Hungry for Truth, Peace and Justice

Humanitarian Paul Rusesabagina Protests in Paris Sept. 12 for Peace & Human Rights in Rwanda

For Immediate Release Contact: Kitty Kurth

September 9, 2011 Cell Phone: 312-617-7288

Skype: kittykurth

Email: kitty@kurthlampe.com

Rwandans, Congolese & Europeans Protest in Support of Peace and Reconciliation;

Against the Visit of Rwandan President Paul Kagame to Paris September 12

Paul Rusesabagina, about whom the movie Hotel Rwanda was made, will join with his fellow Rwandans, other Africans and Europeans to peacefully protest the presence of the Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Paris on Monday, September 12 at 10 a.m. at Sevres Babylone - 75006 Paris.

Kagame will be in Paris for his first official visit since the 1994 Genocide to meet with President Sarkozy, other officials, and the business community. Protesters intend to make it clear that Kagame's Rwanda is the home of many human rights violations, including acting as a primary sponsor for the proxy war that has killed more than seven million Congolese in the past decade.

Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation (HRRF) President Paul Rusesabagina said, “It is regrettable that the French government and business communities are choosing to validate Kagame's regime with this visit. Protesters will focus on the need for the Rwandan people to be free of the dictatorship that rules them, not to have that dictatorship make new deals with otherwise respected governments and business leaders. Any support shown for Kagame reflects poorly on both the government of France and on French businesses.”

Rusesabagina continued, “I believe that the dictatorial practices of President Kagame should not be condoned by the French people. I will gather with my fellow Rwandans and friends who wish for Truth and Reconciliation and lasting peace for our country. We will protest the presence of Kagame’s bloody hands and oppressive fists. His acts as President are creating a situation that will likely devolve in to more violence for Rwanda.”

Just last week, Reporters sans Frontieres announced that another Rwandan newspaper was forced to suspend publication after threats made after President Kagame was criticized in the Ishema newspaper. (http://news.yahoo.com/rwandan-paper-suspends-publication-threats-001646964.html) All serious opposition press outlets are now effectively closed in Rwanda, either by government fiat, threat, or in some cases after attacks or murders of reporters, editors and publishers. In recent years many in the media have been forced into exile after exercising their right to speak freely.

According to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, President Kagame is responsible for millions of deaths of Rwandans and Congolese citizens. The UN in its Mapping report of 1 October, 2010, details those war crimes, crimes against humanity and even possible acts of genocide (http://www.ohchr.org/en/Countries/AfricaRegion/Pages/RDCProjetMapping.aspx ). For years, the United Nations Security Council has been reporting that Rwanda is responsible for driving a proxy war for minerals in neighboring Congo.

The June 3, 2011 report from Amnesty International condemns Kagame’s government, saying “The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), in power since the 1994 genocide, tightly controls political space, civil society and the media, contending that this is necessary to prevent renewed violence. Human rights defenders, journalists and political opponents cannot openly and publicly criticize the authorities. People who do speak out risk prosecution and imprisonment.” The report, entitled UNSAFE TO SPEAK OUT: RESTRICTIONS ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN RWANDA says "freedom of expression in Rwanda has been unduly restricted for many years. The months leading up to the August 2010 presidential elections were marked by a clampdown on freedom of expression, which still shows no sign of abating" (http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR47/002/2011/en ).

Human Rights Watch published its latest Rwanda report on May 31, 2011, ( http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2011/05/31/justice-compromised ) that says in Rwanda justice has been compromised, and that flaws in trials have lead to miscarriages of justice. Human Rights Watch declared that President Kagame is in crisis (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/09/21/rwanda-president-crisis ), as he drives the country that has suffered genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity further into the direction of civil war and more bloodshed.

Kagame has jailed political opposition leaders, closed political space, banned independent media, and pursues Rwandans abroad to assassinate them and harass them. Last year he sent thugs to ransack the house of Paul Rusesabagina in Belgium. Last month law enforcement in the United Kingdom warned Rwandans that "reliable intelligence states that the Rwandan government poses an imminent threat to your life" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/world/africa/20rwanda.html ).

The peaceful protesters who will gather in Paris on Monday will call for an immediate end to President Kagame's war crimes and impunity, and will ask the international community to bring him to account for the crimes he has committed. The protesters will also be asking the international community to support Rwandans searching for the permanent resolution to the current Rwandan refugee crisis; an end to chronic violent conflict and prevention of more bloodshed in Rwanda and the Great Lakes region of east and central Africa; support for human rights protection, dialogue, freedom, equal justice, democracy, and equitable prosperity. They will call for reconciliation and healing among many millions of Rwandans and their neighbors who have been subjected to untold suffering for so long.

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Read also:

A letter from Paul Rusesabagina to French President Sarkozy concerning the visit of Paul Kagame to France

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 2:56 PM