For Immediate Release: September 28, 2020
Contact: Kitty Kurth
Phone: 312-617-7288
Email: kittykurth@me.com
CHICAGO – Sep. 28, 2020 – While humanitarian and U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Paul Rusesabagina remains in a Kigali jail after being kidnapped by the Rwandan government and detained under false charges, the country’s authoritarian President Paul Kagame is reportedly traveling to New York City this week. Paul’s family, human rights organizations and the international community have questions that the media should ask Kagame:
• Rwanda claimed that there was international cooperation to bring Paul to
Rwanda, and one of your officials boasted to the media that both Belgium and
the U.S. congratulated Rwanda on the operation that illegally brought Paul to
Rwanda. How do you explain both the Belgian military intelligence and the CIA,
which seldom comments, say that your assertion is not true?
• You claim that Paul Rusesabagina came to Rwanda on his own, but also that the
plot to get him to Rwanda worked “flawlessly.” Which is it? Was he lured there
against his will?
• Why was Paul detained and held bound for three days on his arrival?
• You claim Paul will receive a fair trial. Why has Paul not been allowed to meet
with the legal team that his family has secured? Why are the Rwandan people
paying for his defense? How is a fair trial possible if he was brought to Rwanda
illegally?
• Why is Paul only being allowed access to the lawyers that your government
chose for him? Why is your government preventing him from even being told that
his family has other lawyers ready to go? The attorney who the family wants to
represent him has been turned away multiple times, why?
• Why won’t you allow the Red Cross to visit and examine Paul in jail?
• From looking at pictures, Paul Rusesabagina’s health has obviously been
deteriorating. This is in keeping with other stories of terrible treatment of
prisoners in Rwandan jails/prisons. What will you do to ensure Paul’s health? Will
you allow an independent doctor approved by his family to visit Paul?
• You flew to the U.S. via private charter service GainJet, the same company that
illegally re-routed Paul’s scheduled flight out of Dubai to bring him to Rwanda.
Who booked that flight? Who paid for that flight?
• You claim that the FLN is a rebel group operating in the Congo and Burundi. The
FLN claims that it is a self-defense organization to stop attacks against civilians
in the Congo by the Rwandan government and rebel groups that you support.
Which is true? Is there independent evidence to support your story that can be
confirmed by independent observers?
#FreeRusesabagina
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