Jacqueline Mukansonera
Encyclopedia
Jacqueline Mukansonera (born 1963) is an ethnic Hutu
from Rwanda
who didn't hesitate to save Tutsi Yolande Mukagasana from genocide
in 1994. Yolande turned to her at the hospital where she worked as a nurse. She was one of the first targets of the Hutu violence because she was seen as a member of the Tutsi intelligentsia
. Jacqueline Mukansonera concealed her in her kitchen for 11 days. The two women didn't speak to each other during those days out of fear of discovery. Jacqueline meanwhile bribed a policeman and provided her guest with false Hutu documents.
Today Jacqueline lives in Rwanda, where she is an activist for human rights
and she founded the “Jya Mubandi Mwana” association helping seriously disabled children.
In 1998 Jacqueline Mukansonera and Yolande Mukagasana received the “Alexander Langer
” Testimonial Award in Bolzano. The Award was motivated with the fact that the human solidarity between the two women came first, even prior to getting to know each other. Jacqueline risked her life to save Yolande, thus proving that there is room for personal responsibility
even in the midst of the most awful and extreme violence.
For Yolande the prize is motivated by the fact that, although the whole of her family was murdered, she fought not only for survival, but also for future remembrance and non-repeating with unfaltering courage.
Hutu
The Hutu , or Abahutu, are a Central African people, living mainly in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.-Population statistics:The Hutu are the largest of the three peoples in Burundi and Rwanda; according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians...
from Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
who didn't hesitate to save Tutsi Yolande Mukagasana from genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
in 1994. Yolande turned to her at the hospital where she worked as a nurse. She was one of the first targets of the Hutu violence because she was seen as a member of the Tutsi intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
. Jacqueline Mukansonera concealed her in her kitchen for 11 days. The two women didn't speak to each other during those days out of fear of discovery. Jacqueline meanwhile bribed a policeman and provided her guest with false Hutu documents.
Today Jacqueline lives in Rwanda, where she is an activist for human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and she founded the “Jya Mubandi Mwana” association helping seriously disabled children.
In 1998 Jacqueline Mukansonera and Yolande Mukagasana received the “Alexander Langer
Alexander Langer
Alexander Langer was a journalist, peace activist, politician, translator, and teacher.Born on February 22, 1946 in Sterzing, South Tyrol, a province of Italy inhabited by a German-speaking population, he became involved early on in local political issues, which at the time centered on the...
” Testimonial Award in Bolzano. The Award was motivated with the fact that the human solidarity between the two women came first, even prior to getting to know each other. Jacqueline risked her life to save Yolande, thus proving that there is room for personal responsibility
Moral responsibility
Moral responsibility usually refers to the idea that a person has moral obligations in certain situations. Disobeying moral obligations, then, becomes grounds for justified punishment. Deciding what justifies punishment, if anything, is a principle concern of ethics.People who have moral...
even in the midst of the most awful and extreme violence.
For Yolande the prize is motivated by the fact that, although the whole of her family was murdered, she fought not only for survival, but also for future remembrance and non-repeating with unfaltering courage.
External links
- Jacqueline Mukansonera on Gardens of the Righteous Worldwide Committee - Gariwo
- Jacqueline Mukansonera and her rescue act in the site of the Alexander Langer Foundation
- Jacqueline Mukansonera in the Padua Garden of the Righteous
- "La morte non mi ha voluta" ("Death didn't want me"), Memoir by Yolande Mukagasana
- Downloadable chapters of Yolande Mukagasana's book