Bukavu – January 31, 2022
Panzi Foundation strongly condemns the murder of Ms. Anne Marie Buhoro.
We are in mourning. The life of Anne Marie Buhoro, staff of the Interim Reparations Project, was taken in an act of mindless violence. Once again, barbarism has taken the most precious thing of all: human life.
Panzi Foundation strongly condemns the murder of a Panzi employee and human rights defender, Ms. Anne Marie Buhoro Mwabireke. Ms. Buhoro was killed on the night of January 29, 2022, in Minova, South-Kivu, by Captain Jérémie Saleh Bin Saleh of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, with whom she lived.
We have lost a colleague, a pro-democracy activist, an activist for justice, a whistleblower, an agent of change, a mother, and a sister. In 2012, when perpetrators were using women’s bodies as their battlefield, Ms. Buhoro condemned rape as a weapon of war and distinguished herself in the fight against gender-based violence. Because of this, she was well known in Minova and North-Kivu.
Her murder represents the risks that women take when fighting for change and raising their children in an environment where security is not guaranteed.
Panzi Foundation denounces this assassination, which undermines the efforts of women committed to rebuilding the social fabric destroyed by violence.
Panzi Foundation calls on the judicial authorities to investigate this heinous crime, issue a punishment according to the law, and make an exemplary sentence to deter other perpetrators.
Dr. Denis Mukwege
Co-Founder and President
Panzi Hospitals and Foundation
2018 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate