1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Israel and the crisis in the Middle EastGerman coalition collapseUS election
PoliticsRwanda

'Hotel Rwanda' hero returns to US after release from prison

Published March 30, 2023last updated March 30, 2023

Paul Rusesabagina, whose efforts to save people during the 1994 genocide inspired the Hollywood film "Hotel Rwanda," has arrived in the US following his release from a Rwandan prison.

https://p.dw.com/p/4PTFz
Paul Rusesabagina arrives at a court in Kigali, Rwanda
In Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina was sentenced to 25 years imprisonmentImage: Cyril Ndegeya/Xinhua/IMAGO

The man who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda," Paul Rusesabagina, arrived in the United States on Wednesday after being released from a prison in Rwanda last week, the White House said.

"I'm pleased to welcome Paul Rusesabagina back to the United States. We're glad to have him back on US soil & reunited with his family & friends who've long waited for this day to come," US national security adviser Jake Sullivan tweeted.

US President Joe Biden had earlier welcomed Rusesabagina's release, calling it a "happy outcome."

"Paul's family is eager to welcome him back to the United States, and I share their joy at today's good news," he said in a statement on Saturday.

After more than 900 days behind bars, Rusesabagina was released Saturday under an accord, mediated by Qatar, between the US government and Rwanda, which saw the Kigali government commute his 25-year sentence on terrorism charges.

Vocal critic of Kagame

The 68-year-old Rusesabagina, who is also a Belgian citizen and permanent resident of the United States, has lived in exile in San Antonio, Texas, for over a decade.

A vocal critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Rusesabagina disappeared in 2020 during a visit to Dubai in the  United Arab Emirates and appeared days later in Rwanda in handcuffs. His family alleged he was kidnapped and taken to Rwanda against his will to stand trial.

In September 2021, he was sentenced to 25 years over his ties to a group opposed to Kagame that has an armed wing. During his trial, Rusesabagina acknowledged having a leadership role in an opposition group, but he denied responsibility for attacks carried out in Rwanda by its armed wing.

Reset of US-Rwanda relations

Washington's historically close ties with Rwanda had been strained by Rusesabagina's detention and by US allegations, denied by Kigali, that Rwanda has sent troops into neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo and supports rebels there.

Rwanda has said that Rusesabagina's release is the result of a shared desire to reset the US-Rwanda relationship.

Rusesabagina was feted around the world after being played by actor Don Cheadle in the 2004 film "Hotel Rwanda" which portrayed him as a hero who risked his life to shelter hundreds of people as manager of a luxury hotel during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

dh/sms (Reuters, AFP, AP)