“Kindness is not an illusion and violence is not a rule. The true resting state of human affairs is not represented by a man hacking his neighbor into pieces with a machete. That is a sick aberration. No, the true state of human affairs is life as it ought to be lived.”
Paul Rusesabagina
Paul Rusesabagina is the real life hero of the acclaimed film Hotel Rwanda and the President and Founder of the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation. As portrayed by actor Don Cheadle in the film, Rusesabagina saved the lives of more than 1,200 people during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Rusesabagina served as manager of the Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali and bravely risked his life to shelter Hutus and Tutsis who were seeking refuge from the genocide that killed more than 800,000 people. Rusesabagina describes his experiences during the horrific genocide, the terror and the helplessness of the people he sheltered, and the ways in which governments, non-governmental organizations and ordinary people can work together to prevent genocide throughout the world.
Paul is the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Lantos Human Rights Award, and the National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award. Since 1994, he has been a tireless advocate for human rights, equality, and an end to mass atrocities. He has also been a fierce critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
In August 2020, Paul was kidnapped and taken to Kigali where he was arrested. The charges against him are not new. In 2010, the Rwandan government made the same accusations to the American and Belgian governments (he is a Belgian citizen and permanent resident of the United States). Both nations dismissed these accusations because there wasn’t any credible evidence, which is why Kagame had to kidnap him to get him back to Rwanda.
Today, Paul’s “trial” has been nothing but a farce. We need your help to bring him home.
For More Information About Paul Rusesabagina and the Situation:
- To learn more about Paul Rusesabagina, visit the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation
- To read the American Bar Association pre-trial report, click here
- Foreign Policy published an article (January 23, 2021) click here
For More Information about President Paul Kagame: