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Area of FocusAbout Alison's Work
Alison L. Des Forges is a writer, researcher, and human rights advocate who documents and brings to light the causes of one of the most egregious abuses of human rights – genocide.
Through informed analyses, Des Forges has focused attention on Rwanda and Burundi in particular, and central Africa in general, before, during, and after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and has been instrumental in assisting the International Criminal Tribunal in its prosecution of those responsible. She visited the sites of massacres, exhumed bodies from mass graves, collected human bones strewn in the game parks of Rwanda, and interviewed victims of atrocities. Her book, Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda (1999), marks the culmination of years of intense work and research. In this book, she analyzes the mechanisms of genocide, the conditions under which it can take place, and the patterns of participation of ever-larger numbers of the population.
Biography
Since 1988, Des Forges has been affiliated with Human Rights Watch, where she is the senior advisor to the Africa Division. She taught previously at the State University of New York, Oswego (1984-85) and at the State University of New York, Buffalo (1990-92).
Des Forges received an A.B. (1964) from Radcliffe College and an M.A. (1966) and Ph.D. (1972) from Yale University.
Last updated January 1, 2005
Published on July 1, 1999
