Dr. Alison Des Forges Memorial Set for February 11; Magavern Firm Represents Victims of Air Disaster
A powerful voice for human rights and justice was stilled on February 12, 2009, when Dr. Alison Des Forges perished with fellow passengers in the crash of Continental Flight 3407 in Clarence Center, New York.
Dr. Des Forges, a Buffalo resident, was the world’s leading expert on the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s and its aftermath. Also an authority on human rights violations in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, for nearly 20 years she had served as Senior Adviser to the New York City-based Human Rights Watch’s Africa Division.
Best known for her award-winning book, Leave None to Tell the Story, Dr. Des Forges dedicated her life and work to understanding Rwanda. She courageously exposed the killings, kidnappings and other rights abuses, and she worked to help bring about justice and change.
"Alison did everything humanly possible to save people," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.
Dr. Des Forges appeared on expert panels about genocide convened by the United States Congress, the United Nations, and the legislatures of the United Kingdom, France and Belgium, as well as testifying at trials in Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, and the Netherlands. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website describes Dr. Des Forges’ book as "a meticulously detailed description of the organization of the campaign that killed some half million Tutsi," and points to her analysis of the international community’s failure to intervene.
In addition to raising a family, Dr. Des Forges devoted much of her early career to scholarship on African History, including her doctoral dissertation, which will be published posthumously by Wisconsin University Press. She also was involved in enhancing the quality of public education in Western New York, especially the Bennett Park Montessori Center in downtown Buffalo.
Dr. Des Forges is survived by her husband, Dr. Roger V. Des Forges, a historian who is a China expert and University at Buffalo professor; daughter Jessie, son Alexander, and three grandchildren, who reside in Boston, MA; and her brother, Douglas Liebhafsky, of New York.
Reflecting her influence on three continents, memorials were held for Alison this past year in Buffalo, Cambridge, Madison, New York City, Montreal, London, Paris, Geneva, and Kigali.
The Alison L. Des Forges Memorial Fund Committee has created a fund in her memory at the UB Foundation. The Committee will sponsor its inaugural fund-raising event on February 11 -- the Opening Night Reception when the acclaimed one-person play, "Miracle in Rwanda," dramatizing the life of a survivor of the genocide, is performed at the Student Union Theater on UB’s North Campus. Requests to purchase tickets for the play and reception or to contribute to the Fund may be directed to ALDMemorial@gmail.com or 716-881-1384.
Magavern Magavern Grimm LLP is representing the family of Alison Des Forges and the survivors of two other Flight 3407 passengers, working as co-counsel with Kreindler & Kreindler LLP, a New York-based law firm that is nationally known for its aviation practice. Richard A. Grimm, III, Magavern firm partner, is serving as a member of the Plaintiffs' Executive committee, the group of attorneys responsible for directing litigation efforts on behalf of all of the crash victims for whom claims have been made.