Freed 'Hotel Rwanda' hero Rusesabagina arrives in US
https://observer.ug/news/headlines/77299-freed-hotel-rwanda-hero-rusesabagina-arrives-in-us
Written by VOA
The man who
inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda" and was freed by Rwanda last week from
a terrorism sentence returned Wednesday to the United States, where he
will reunite with his family after being held for more than two years.
Paul Rusesabagina's arrival back in the
US was announced Wednesday by White House national security adviser Jake
Sullivan, who wrote in a tweet that "we're glad to have him back on US
soil."
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby
told journalists on Monday that Rusesabagina was in Doha, Qatar, and
would be returning to the US.
Rusesabagina's plane touched down
in Houston in the afternoon and the 68-year-old was to travel next to a
military hospital in San Antonio, according to a person familiar with
the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal
planning. The person said Rusesabagina was on the ground and in a car
heading to reunite with his family.
"We're glad to have him back
on U.S. soil & reunited with his family & friends who've long
waited for this day to come," Sullivan wrote. "I'm grateful to those we
worked closely with in the Rwandan Government to make this possible."
Rusesabagina,
a US legal resident and Belgian citizen, was credited with sheltering
more than 1,000 ethnic Tutsis at the hotel he managed during Rwanda's
1994 genocide, in which over 800,000 Tutsis and Hutus who tried to
protect them were killed. He received the US Presidential Medal of
Freedom for his efforts.
Vanished in Dubai
Rusesabagina
disappeared in 2020 during a visit to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates
and appeared days later in Rwanda in handcuffs. His family alleged he
was kidnapped and taken to Rwanda against his will to stand trial.
In
2021, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted in
Rwanda on eight charges, including membership in a terrorist group,
murder and abduction, following the widely criticized trial. Last week,
Rwanda's government commuted his sentence after diplomatic intervention
on his behalf by the United States.
Rusesabagina had been accused
of supporting the armed wing of his opposition political platform, the
Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change. The armed group claimed some
responsibility for attacks in 2018 and 2019 in southern Rwanda in which
nine Rwandans died.
Rusesabagina testified at trial that he
helped to form the armed group to assist refugees but said he never
supported violence — and sought to distance himself from its deadly
attacks.
Rusesabagina has asserted that his arrest was in
response to his criticism of longtime President Paul Kagame over alleged
human rights abuses. Kagame's government has repeatedly denied
targeting dissenting voices with arrests and extrajudicial killings.
Rusesabagina
became a public critic of Kagame and left Rwanda in 1996, first living
in Belgium and then the US. His arrest was a source of friction with the
US and others at a time when Rwanda's government has also been under
pressure over tensions with neighbouring Congo and Britain's plan to
deport asylum-seekers to the small east African nation.
Rights
activists and others had been urging Rwandan authorities to free him,
saying his health was failing. In October, the ailing Rusesabagina
signed a letter to Kagame that was posted on the Justice ministry's
website, saying that if he was granted pardon and released to live in
the US., he would hold no personal or political ambitions and "I will
leave questions regarding Rwandan politics behind me."
Last year, US secretary of state Antony Blinken met with Kagame in Rwanda and discussed the case.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists on Monday that Rusesabagina was in Doha, Qatar, and would be returning to the US.
Rusesabagina's plane touched down in Houston in the afternoon and the 68-year-old was to travel next to a military hospital in San Antonio, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning. The person said Rusesabagina was on the ground and in a car heading to reunite with his family.
"We're glad to have him back on U.S. soil & reunited with his family & friends who've long waited for this day to come," Sullivan wrote. "I'm grateful to those we worked closely with in the Rwandan Government to make this possible."
Rusesabagina, a US legal resident and Belgian citizen, was credited with sheltering more than 1,000 ethnic Tutsis at the hotel he managed during Rwanda's 1994 genocide, in which over 800,000 Tutsis and Hutus who tried to protect them were killed. He received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom for his efforts.
Vanished in Dubai
Rusesabagina disappeared in 2020 during a visit to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and appeared days later in Rwanda in handcuffs. His family alleged he was kidnapped and taken to Rwanda against his will to stand trial.
In 2021, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted in Rwanda on eight charges, including membership in a terrorist group, murder and abduction, following the widely criticized trial. Last week, Rwanda's government commuted his sentence after diplomatic intervention on his behalf by the United States.
Rusesabagina had been accused of supporting the armed wing of his opposition political platform, the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change. The armed group claimed some responsibility for attacks in 2018 and 2019 in southern Rwanda in which nine Rwandans died.
Rusesabagina testified at trial that he helped to form the armed group to assist refugees but said he never supported violence — and sought to distance himself from its deadly attacks.
Rusesabagina has asserted that his arrest was in response to his criticism of longtime President Paul Kagame over alleged human rights abuses. Kagame's government has repeatedly denied targeting dissenting voices with arrests and extrajudicial killings.
Rusesabagina became a public critic of Kagame and left Rwanda in 1996, first living in Belgium and then the US. His arrest was a source of friction with the US and others at a time when Rwanda's government has also been under pressure over tensions with neighbouring Congo and Britain's plan to deport asylum-seekers to the small east African nation.
Rights activists and others had been urging Rwandan authorities to free him, saying his health was failing. In October, the ailing Rusesabagina signed a letter to Kagame that was posted on the Justice ministry's website, saying that if he was granted pardon and released to live in the US., he would hold no personal or political ambitions and "I will leave questions regarding Rwandan politics behind me."
Last year, US secretary of state Antony Blinken met with Kagame in Rwanda and discussed the case.
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