Alison Des Forges

Alison Des Forges was a senior adviser to the Africa Division of the influential human rights advocacy group Human Rights Watch. She was among 50 people who died when Continental Flight 3407 crashed into a home near Buffalo, New York, on February 12, 2009.CNN: Crash victims include rights campaigner, beloved cantor (February 13, 2009)

"[Des Forges was] the leading person who sought to document the events leading up to the Rwandan genocide, so that future generations would have the material on hand to draw the appropriate lessons from it. This was her first commitment. Her second was to identify those responsible for atrocities, no matter what their political affiliation, and to see that justice was done. She was so committed that no amount of political correctness, or displeasure on the part of the authorities, deterred her from this task."—Mahmood MamdaniNew York Times: Alison Des Forges, Human Rights Advocate, Is Dead at 66 (February 13, 2009)