Highlights
- Paul Rusesabagina, inspiration behind Hollywood movie 'Hotel Rwanda' sentenced to jail on terror charges
- Family says court verdict dictated by Rwanda president Paul Kagame
- Football clubs Arsenal and PSG must end ties with Rwandan government, says daughter Carine Kanimba
A man, once hailed and crowned as a “hero” for his act of bravely in saving more than 1,200 lives during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, has been sentenced to 25 years on terror charges by a court in Kigali last week, the capital of the East African country.
A local hotel manager, Paul Rusesabagina’s life story was depicted in the Oscar and BAFTA-nominated Hollywood movie, Hotel Rwanda, in which Hollywood actor Don Cheadle played the lead role. Mr Rusesabagina sheltered the minority Tutsi community inside his hotel during the genocide.
In 1996, the Rusesabagina family sought political asylum in Belgium, and later became citizens. Mr Rusesabagina also has living rights in the US. After his arrest by Rwanda from Dubai last year, he remains in detention in Kigali while his family continues to reside in Belgium.
The Kigali High Court found Mr Rusesabagina guilty of supporting the National Liberation Front, an armed wing of the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change, a political party. He has dismissed these charges and said there is “no credible evidence” to prove them.
Carine Kanimba, daughter of Rwandan politician Paul Rusesabagina at a press conference about Paul Rusasebagina’s court verdict at the Press Club in Brussels. Source: AAP Image/EPA/STEPHANIE LECOCQ
‘Terror verdict means nothing to us’
Mr Rusesabagina’s daughter, Carine Kanimba, who has been advocating for his release, told SBS Kirundi that “the sentencing did not surprise the family”.
“I last spoke to my father on Friday before the verdict, we have a five-minute call every week, which is not enough to say much but, at least, we get to hear his voice,” she says.
The conviction and verdict mean nothing to us… He didn’t have a fair trial, a fair trial doesn’t begin with [charges of] kidnapping… the verdict was already decided by the dictator of Rwanda
“Jailing and convicting my father for 25 years is an attempt to silencing him and we are afraid that he will face the same fate as all other people who have dared to speak up against this dictator, and that it is why we fear every single day,” Ms Kanimba says, as she refers to Rwandan president Paul Kagame.
She adds that president Kagame and his justice minister once said on national television that Mr Rusesabagina was convicted of terror charges before even the court proceedings began, thereby highlighting the family’s doubts over the legal proceedings.
The 67-year-old cancer survivor, who also has other underlying health issues, has been denied medication airlifted from a diplomatic suitcase sent by his Belgian doctor of over 20 years, she adds.
Ms Kanimba maintains that her father is an illegal detainee, a hostage and was kidnapped by Rwandan government from Dubai.
Pressure from international community
(L-R)Lys Rusesabagina (daughter), Taciana Rusesabagina (wife), Carine Kaninba (daughter) and Vincent Lurquin (family lawyer) at media conference in Brussels. Source: AAP Image/AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert
The Hotel des Milles Colline manager’s case attracted the attention of the international community once again in August 2020 when he was brought to Kigali.
A complex legal battle, the case has sought and received international mobilisation. His legal team includes lawyers from Australia, Rwanda, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada and the US.
His daughter tells SBS Kirundi that since August 2020, her father has benefitted from the support provided by Brussels to get legal representation and to have access to his case files but “all efforts have gone down the drain”.
“On Monday [20 September], the Belgian minister for foreign affairs declared that the trial was unfair… my father did not benefit from a fair trial and there are regular requests to the Rwandan government to respect his rights,” Ms Kanimba adds.
She also discloses that the US Congress has written to the State Department arguing to deploy full diplomatic authority and bring back the winner of the US Presidential Medal.
Rwanda sportswashing Paul Rusesabagina's case?
She also called upon English Premier League team Arsenal and French football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to stop taking money from “a dictator like Paul Kagame”.
That is contributing to this continuing cycle of injustice and lack of accountability… this is called sportswashing
"The Rwandan government, by using is using sport, is trying to cover up the human rights abuses and violations that they’re committing.
“It is a way to divert attention from those crimes that must continue to receive attention… In the interest of sportsmanship, justice and human rights, teams like Arsenal and PSG should take a stand for humanity,” Ms Kanimba said referring to the tourism promotion deals signed between Rwanda and the two European football clubs.
What next for ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero?
President Paul Kagame (third from right) with Arsenal player David Luiz in Kigali on 11 October 2019. Source: President Paul Kagame/ Flickr page.
Regardless of last week’s verdict convicting Mr Rusesabagina of terror charges, his family remains steadfast in their commitment to secure his release.
Ms Kanimba tells SBS Kirundi that the family has “vowed to continue imploring and seeking the international community, creating awareness, appealing the global community to take action to stand up to injustice and hold Rwanda accountable for violating not only his rights but also of all other people who have been victims of this government’s acts”.
