women and rape as a strategy of war.”

Shortly after the speech, he returned to Congo, and four armed men sneaked into his compound in Bukavu. They took his children hostage and waited for him to return from work. In the hail of bullets that followed, his companion was killed, but Dr. Mukwege threw himself on the ground and somehow survived.

He spent more than two months in exile recuperating, but then decided that in spite of the risks, he had to return.

At the European Parliament Mukwege said "The prize is significant, if the European Parliament and the EU member states help us in our quest for democracy, justice and development. If they don't do that, this prize is practically meaningless."

Unfortunately, looking at the laureates' cases of the last three years doesn't raise much hope that things would turn quickly to the better:

2011: Mohamed Bouazizi (†), Tunesia; Asmaa Mahfouz, Egypt; Ahmed al-Senussi, Libya; Razan Zaitouneh and Ali Ferzat, Syria: Activists of the Arab Spring
2012: Nasrin Sotudeh, Iranian lawyer, and Jafar Panahi, Iranian director
2013: Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani Blogger and childrens' rights activist

The subtext to this: Sorry, we can't really do anything for you, but here's a prize because you're so brave, aren't you?

If the prize isn't just about providing an alibi for EU member states, then, don't they need to take dedicated action and provide measurable results in Congo?

Related link: Interview with Dr. Mukwege on Deutsche Welle