Winner of Human Rights Award in Halifax

A survivor of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda who has worked with women's groups in her country to promote human rights and increase democratic development will launch a Canada-wide speaking tour in Halifax on Monday, Nov. 29.

Rwanda's Godeliève Mukasarasi is the winner of the 2004 John Humphrey Freedom Award by Rights & Democracy, a Montreal-based international human rights organization. The award is named in honour of John Peters Humphrey, the Canadian law professor who prepared the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Ms. Mukasarasi will be in Halifax for the first of five Canadian stops on the award speaking tour, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission announced today, Nov. 25.

"We are very excited to have Ms. Mukasarasi begin her visit to Canada in Halifax," said commission CEO Mayann Francis. "The commission believes it is important for Nova Scotians to hear her story."

The public event in Halifax takes place Monday, Nov. 29, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Room 105 of the Weldon Law Building at Dalhousie University, 6061 University Ave. It will be moderated by Ms. Francis.

Ms. Mukasarasi has gone on to make an invaluable contribution to the promotion of human rights and democratic development in Rwanda as a social worker with the Women's Network for Rural Development and as the founder of SEVOTA, a support group for the widows and orphans of the April 19, 1994, massacre of Tutsis in the town of Taba.

"Through her courage, her enthusiasm and her unwavering commitment, she has succeeded in gaining the trust of victims of rape and sexual violence, particularly women who contracted HIV- AIDS, as well as in breaking the silence and helping these women obtain justice," said Kathleen Mahoney, chair of Rights & Democracy's board of directors.

Ms. Mukasarasi has worked actively for several years to improve the status and fate of women in her country. SEVOTA now involves close to 80 organizations, including the group Urunana, which is made up of 230 Tutsi and Hutu women survivors of the genocide.

She has facilitated the testimony of women survivors of the genocide from Taba and throughout Rwanda before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and has helped rape victims gain access to medical care at the national level.

Thanks to the contribution of the women of Taba in documenting crimes of sexual violence during the genocide, a legal precedent was set on Oct. 2, 1998, when the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda imposed the first sentence for sexual violence perpetrated in the context of civil war and recognized rape as an act of genocide and torture.

Created in 1992, the John Humphrey Freedom Award is given each year by Rights & Democracy. The award includes a $25,000 grant as well as a speaking tour of Canadian cities aimed at raising public awareness of the recipient's work on behalf of human rights.

Rights & Democracy is a non-partisan organization with an international mandate. It was created by Canada's Parliament in 1988 to encourage and support the universal values of human rights and the promotion of democratic institutions and practices around the world. For more information on the organization see the website at www.dd-rd.ca .

The Human Rights Commission's mandate includes public education and outreach to increase awareness of human rights issues in the province and beyond. The commission delivers public education and training programs to help businesses and community groups open up opportunities for all Nova Scotians, particularly groups that have traditionally been disadvantaged.