In this campaign we support to the candidacy of Zura Karuhimbi, Yolande Mukagasana and Pierantonio Costa, and to nominate them for the Nobel Peace Prize 2011, as those righteous for their actions during and after 1994 Rwanda genocide and as symbolic figures against all genocides.
Our campaign started on the 7th April 2010 during the annual big public happening that Bene Rwanda Onlus organizes to commemorate and to reflect on Rwandan Genocide. The happening was held in Rome, at Eliseo Theater. On this occasion the campaign started. The candidates, proposed by Bene Rwanda Onlus and The Righteous Garden of the City of Padua are:
Zura Karuhimbi is a Hutu peasant who is now 84 years old and, at the time of the genocide, was almost 70. With great intelligence and courage she hid and saved the lives of nearly 100 refugees. Had she been caught, Zura would surely have met a terrible death as an accomplice of the Tutsis. Zura has also been recognized by the Government of Rwanda and by the Garden of the Righteous of Padua (Italy) as "Righteous" .
Yolande Mukagasana is a Tutsi nurse whose entire family, including her three children and her husband, were brutally murdered by the blows of machetes. Saved by a Hutu woman, Yolande began her tireless campaign to witness the genocide of Rwanda all over the world. Her story is told in the book "Death does not want me". A writer of international reputation, Yolande has already received several awards including the UNESCO Honorable Mention for Education to Peace, and the American Jewish Committee award.
Pierantonio Costa held the office of Italian Honorary Consul in Kigali at the time of the genocide. After aiding the evacuation of Italians and other foreigners and having saved many Rwandan people in the early days of the genocide, he went back to the country to rescue some 2,000 Tutsis beyond the Rwandan border. His exceptional story is told in the book "The list of the Consul". Renamed by various media “the Italian Schindler”, Costa has been recognized as “Righteous” by the Committee for the Gardens of the Righteous Worldwide of Milan and by the Garden of the Righteous of Padua.
