U.S. based-human rights activist Alison Des Forges had worked on Rwanda for years before the genocide began. When violence started in April 1994, she focused all her energy on publicizing the genocide and trying to provoke strong international response.
Des Forges also established contact with human rights colleagues in Rwanda. As she spoke with one such colleague, Monique Mujawamariya, des Forges could hear the gunfire of approaching militia. Mujawamariya fled, and, unbeknownst to Des Forges, managed to survive by making her way to the Hotel des Milles Collines.
Des Forges was a committed advocate for human rights in Rwanda and throughout central Africa. Relentless, knowledgeable, and generous, she inspired and informed an entire generation of activists and scholars who became engaged in the issues of preventing and responding to genocide after 1994.
Alison des Forges was killed in 2009 in a plane crash outside Buffalo, N.Y., where she lived.
