The United Nations has redeployed military troops to guard Nobel Peace Prize winner, Denis Mukwege after he received death threats for demanding justice for serious crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The UN said the recent threats against Dr Mukwege via social media and in direct phone calls to him and his family “followed his condemnation of the continued killing of civilians in eastern DRC and his renewed calls for accountability for human rights violations and abuses.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet also recently warned Mukwege is “at serious risk.”
In a tweet on Thursday, September 10, Mukwege said: “We welcome the redeployment of elements from #MONUSCO to #Panzi this morning to ensure the safety of our patients and staff. Thank you to the #UN for ensuring our protection.”
Mukwege, a joint winner of the Nobel peace prize in 2018 alongside Nadia Murad for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict – is a gynaecologist whose career has spanned more than 20 years.