Thursday, September 25, 2008

Congo church leader

wins Rafto Prize


Pastor Bulambo Lembelembe Josué has been awarded the Professor Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize for 2008, for his aid to the people of the embattled Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Rafto Prize winner Bulambo Lembelembe Josué has helped "quell rising tensions between ethnic groups" in his war-torn country, according to the Rafto Foundation.

PHOTO: RAFTO FOUNDATION

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The church leader, known as Pastor Bulambo, won the prize for "his dedication to end the plight of the people" of the DRC, according to the board of the foundation that awards the prize in the memory of the Norwegian professor Thorolf Rafto.

The pastor has especially tried to help the hundreds of thousands of women in eastern Congo who have been raped during years of warfare, many of them in brutal gang rapes.

"We can no longer accept that our daughters, our sisters and our wives are raped," Pastor Bulambo has said. "It should be possible for women to be safe. It is our responsibility to make life safe."

The DRC has been caught in a severe humanitarian crisis resulting from war linked to the Rwandan genocide. Many African countries and countless militia groups are involved, noted the board of the Rafto Foundation, and more than 5 million people have been killed in the past 10 years.

As vice president of a human rights organization that he helped establish in 1991, Pastor Bulambo has worked to raise awareness of human rights, assist victims of human rights abuses "and stop impunity from sexual violence," the Rafto Foundation noted. He also initiated a rehabilitation program for rape victims, offering medical and psychological treatment in addition to vocational training.

The foundation said that this year's winner "brings hope to Eastern Congo," adding that his work brings hope for "peace, reconciliation and human dignity to a people that have suffered from the deadliest conflict since World War II." The foundation noted that Pastor Bulambo "works ceaselessly and selflessly at the grassroot level to help the people of his country to help themselves."

The Rafto Prize, established in 1986 to promote human rights, will be formally awarded to Pastor Bulambo in Bergen on November 2. Many Rafto winners have gone on to win the Nobel Peace Prize, including Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, Kim Dae-jung of South Korea and Shirin Ebadi of Iran.

Aftenposten English Web Desk
Nina Berglund


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