Paul Rusesabagina is a Rwandan humanitarian and activist who, while working as a manager at the Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali, hid and protected 1,268 Hutu and Tutsi refugees from the Interahamwe militia during the Rwandan genocide. None of these refugees were hurt or killed during the attacks. The genocide of the Tutsi tribe claimed the lives of 800000 people.
Rusesabagina declared Rwanda’s greatest living hero. Rusesabagina’s efforts were the basis of the dramatized Academy Award-nominated film Hotel Rwanda (2004), in which he was portrayed by American actor Don Cheadle.
Photo by the website https://en.wikipedia.org
Having left San Antonio, Texas, in the US where he has been living for the past 15 years with his family in order to give a series of lectures on the Rwandan genocide around the world, Rwandan authorities arrested him in Kigali on August 31, 2020 and after a trip to Dubai.
The Rwandan authorities imply that they worked brilliantly with the authorities of other countries to reach the successful arrest of Paul Rusesabagina. The regime of Paul Kagame who has ruled Rwanda since 2000, accuses Paul Rusesabagina of mass murders, arson, and terrorism. Charges his family stubbornly denies.
In the past, the Rwandan authorities had asked both Belgium and the US to issue him, but both countries refused to consider the charges against him to be fabricated.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are appealing to local authorities to ensure their right to a fair trial, while its advocates are appointed by the state.
