Front Burner - From Hotel Rwanda to a Kigali prison

Episode Date: September 24, 2021

Hotelier Paul Rusesabagina once won the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, for protecting Tutsis from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. This week, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for terrorism charges. What happened?

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Jamie Poisson. In the 1990s, the manager of one of Rwanda's most luxurious hotels found himself in a position he never would have expected, protecting 1,200 refugees from the anti-Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.

His name's Paul Rosasabagina. This is a four-star hotel, not a refugee camp. I have no means to protect these people. And if this at all sounds like something you'd see in a movie, well, Hollywood thought so too. We need to help one another. That is the only thing that is keeping us alive. After the war, he was played by Don Cheadle in the 2004 film

Hotel Rwanda. But when the house lights turned on and people streamed out of the theater, Paul Rosessa-Begina's story kept going. This week, that story took a sharp turn. The court finds that they should be found guilty for being part of this terror group, MRCD, FLN. A Rwandan court sentenced Rosasa Bagina to 25 years in prison on terrorism-related charges. His supporters say this proves just how far President Paul Kagame is willing to go to silence his critics, a reach that extends right here into Canada. That's what journalist Anjan Sundaram is breaking down with me today. He wrote a book about Rwanda called Bad News, Last Journalists in a Dictatorship.

Hi Anjan, thank you so much for making the time to speak with me today. Hi Jamie, pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me. Before we get into anything else, I think we should very quickly remind our listeners of the scene in Rwanda in the 1990s. It was a very dark time. And can you remind us about the genocide that was this incredibly dark chapter of Rwandan history? Sure. Yes. So for many people, you know, Rwanda, they began to know of Rwandan history? Sure, yes. So for many people, Rwanda, they began to know of Rwanda during the genocide in 1994. It was incredibly brutal.

Around a million people were killed, were estimated to be killed in less than 100 days. And that's a rate of killing that's even faster than the Nazis managed in World War II. And so it was incredibly violent, brutal time. The main targets of the genocide were Rwanda's minority Tutsi population. And the scenes were horrific.

There were bodies on the street. And what sort of distinguished this genocide was that it was one of the first in the 20th century to be televised. And so news channels were showing bodies on the street and sort of militias going after people. on the street and sort of, you know, militias going after people. There's chaos and confusion in the African state of Rwanda tonight and blood in the streets.

The crisis was ignited when an airplane carrying the president of Rwanda and the president of neighboring Burundi was shot down. Both men died. The leaders were returning from regional peace talks taking place in Tanzania. In a statement broadcast on state radio, the Rwandan government appealed for calm. If you stated that all hell's breaking loose in Kigali, that would be a reasonably fair statement. During the night, mostly the presidential guard have gone on a rampage, be it killing, destroying, massacring, mutilating. And yet the world did very little to intervene and to stop this genocide. And so that double tragedy, I think, was what brought Rwanda to the forefront of many people's minds.

And I would say that, you know, this genocide was preceded by four years of war. Rwanda was ruled by a Hutu dictatorship. And many Tutsis grew up in exile, one of them being Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda now. He grew up in exile, one of them being Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda now. He grew up in exile in Uganda. In the late 1980s, Tutsi refugees in Uganda, supported by some moderate Hutus, formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front, the RPF, led by Paul Kagame, the current president of Rwanda. Their aim was to overthrow the Hutu president, Juvenal Habiarimana, and secure the right to return to their homeland. Yeah, and I want to come back to Kagame in just a moment. But first, let's talk about Paul Rusesabagina for a moment. He was born to a Hutu father and a Tutsi mother. Some listening might remember his story, as he was played by Don Cheadle, as I mentioned, in Hotel Rwanda.

He got the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush. But since his days portrayed in the film, where did his life go after that? He got into politics, right? He fled Rwanda just after that. He became a critic of the government of Paul Kagame and founded an opposition party. Right. So Paul Rufuso Baguino a heroic figure from that genocide. He was, as you said, the manager of a luxurious hotel. And he played a part a bit like Schindler during the Holocaust. He protected, as a Hutu, he protected many Tutsis from the Hutu militias. And so he saved many people's lives.

And that became this inspirational story in Hotel Rwanda. When the movie was released, when Hotel Rwanda was released, Paul Kagame welcomed the movie and invited the director of Hotel Rwanda to Kigali, to Rwandan capital, for a premiere. And Kagame was extremely happy. But then, over the years, Rusesabagina became a critic of Paul Kagame's dictatorship. And that's when things started to turn sour. And Paul Kagame began to criticize the film, say the film was all based on lies, that Paul Rusesabagina had in fact extorted money from hotel guests and

that he was a fraud. And Paul Rusesabagina had become increasingly vocal, a critic of Paul Kagame of the dictatorship in Rwanda and the abuses of power. And can you take me through some of what Paul Rusabagina has been saying about Paul Kagame in the last several years? You know, essentially, like, why is he such a target for the president? He's been saying what many academics have been saying for many years, essentially that Paul Kagame's rule has descended into a brutal and repressive dictatorship where people cannot criticize the president. What the president says is the truth.

You know, if Pokagame says that the country is growing at 8% and that poverty is reducing, then that's what's happening. And all of these things have been proven to various degrees to be false, and yet they're taken and accepted and reported in newspapers and radios in Rwanda as the truth simply because the dictator says so. Rusesabagina has been criticizing this, and so Paul Rusesabagina presents a very credible political challenge to Paul Kagame for the presidency. And so this is what makes Paul Rusesabagina particularly dangerous. Rusesabagina also has a lot of friends abroad in Hollywood,

in the U.S. government. He's very respected. And so that's why Paul Kagame needed to make sure that he neutralized the threat from Paul Rusesabagina. I do understand, if we could touch on very briefly, that Rusesabagina has also been a proponent of, if that's a fair word, of some more controversial theories around the Rwandan genocide. And I wonder if you could just talk to me

a little bit about that. Sure. So the two important things to note about the genocide or important for the narrative of the genocide, as we know today, are the genocide was triggered by a plane crash, by a shooting down of a plane in Rwanda, in Kigali, that was carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi. This was in April 1994. And literally the day after this shooting down of this plane, the genocide began. And there's credible evidence that Pol Kagame's forces were responsible for that shooting down.

The fact is that in Rwanda today, you cannot research this. There's also credible evidence, as documented by UN researchers and journalists who've published books recently, including a Canadian journalist called Judy Rever. There's credible research to show that Pol Kagame was himself responsible for extensive killings, possibly of Hutus. A UN report in Congo classified some of Pol Kagame's killings as possible acts of genocide. It has been a very good week, I think, for the tribunal. Hassan Boubakar Jalloh has only been chief prosecutor at the tribunal for a few months.

But already, the pressure is on him to have the tribunal look at war crimes that the RPF might have committed under Kagame's leadership. The mandate of the tribunal includes, particularly the prosecutor, the investigation and the prosecution of all offenses committed in Rwanda by either side, by whosoever it is. And that includes alleged offenses, offenses allegedly committed by members of the RPF. And yet in Rwanda today, you cannot research any of this. You can't even mention it. And so Paul Ruses, a beginner, has mentioned some of these theories, and Pol Kagame, the president of Rwanda, finds these extremely, extremely infuriating.

And so he takes them as personal attacks. The genocide is very, very central to Pol Kagame's hold on power. Pol Kagame has cast himself as the savior of Rwanda from the genocide, the man who ended the genocide. And so anybody who threatens this narrative of him as a savior is immediately a target. And why, though, are these claims, I understand why they're so controversial and infuriating for Kagame, but why are they controversial elsewhere? So General Romeo Dallaire, the United Nations commander in Rwanda, for example, has called such claims about the double genocide from people like Rusevagina a willful deception. about the double genocide from people like Rousseff Aguina, a willful deception.

He's saying that these are duped academics, journalists, and other experts who continue to propagate self-serving lies onto the victims, aiming to wreak damage as repugnant as that of the earliest colonialists. Yeah, so I think there's good reason for people to be wary, right? I think genocides throughout history have been denied often and so they've been you know people the perpetrators particularly have tried to push them under the carpet you know deny the evidence hide the evidence that said these allegations should be followed up and should be researched properly unfortunately in rwanda today

you cannot i think rwanda is particularly polarizing as well. Many of the people like General Romeo Dallaire, whom you mentioned, who were there in Rwanda during the genocide and saw the world just take no action to stop the genocide, were understandably horrified. And I think since then, unfortunately, have taken a biased view that is pro-President Paul Kagame. They're very unwilling to criticize President Paul Kagame because they see him as the man who stopped the genocide. He won that war and his victory ended the genocide. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix. I've been talking about money for 20 years.

I've talked to millions of people, and I have some startling numbers to share with you. people and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own household income? That's not a typo, 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Cops. And so let's talk about Rusesabagina's arrest now. So, you know, as you mentioned, in 2020, it was very dramatic. He gets on this plane to Burundi to deliver a talk on human rights, and he ends up landing in the capital of Rwanda, Kigali.

And then he's immediately arrested and charged with terrorism-related offenses. And why? Like, what crimes does the Rwandan government say he committed? Is it everything that he's been saying in opposition to Kagame? Is it something else? Prosecutors say he's behind attacks in Rwanda that happened in 2018. An armed opposition group called the FLN claimed responsibility. Recesser Beginner previously told the court he supported the group,

but only in a diplomatic role. What the reality and what the courts in Rwanda say are two separate things. I mean, critics of Kagame have been accused of sexual abuse, have been accused of corruption, you know, a host of offenses. And that, you know, may or may not have any bearing in truth. Paul Roussissa-Bagina has for a long time criticized Paul Kagame. And so I think what Paul Kagame did here was conduct a very organized and premeditated rendition of Rusesabagina by luring him to that region. And then the former Rwandan Minister of Justice, went on Al Jazeera to admit that that plane and the agent

who lied to Paul Rusesabagina were paid for by the Rwandan government. So the Rwandan government has taken responsibility for lying to Rusesabagina and getting him, against his will, to Rwanda. to Rwanda. The other thing to understand is that Paul Kagame, being a dictator in Rwanda, he has not allowed any peaceful democratic opposition to his rule. A string of political opponents you have now Christopher Kayumba who is on hunger strike. He's accused of sexual abuse and he recently formed a political party that challenged Paul Kagame. You have Diane Riguara who in the last election in 2017 challenged Paul Kagame and she had misogynistic photographs of her circulate on Rwandan social media. misogynistic photographs of her circulate on Rwandan social media. A string of people, Rwandans, very brave Rwandans,

have tried to challenge Pokagame peacefully, politically, but they end up facing situations like this. They end up being arrested, having misogynistic statements against them, accusations taken to court, sometimes end up in prison. And so many groups, Rwandan groups, who would like to see a change in Rwanda, a change away from dictatorship, have taken up arms. And there are peaceful groups, there are armed groups, all of which are challenging Kagame, like, you know, happens in any dictatorship. You have armed groups that form, that try to depose the dictator through military means because peaceful means have failed. And Paul Rosessa Bagheena formed a political party to challenge Paul Kagame and has gone on the record

saying that he, you know, supported even, he condoned some of the military groups that were challenging Paul Kagame as well. He did say at his pre-trial hearing, worth noting, that Paul Rosasso-Veguina said that, you know, while he acknowledged he backed this armed wing of a political party, his goal wasn't terrorism. You know, now he's going to be sentenced to 25 years in prison. And I'm assuming that that doesn't surprise you, right? No, I think to anyone, any serious observer of Rwanda, it's not a surprising sentence. Once you're in a Rwandan court and you're accused essentially of opposing or criticizing President Boko Gane, it's pretty clear that you're going to stay in prison for some time or end up dead.

You know, and before we go today, I do want to spend a little bit of time talking about transnational repression here. So what's happening outside the borders of Rwanda. Because we have heard from critics, including those who live in Canada, about what's happening to them here. So for example, we heard from David Himbara, Canadian economist. For years, he says he's dodged surveillance and threats from Rwanda, because he criticizes the government that he used to work for. The first time I went to police, Toronto police, he says, definitely do not get involved in Rwandan community affairs. Because they said, they know, he says, the likelihood of someone coming

from Rwanda to shoot you is zero. But the likelihood of someone putting something in your glass of water or juice at a wedding or at a party, that is very high. So avoid that. Other Rwandans have shown up to classes that he was lecturing at. A friend of his, once told by Rwandan officials, was once told by Rwandan officials to was once told by Rwandan officials to find a way to shut him up. Even families are split in the middle. Some members of my family blame me for being outspoken.

They think that I'm the one who has put them into trouble. And so, you know, this does sound like a pretty resource-intensive campaign with global sort of tentacles, right? And how does the Rwandan government keep people outside the country in line as well? that Canadian citizens are being silenced inside Canada, are not able to exercise their fundamental right, free speech. The Rwandan government conducts these surveillance operations through their embassies, surveillance and intimidation.

The Rwandan government has sort of... It's common knowledge among those of us who work in circles that criticize Pol Kagame that our phones have been hacked, our phones have been tapped. I've had to sort of reset my phone. counterterrorism sent armed guards to my talk because they you know judged that there was a serious threat against me from the Rwandan government and Scotland Yard put me on a counterterrorism hotline where my landline I just had to dial a number and I didn't even have to explain they said just dial the number and we'll come and get you because we know exactly the threats that you face and who is threatening you, the Rwandan government.

We know their methods. And so you don't even have to explain anything on the phone. Just call this number and we'll come and get you. And I'm so sorry that you're going through this. It sounds so stressful and awful. And I wonder if you think the international community and Canada is doing enough to protect the people that live in their borders? Absolutely not. I don't think so. When I was in Canada to release my book,

I did write to the Canadian security services, the police, and I got no response. Whereas in New York and London, the security services took the threat against me very seriously. I think in Canada, for whatever reason, they underestimate the threat that Kagame poses to their citizens. And many Canadians have, in fact, faced threats. And unfortunately, Canada lends legitimacy to Paul Kagame and to the Rwandan government and makes it more difficult to counter the dictatorship, that is, the repressive dictatorship that is currently present there.

Okay. And thank you so much for this. This was really, really interesting. I learned a lot. It feels really important. So thank you very much for being here. Thank you, Jamie, for having me. Appreciate it. All right, so before we go today, we did ask Global Affairs Canada and the Department of Justice what they were doing about the phenomenon of transnational repression. They referred us to Public Safety Canada, who did not reply by our deadline. That is all for today. FrontBurner is brought to you

by CBC News and CBC Podcasts. The show is produced this week by Imogen Burchard, Simi Bassey, Katie Toth, Ali Janes, and Derek Vanderwyk. Our sound design was by Matt Cameron, Austin Pomeroy, and Jennifer Rowley. Our music is by Joseph Chabison of Boombox Sound. The executive producer of FrontBurner is Nick McKay-Blocos. And I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks so much for listening, and we'll talk to you on Monday. Thank you.