Mukwege, committed to upholding human rights, still performs surgery despite an attempt on his life
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Nobel-prize nominated Congolese gynaecologist who survived an attempt on his life in 2012 has won the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for helping victims of sexual violence in his country.
The award, announced late on Tuesday, comes with a 50,000 euro ($63,000) cash prize, which award winner Denis Mukwege will collect in Strasbourg next month.
"The Sakharov Prize is a strong signal, telling the women they have not been abandoned to a barbaric fate. It tells them that the world listens to them," Mukwege said in a statement.
"It is a message of encouragement and hope for all those who struggle for their human rights, for peace and democracy in the DRC and all over the world", he said.
The 59-year-old doctor founded the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, South Kivu province, in 1998, to help women and girls who had been raped during the conflict then raging in Democratic Republic of Congo.
Although the Congo war officially ended in 2003, violence between government troops and rebels, some with outside backing, has persisted, particularly in the east, and rape has repeatedly been used as a weapon of war.
More than half a million women have been raped in Congo, which one senior U.N. official called the rape capital of the world.
Rebel groups and soldiers target women of all ages, including babies and the elderly. Victims are gang raped, raped with bayonets, and have guns shot into their vaginas, destroying their reproductive and digestive systems.
Mukwege's hospital treats about 2,000 women a year for their injuries.
In 2012 armed men tried to kill Mukwege in one of the most violent parts of the country. The doctor escaped unhurt, but one of his staff was killed.
Mukwege was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and remains a strong advocate of women's rights in his country. He still sees patients and performs surgery two days a week.
Mukwege dedicated the award to defenders of human rights, men and women, who work in difficult conditions, and to Congolese people.
"This prize will only have a meaning if you accompany us on the path to peace, justice and democracy", he said.
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought was set up in 1988, in memory of Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, to honour individuals and organisations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Previous winners of the prize include Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi. (1 US dollar = 0.7899 euro)
(Editing by Tim Pearce)
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