Pierre Claver Mbonimpa© Teddy Mazina
Human Rights Watch’s Alison Des Forges Award celebrates the valor of individuals who put their lives in danger to protect the dignity and rights of others. According to Human Rights Watch, Pierre Claver Mbonimpa has shown tireless dedication to the human rights cause as one of Burundi’s most prominent human rights activists and founder of the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons (APRODH).
For HRW, Mbonimpa leads APRODH documentation and advocacy on a wide range of abuses, including attacks on human rights defenders, opposition party members and journalists, political killings, enforced disappearances, unlawful detention and torture.
For Carina Tertsakian, Senior Researcher- Africa division, Mbonimpa’s work has made him a target. He narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in 2015, believed to be carried out by Burundi’s intelligence agents.
Then, Human Rights Watch honors Pierre Claver Mbonimpa for his extraordinary courage as a human rights activist in the face of the brutal crackdown on freedom of expression in Burundi.
According to the Human Rights Watch statement, HRW collaborates with such courageous activists to create a world in which people live free of violence, discrimination and oppression.
On behalf of the Alison Des Forges recipient, Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, this award is both his pride and the pride of Burundi. “I am very happy to receive this award named after Alison Des Forges because I know the latter when she toured Burundi. We often met when she came to visit our country. This award will help and encourage Burundian human rights’ activists,” he said. According to him, this award will contribute to the awareness raising on the part of the international community about the Burundian crisis.
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