Genocide Investigator Killed

I am sure that all of you are aware of Thursday’s Flight 3407 crash outside Buffalo, NY, which killed 50 people.

However, you may be unaware that the crash took the life of an individual who spent a large portion of her existence defending human rights for those unable or afraid to speak up.

Doctor Alison Des Forges was the senior adviser of the NY-based Human Rights Watch’s Africa Division. Des Forges spent four years in Rwanda documenting the 1994 atrocities and testifying before UN and congressional panels. She was also an expert on the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to Human Rights Watch’s executive director –

She was truly wonderful, the epitome of the human rights activist – principled, dispassionate, committed to the truth and to using that truth to protect ordinary people.

Let us honor Alison Des Forges by continuing to voice our opposition against genocide.