Paul Rusesabagina is a Rwandan human rights activist. He worked as the manager of the Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali, during a period in which it housed 1,268 Hutu and Tutsi refugees fleeing the Interahamwe militia during the Rwandan genocide. None of these refugees were hurt or killed during the attacks.
An account of Rusesabagina’s actions during the genocide was later depicted in the film Hotel Rwanda in 2004, in which he was portrayed by American actor Don Cheadle. The film has been the subject both of critical acclaim and controversy in Rwanda.
Profile Summary
| Full Name | Paul Rusesabagina |
| Gender | Male |
| Date of Birth | 15 June 1954 |
| Nationality | Rwandan |
| Occupation | Human Right Activist |
| Net Worth | $5 million |
Early Life, Education and Marital Life of Paul Rusesabagina
Rusesabagina was born on 15 June 1954. He was one of nine children born to a Hutu father, a respected community elder named Thomas Rupfure, and a Tutsi mother in Murama, Rwanda. Although stating that he grew up poor, in a “house … made of mud and sticks” and “without shoes”, Rusesabagina described his upbringing as “solidly middle class by the standards of Africa in the 1950s”. The young Rusesabagina sometimes had to sleep outside his house as his family provided shelter to refugees seeking shelter from clashes between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups.
Rusesabagina’s parents sent him to school in a town near Gitwe run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. By the age of 13, he was fluent in English and French, as well as his native Kinyarwanda.
Due to distance and his commitment to work, he and Esther legally separated in 1981. Rusesabagina was granted full custody of their three children: Diane, Lys, and Roger. In 1987, he was invited to a wedding where he met Tatiana, a nurse who lived in Ruhengeri. Tatiana and Paul married two years later, and she adopted his children. She gave birth twice, but only their son, Trésor, survived infancy. Rusesabagina’s father died in 1991, and his mother shortly after.
Career Path of Paul Rusesabagina
Paul Rusesabagina decided to become a minister by the end of his adolescence. He studied at the Faculty of Theology in Yaoundé. In Cameroon, he soon became disillusioned with the prospect of a career as a clergyman, deciding he wanted to live an ‘urban life’.
In December 1978, Rusesabagina moved to Kigali. While there, an acquaintance, Isaac Mulihano, invited Rusesabagina to apply for an opening to work at the Hôtel des Mille Collines. He was offered a position and was sent to Nairobi and then to Switzerland and Brussels to study hotel management.
As he rose through the ranks at the Hôtel des Mille Collines, his promotions earned him the resentment of some fellow Rwandans in the staff. Some took to calling him ‘muzungu’ – a Kinyarwandan word for ‘white man’. In 1992, Paul Rusesabagina was promoted to assistant general manager of the Diplomates Hotel, an affiliate of the Hôtel des Mille Collines.
Paul Rusesabagina Net Worth
Activist Paul Rusesabagina has an estimated net worth of $5 million. He is a proud owner of several properties in the United States.
Conclusion
Rusesabagina, who is a permanent resident of the United States who has not lived in Rwanda since an assassination attempt was made on him in 1996, had gone on a trip to Dubai shortly before being arrested. In a jailhouse interview with The New York Times, Rusesabagina stated that in Dubai, he boarded a GainJet charter jet that he thought was bound for Burundi, where he planned to speak at the invitation of a Christian pastor; instead, the plane took him to Kigali. In a February 2021, interview with Marc Lamont Hill on Al Jazeera, Rwandan Minister of Justice Johnston Busingye admitted that the Rwandan government had paid for the private jet that brought Rusesabagina to Kigali.
On 31 August 2020, Rusesabagina was kidnapped and taken to Kigali where he was arrested on charges of terrorism, arson, kidnap and “murder perpetrated against unarmed, innocent Rwandan civilians on Rwandan territory”. The charges refer to terrorist attacks that took place in the south of Rwanda, near the Burundi border, in 2018. At least 9 people were killed in these attacks, including two children.
In October 2020, the Rwandan Prosecution Authority announced that it would try Rusesabagina along with 16 alleged rebels. His trial was initially scheduled for the 26 January 2021, but was postponed due to ongoing complications with the COVID-19 situation in Kigali. His trial, alongside 20 co-defendants, began on 17 February 2021. Rusesabagina told the court that he did not have Rwandan citizenship, so he could not face trial in Rwanda. Another defendant, FLN spokesperson Callixte Nsabimana, seemed to be shocked by these comments, testifying that Rusesabagina “had ambitions to become the president of Rwanda. Now how do you have such ambitions when you’re not Rwandan? We waged war on Rwanda, and failed and were captured. It is embarrassing for him to now claim that he is not Rwandan.”
Following a hearing held on 12 March 2021, Rusesabagina stated his intention to no longer engage in the court process due to his belief that justice would not be achieved and accusing the court of not respecting his rights to a fair trial. Rusesabagina did not attend subsequent hearings, with the presiding judge Antoine Muhima ruling that the trial would continue. In July 2021, the court announced that the verdict of the trial would be promulgated on 20 August 2021.
On 20 September 2021, he was found guilty of terrorism-related charges. During the court proceeding, he denounced President Paul Kagame and reported that he had been abducted from exile to stand trial in Rwanda. Following his conviction, Rusesabagina was given a 25-year prison sentence. Human rights advocates stated that they believed the charges were politically motivated due to Rusesabagina’s criticism of Kagame. On 24 January 2022, prosecutors in the Kigali court sought life imprisonment for Rusesabagina in the trial.
