Remember the Rwandan Genocide, Respect Human Rights in Rwanda Today
Rwandan Ambassador to the US, Mathilde Mukantabana
Why send a letter - and make a call - to the Rwandan Ambassador to the United States today?
This April marked the 27th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. Every year we honor those who were killed, but also call out the present oppression and human rights abuses in Rwanda.
Twenty-seven years ago an authoritarian regime in Rwanda and its Hutu Power supporters perpetrated a genocide against Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda.
While Paul Kagame’s rebel movement won the civil war and ended the genocide, they wanted us to believe they are the saviors of Rwanda. They are not. Rather Rwanda traded a Hutu authoritarian regime for a Tutsi dictatorship, a regime that puts down Hutus and Tutsis alike if they do not agree to work within the oppressive rules set up by President Kagame and his supporters. The benefits in Rwanda go to a tiny minority, and the majority suffers.
As the Rwandan saying goes, the dancers change, but the song remains the same. If we want to help Rwandans in the long run, we need to make the world aware of what is happening and press for real change. Write the Rwandan Ambassador to the United States today and ask her to stop the human rights abuses in Rwanda and to free Hotel Rwanda humanitarian Paul Rusesabagina.
Ambassador Mukantabana can be reached at 202 232 2882 ext 3 or via email at info@rwandaembassy.org. Visit their Facebook page. Send them a Tweet. You can also interact with the ambassador on her LinkedIn page.
The embassy address is 1714 New Hampshire NW, Washington, DC 20009
For More Information About Paul Rusesabagina and the Situation:
- To learn more about Paul Rusesabagina, visit the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation
- To read the American Bar Association pre-trial report, click here
- Foreign Policy published an article (January 23, 2021) click here
For More Information about President Paul Kagame:
- CNN's "America's disastrous love affair with Rwanda's Paul Kagame"
- The New York Time's "The Dark Underside of Rwanda’s Model Public Image"
- DW's "20 years under Rwanda's 'benevolent dictator' Paul Kagame"
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To:
Rwandan Ambassador to the US, Mathilde Mukantabana
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Ambassador Mukantabana,
I am writing to ask your government to free humanitarian Paul Rusesabagina. I am one of many people in the United States and the international community who are following his case and the mounting human rights abuses in Rwanda.
I acknowledge that your government has placed serious charges against Mr. Rusesabagina. That being said, there were so many legal problems surrounding his arrest and imprisonment that he should be freed. Paul was lured to Kigali in a way that the international community considers kidnapping. Your government has not followed the rule of law in so many ways that it is clear there will be no fair trial for Paul Rusesabagina.
Paul Rusesabagina was taken from Dubai against his will to Kigali. This amounts to an illegal rendition under international law. If the Rwandan government wanted a fair trial, they should have extradited him instead of kidnapping him. Paul Rusesabagina should be returned to Belgium or the United States, where the Rwandan government can send evidence against him if they have it and ask for a legal extradition.