Truth and Reconciliation for the Congo, Rwanda and the Great Lakes Region of Africa


Sep 1st, 2009 9:37 AM EST
By Paul Rusesabagina

Check out this excellent blog post from Mr. Paul Rusesabagina who was portrayed in the film “Hotel Rwanda”:

More than 800,000 men, women and children were killed in the horrific Rwandan genocide of 1994 – including many of my friends and family members.

Perhaps you saw the film Hotel Rwanda, in which actor Don Cheadle portrayed me. Cheadle, Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix, Sophie Okonedo and their fellow cast members highlighted the challenges my family and I faced working to save approximately 1,200 Hutus and Tutsis from genocidal killers who surrounded the hotel I managed in Kigali.

Sadly, the actions that led to the Rwandan genocide have never been fully revealed. The ethnic and political conflicts that preceded the genocide continue to this day and have spilled over Rwanda’s borders. This means that justice has not been done for victims or survivors. It also means that related violence is continuing in nations bordering Rwanda such as the Congo, where 5 million have now died.

You can help change this. Click here to send a free message asking international leaders to support the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation’s call for an internationally administered Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, which includes Rwanda, the Congo, Burundi and Uganda.

This is the only way to truly heal the wounds left by the genocide and bring justice to victims and survivors from all backgrounds.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, both Nobel Peace Prize winners, established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission on apartheid era crimes in South Africa. This helped to bring more closure to that painful, violent period of their nation’s history. Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in other nations have laid the important groundwork for peace.

Is justice for genocide survivors and victims worth a minute of your time? If so, please click here to send a free, instant message to world leaders in support of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

As someone who witnessed the barbarity of the Rwanda killings firsthand, I urge you from the bottom of my heart to join our efforts to support true democracy and ensure that genocide never happens again. Thank you so much for your support.

Sincerely,

Paul Rusesabagina, Founder of Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation

TAGS: ONE, Rwanda

 

  1. Sauveursays: Sep 2nd, 2009 2:04 PM EST

    September 2, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    I and many other genocide survivors support Paul Rusesabagina’s efforts for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Truth must be told If there were 100 persons like him 120,000 people would have been saved! He risked his life to save us when Kagame and the Interahamwe were busy killing and asking the international community not to intervene to stop the massacres!

    Shame on all of them!

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