Hotel Rwanda” Humanitarian Paul Rusesabagina, Ambassador Robert Krueger: Call for support of Truth and Reconciliation, International Inquest

By Fabien CISHAHAYO

“Hotel Rwanda” Humanitarian Paul Rusesabagina, Ambassador Robert Krueger Praise Senator Hillary Clinton for her Insights on Rwanda.

Call for support of Truth and Reconciliation, International Inquest.

For Immediate Release

Contact :
Kitty Kurth
December 31, 2007
Phone : 312-617-7288

Sunday, December 30, 2007 on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Senator Hillary Clinton said that she had wanted the U.S. to take more action than it had during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, and, that additional action on the part of the U.S. could probably have saved many lives.

Humanitarian Paul Rusesabagina, whose experience during the Rwandan genocide is portrayed in the film “Hotel Rwanda” praised Clinton, and asked for her support for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Rwanda. “I was heartened to hear Senator Clinton today, and President Clinton earlier, say that Senator Clinton would have supported U.S. intervention during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. I agree with the Senator that U.S. intervention, and intervention of the international community, could have saved the lives of Rwandans during those dark and dangerous times”, Rusesabagina said.

Rusesabagina, who saved the lives of nearly 1,300 people who he sheltered at the Mille Collines Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda, is currently working through his Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation to aid victims of the genocide and to educate the international community about the need for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Rwanda to come to terms with the genocide and its aftermath. He said, “I will reach out to Senator Clinton and would like to talk with her about the need for an internationally sanctioned Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Rwanda. Only with a TRC can Rwandans around the globe break the cycle of violence and move forward together, in peace. I will urge her to exert her leadership globally on behalf of Rwanda now, when the Rwandan people still need it.”

On the show, Clinton also called for an international investigation in to the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Rusesabagina agreed with Clinton and said, “Senator Clinton is right that there should be an international investigation into Bhutto’s killing. We need this same sort of investigation into the act which sparked the genocide, the killing of then Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprian Ntaryamira, when their plane was shot down over the Kigali airport on April 6, 1994.”

Former United States Senator from Texas, Robert Krueger, who served as United States Ambassador to Burundi from 1994-1996, has appeared at various forums with Rusesabagina to advocate the need for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission not only for Rwanda, but also for Burundi. He agreed with both Rusesabagina’s praise of Senator Clinton and the call for additional commitment to the African Great Lakes Region. Krueger said, “I was proud to have been appointed by President Clinton, who always endorsed my outspokenness about violence in the region. But, I believe the United States should use its influence today to support Truth and Reconciliation throughout the region. Doing so will advance efforts to bury the genocidal conflict of the past and nurture peace and renewal. ”

Source:
Burundi Bwacu
http://www.burundibwacu.org

Related materials:
Beyond Hotel Rwanda : Finding Real Peace in Africaʼs Great Lakes Region

Interview with Ambassador Robert Krueger- The Hague 26 April
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7xj76ImnNw