Rusesabagina Challenges the UN to take the Next Steps to End the Culture of Impunity in Rwanda

Paul Rusesabagina, Founder and President of the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation (HRRF), today challenged the United Nations to take the next logical steps after the release last week of the “Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1993-2003, The Report of the Mapping Exercise.” He asked the UN to take next steps to investigate the crimes that the Rwandan Government has perpetrated within Rwanda and to pursue legal action on the charges outlined in the report.

Rusesabagina said “During the Rwandan Genocide, as I struggled day after day to save the 1,268 people under my watch at the Mille Colline Hotel in Kigali, I often thought the UN had stopped caring about the people of Rwanda. But, the release of this report, and, the idea that the world will now be better informed about the realities in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, makes me believe that the UN has not completely forgotten about my fellow Rwandans.”

“Now, the UN, and the International community, must continue to push Rwanda and the countries of the Great Lakes region and end the culture of impunity once and for all,” said Rusesabagina. “I most strongly urge the United Nations to pursue the charges outlined in the report until justice is served for the victims.”

In addition to pursuing the Court cases, the HRRF also asks the United Nations to look at not only the crimes that have take place inside the Congo, but also those crimes that the Rwandan Government has committed with in Rwanda.

The report is an important first step for the more than 5 million innocent victims of murder, rape, and crimes against humanity in the Congo. The Rwandan government and others in the region are shown to have used the Congo as a killing field while they plundered the natural resources to fuel this conflict and line their pockets.

"A full and independent international investigation is needed for all of these allegations. It is essential that the Rwandan government and others involved not be allowed to use the threat of withdrawing its peace keepers, or any other political motives, as an excuse to halt the important justice process that is only beginning with this report,” Rusesabagina said.

Rusesabagina urges the use of the full power of the United Nations to look in to the atrocities, war crimes and crimes against humanity that the Rwandan government has perpetrated against innocents throughout the region, including inside the country of Rwanda. "The Congolese government has already noted that it may not have the ability to pursue all of these charges, and thus international action to pursue justice for the victims is clearly needed."

He concluded, “This UN mapping report highlights the need for a truth, justice and reconciliation process that can bring lasting peace to the region. We hope that the United Nations and the international community will stand with the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation as we push for the next steps and work to end the cycle of impunity in the region.”