human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
activist and writer who was born in
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
. An ethnic
Tutsi
The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic grou ...
, she left the country in 1973 after being threatened by
Hutu
The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the prin ...
extremists, moving first to
Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
and later to Germany as a political refugee. In 1994, she lost most of her family and relatives during the
Rwandan genocide
The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...
, an event she covered in her 1999 book ''Mein Stein spricht'' (My Stone Speaks). In 2007, she was awarded the International Nuremberg Human Rights Prize for her efforts to reconcile the Tutsi and Hutu communities.
Biography
Born in Rwanda on 25 December 1952, Eugénie Musayidire is an ethnic Tutsi. In 1973, when she learnt that Hutu extremists were about to arrest her, she fled to Burundi where she attended the
University of Burundi
The University of Burundi (french: Université du Burundi, or UB) is a public university located in Bujumbura, Burundi. Founded in 1964, it comprises eight faculties and five institutes and has a student enrollment of approximately 13,000. It is ...
, studying economics and social sciences. In 1977, she arrived in Germany as a political refugee, successful claiming
right of asylum
The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...
. After completing training as a
pharmaceutical technician Pharmaceutical Technician (also referred to as a Pharmaceutical Research Technician or a Drug Technician) is a job title for a laboratory assistant or research assistant employed in the pharmaceutical industry under the direct supervision of a physi ...
in 1985, she established a family and worked in
Siegburg
Siegburg (i.e. ''fort on the Sieg river''; Ripuarian: ''Sieburch'') is a city in the district of Rhein-Sieg-Kreis in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the banks of the rivers Sieg and Agger, 10 kilometres from the former seat of ...
's migration and integration department.
While in Germany, she learnt that her mother, her brother's family and 22 other relatives had been murdered in 1994 by a neighbour who had once been a close friend. Totally confused, she discussed the event in ''Mein Stein spricht'' {1999) and in 2001 travelled to her native village in Rwanda where she met her mother's murderer. The trip was the subject of a television documentary by Martin Buchholz, ''Der Mörder meiner Mutter. Eine Frau will Gerechtigkeit'' (The Murder of My Mother. A Woman Seeks Justice), which received the
Grimme-Preis
The Grimme-Preis ("Grimme Award"; prior to 2011: Adolf-Grimme-Preis) is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme.Nyanza serving children and young adults. As a result of these efforts, at a ceremony in the Nuremberg Opera House on 30 September 2007 Eugénie Musayidire was awarded the International Nuremberg Human Rights Prize.