A plea for Paul
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Time is running out for Paul Rusesabagina and for any hope we can claim we care about preventing/ending genocide
While we celebrated America’s Independence Day yesterday, Paul Rusesabagina spent his 676th day wrongfully detained in Rwanda. Since his kidnapping in August 2020, he has been denied his basic human and civil rights. The authorities in Kigali have kept his medicine, his lawyers, and his family from him this entire time. Moreover, he spent most of his first year in solitary confinement (considered torture by the United Nations) and since he was put in the general population, the other prisoners have been warned against talking to him. The only real conversations he has every week are the five-minute phone calls to his family.
Think about that. Paul’s voice is usually horse and weak from not using it. The family fears he has suffered a few strokes due to his high blood pressure. As we have been saying for months, time is running short. It is good news that the Biden Administration has ruled his detention is wrongful (that means this case is treated differently and with more urgency.)
Will you contact Congress for Paul Rusesabagina?
U.S. Representatives Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Young Kim (R-CA) introduced House Resolution 982 urging Rwandan President Paul Kagame to release Paul Rusesabagina immediately. It is vital that we all tell our U.S. representatives to co-sponsor this powerful, new Congressional resolution.
Summary of House Resolution 892:
- Calls on the Government of Rwanda to immediately release Paul Rusesabagina on humanitarian grounds and permit him to return safely to the United States;
- Calls on the Government of Rwanda to ensure Paul Rusesabagina receives access to appropriate, qualified medical professionals and all medical care necessary to guarantee his physical integrity and psychological well-being;
- Urges the United States Government in all interactions with the Government of Rwanda to raise the case of Paul Rusesabagina and to press for his immediate release on…