Skip to main content

[Rwanda Forum] Celebrating the Release of Paul Rusesabagina and Continuing the Fight for Prisoners of Conscience — Lantos Foundation



Lantos Foundation Statement: Celebrating the Release of Paul Rusesabagina and Continuing the Fight for Prisoners of Conscience — Lantos Foundation
Celebrating the Release of Paul Rusesabagina and Continuing the Fight for Prisoners of Conscience — Lantos Foundation

https://www.lantosfoundation.org/news/2023/3/24/lantos-foundation-statement-celebrating-the-release-of-paul-rusesabagina-and-continuing-the-fight-for-prisoners-of-conscience

Lantos Foundation Statement: Celebrating The Release Of Paul Rusesabagina And Continuing The Fight For Prisoners Of Conscience

The Lantos Foundation is thrilled to confirm that Paul Rusesabagina has been released from prison in Kigali, Rwanda, and has returned safely to his home and family in the United States. This marks the end of a painful and challenging ordeal for Mr. Rusesabagina and his loved ones. It began with his kidnapping in August 2020; since then, he has been tortured, made to endure a sham trial, and unjustly imprisoned for more than 930 days. Today, however, there is great cause to celebrate the freedom of a true humanitarian hero and human rights champion.

Paul Rusesabagina came to prominence on the international stage after the film Hotel Rwanda depicted his courageous and resourceful rescue of 1,200 Tutsis and Hutus during the 1994 genocide. He was honored with the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 and awarded the Lantos Human Rights Prize in 2011. The past two-and-a-half years have been excruciating for the Rusesabagina family, who have advocated bravely and tirelessly on his behalf. The Lantos Foundation has been privileged to advocate alongside them. The Rwandan government's decision to commute Mr. Rusesabagina's 25-year sentence and allow him to return to the U.S. is the right one.

As we celebrate Mr. Rusesabagina's freedom, we also honor and remember the many prisoners of conscience who remain behind bars – people like Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong, Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, and so many more. We hope that this joyous development for Mr. Rusesabagina will offer hope for those still held unjustly at the hands of authoritarian leaders. Even more so, we hope it will inspire and encourage human rights advocates and activists everywhere to continue fighting for the freedom of political prisoners. The fight is never easy and the path has many twists, turns, and even seeming dead ends. But we must never give up. The Lantos Foundation commits to continuing our advocacy for many others whose fate still hangs in the balance and who need to know that we stand with them and will not forget them.



###
"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few; and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence", George Washington.
###

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

[Rwanda Forum] The order to search and capture of a Rwandan general for genocide and killing four Spaniards.

The order to search and capture of a Rwandan general for genocide and killing four Spaniards. The National Court magistrate José Luis Calama has ordered the search and capture of Kayumba Nyamwasa, a general and former head of Rwanda's secret services, who is under investigation for terrorism, torture, genocide and crimes against humanity. In the court order, which El Confidencial has seen, the judge places him among the top responsible for mass killings of civilians in Rwanda during the 1990s, and asserts that he ordered the assassination of four Spaniards: the priest Joaquim Vallmajó; the nurse María Flors Sirera Fortuny; the photographer Luis Valtueña Gallego; and the doctor Manuel Madrazo Osuna. Calama links Nyamwasa to various war crimes and notes that "he coordinated the military operation in the Byumba stadium," a town in northern Rwanda. That event took place in April 1994, when 2,500 Hutu refugees were gathered "to be massacred by throwing grenades and then o...
Post a Comment
Read more

[Rwanda Forum] Gitarama Prison: World's 'most inhumane' jail where 'prisoners eat bodies of dead lags to survive' - Daily Star.

 World's 'most inhumane' jail where 'prisoners eat bodies of dead lags to survive' - Daily Star Gitarama Prison: World's 'most inhumane' jail where 'prisoners eat bodies of dead lags to survive' - Daily Star. https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/worlds-most-inhumane-jail-prisoners-27483748 World's 'most inhumane' jail where 'prisoners eat bodies of dead lags to survive' Rwanda's Gitarama prison can lay claim to the dubious honour of being the filthiest, most overcrowded and most brutal jails on Earth, even though a former governor admits it's 'possible' that some of its inmates are innocent The jail's so overcrowded that each man has only half a square yard of space (Image: DDP/AFP via Getty Images) Gitarama Prison is considered to be one of the most hellish places on Earth. The brutal jail on the outskirts of Rwanda 's capital, Kigali, was built in 1960 as housing for British...
Post a Comment
Read more

[Rwanda Forum] The making of a monster: Paul Kagame’s bloodstained past!

The making of a monster: Paul Kagame's bloodstained past! Rwanda's President has been widely feted as 'the man who ended the genocide'. But he may also have started it, according to   Michela Wrong The making of a monster: Paul Kagame's bloodstained past | The Spectator The making of a monster: Paul Kagame's bloodstained past | The Spectator Nicholas Shakespeare Rwanda's President has been widely feted as 'the man who ended the genocide'. But he may also have started it, a...
Post a Comment
Read more