Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Lantos Foundation to Honor Rwandan Humanitarian Paul Rusesabagina





For Immediate Release Contact:Kitty Kurth 
November 14, 2011 (312) 617-7288


Lantos Foundation to Honor Rwandan Humanitarian Paul Rusesabagina
2011 Lantos Prize to be awarded November 16
On November 16, Paul Rusesabagina, Founder and President of The Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation will be awarded the 2011 Human Rights Prize by The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice in Washington, D.C. The formal presentation of the award will take place in the Congressional Auditorium at the Capitol Visitors Center this Wednesday, November 16th, at 11:00 am.
Ambassador Robert Krueger will introduce Paul Rusesabagina when he receives the award. Krueger is the former U.S. Ambassador to Burundi and to Botswana. He is also a former Texas Congressman, U.S. Senator and Texas Railroad Commissioner.  The two have been working together to try to get an internationally sanctioned truth and reconciliation commission for Rwanda, Burundi and the Congo to create sustainable peace in the region. 
According to The Lantos Foundation:
Paul Rusesabagina is widely hailed as a hero of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. As a hotel manager during the time of the conflict, Rusesabagina was able to provide shelter to 1,268 people, both Hutus and Tutsis, ultimately saving them from certain death. His efforts were chronicled in the 2004 Academy Award nominated film Hotel Rwanda and his autobiography “An Ordinary Man”. Today, Rusesabagina continues his efforts for truth, reconciliation and sustainable peace in Rwanda and the Great Lakes region of Africa through his work as President of the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation.
“We are so proud to award this year’s Lantos Prize to Paul Rusesabagina. I was raised on the idea that we are all our brothers’ keepers, and Paul is the living embodiment of that idea,” said Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation. “My father, Congressman Tom Lantos, survived the Holocaust in one of Raoul Wallenberg’s safehouses and understood all too well that the actions of one man can change the arc of one’s life story. Nearly 50 years later, Paul Rusesabagina’s heroic efforts to shelter those in harm’s way changed the life stories of more than 1,200 Rwandans. We look forward to honoring his historic humanitarian actions.”
The Lantos Foundation established the Lantos Human Rights Prize in 2009 to honor and bring attention to heroes of the human rights movement. It is awarded annually to an individual or organization that best exemplifies the Foundation’s mission, namely to be a vital voice standing up for the values of decency, dignity, freedom, and justice in every corner of the world. The prize also serves to commemorate the late Congressman Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress and a prominent advocate for human rights during his nearly three decades as a U.S. Representative. Former recipients of the Lantos Prize include His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel.
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Kitty Kurth
President, Kurth Lampe
444 N. Wabash, #410
Chicago, IL  60611
alternate email: kittykurth@me.com
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