Lantos Foundation Joins Rusesabagina Family at British House of Lords

Media contact:

Chelsea Hedquist

+1 603.229.2017

chelsea@lantosfoundation.org

Lantos Foundation Joins Rusesabagina Family at British House of Lords to Advocate for Magnitsky Sanctions against Rwandan Officials Involved in Kidnapping of Hotel Rwanda Hero

December 2, 2021 – Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice, appeared with the daughters of Paul Rusesabagina, the hero of Hotel Rwanda currently languishing in a Kigali prison, last week during a meeting at the British House of Lords. The purpose of the meeting, which included a distinguished list of peers, members of British Parliament and high-level representatives from civil society, was to discuss the illegal rendition and arbitrary detention of Paul Rusesabagina, as well as ongoing human rights abuses and violations of his legal rights throughout his more than 450 days of imprisonment.  

Specifically, the meeting participants discussed the potential for using Magnitsky-style sanctions against Rwandan government officials involved in the kidnapping and mistreatment of Mr. Rusesabagina. The Lantos Foundation filed a Magnitsky submission in May 2021, urging the U.S. Departments of State and Treasury to sanction then-Justice Minister Johnston Busingye and head of the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) Colonel Jeannot Ruhunga. Both individuals have publicly admitted their involvement in the kidnapping and illegal detention of Mr. Rusesabagina. The Lantos Foundation filing requested that the United States apply Magnitsky sanctions – targeted sanctions that can freeze U.S.-based assets and enact visa bans in the case of human rights violations and corruption – against Mr. Busingye and Mr. Ruhunga. 

The U.S. has not yet taken public action to sanction the Rwandan officials named in the Lantos Foundation’s filing, but the question of whether to sanction Mr. Busingye is particularly relevant to the United Kingdom. Rwandan President Paul Kagame abruptly relieved Mr. Busingye of his duties as Justice Minister earlier this year and named him as Rwanda’s high commissioner, or ambassador, to the United Kingdom. At the time, the Lantos Foundation urged the U.K. Government not to accept Mr. Busingye’s credentials and instead to apply Magnitsky sanctions for his clear role in the human rights abuses against Mr. Rusesabagina.  

Three of Paul Rusesabagina’s daughters spoke before the high-level delegation at the House of Lords on Thursday, November 25, to advocate for the United Kingdom to take stronger action to pressure the Rwandan government to release their father. The briefing was chaired by Baroness Helena Kennedy, QC, and was attended by members of both the House of Lords and the British Parliament, including the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Magnitsky Sanctions, Mr. Chris Bryant MP, and representatives from REDRESS. Bill Browder, head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign and the 2019 Lantos Human Rights Prize laureate, also spoke at the meeting.

Meeting participants (l to r) Lys Rusesabagina (daughter of Paul Rusesabagina), human rights attorney Kate Gibson, Carine Kanimba (daughter), Baroness Helena Kennedy, QC, Bill Browder, Anaîse Kanimba (daughter), media personality Paul Blezard, Lord Daniel Brennan, QC. 

In addition to discussing Magnitsky sanctions, the meeting also addressed whether the actions taken by the Rwandan government against Mr. Rusesabagina are incompatible with the values of Commonwealth. As the newest member of the Commonwealth Group (joined in 2009), Rwanda has committed to upholding a wide variety of human rights and protections for all citizens, including those who disagree with the government. Mr. Rusesabagina is one of numerous critics, dissidents and political prisoners who have been arrested, tortured or even killed for the exercise of what is clearly considered free speech in other countries of the Commonwealth and in democracies around the world. The conduct of the Rwandan government in this regard has raised the interest and concern of many in the United Kingdom, particularly with Rwanda due to host the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). 

Background: Paul Rusesabagina, the humanitarian hero whose story was depicted in the film Hotel Rwanda, received the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 and was honored in 2011 with the Lantos Human Rights Prize. In late August 2020, he was kidnapped and flown against his will to Kigali, Rwanda. He was imprisoned, tortured and forced to undergo a sham trial that ended in October 2021 with a guilty verdict, at which time he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. A variety of legal organizations, human rights groups and government officials from around the world have decried the illegal rendition and trial, noting that Mr. Rusesabagina’s rights have been violated at virtually every stage. As a 67-year-old man with serious health conditions, his family and other supporters have implored the Rwandan government to release him immediately on humanitarian grounds.

Videos from the meeting in support of Paul Rusesabagina:

Baroness Kennedy, QC

Bill Browder   

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About the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice: The Lantos Foundation was established in 2008 to carry forward the legacy of Congressman Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress and a leading human rights champion. The Foundation works with a range of partners and often in cooperation with the U.S. Government on issues that span the globe. The Foundation’s key areas of focus include human rights issues related to religious freedom, rule of law, internet freedom and activist art. The Foundation also administers the Lantos Congressional Fellows Program, supports human rights advocates, activists and artists through its Front Line Fund grant program, and awards the annual Lantos Human Rights Prize to honor and bring attention to heroes of the human rights movement. Past recipients of the Prize include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Professor Elie Wiesel, the real-life hero of Hotel Rwanda Paul Rusesabagina, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Iraqi Parliamentarian Vian Dakhil, Hong Kong Democracy activist Joshua Wong, Bill Browder, the driving force behind the global Magnitsky movement, among others.

Lantos Foundation Supports "Man of the Year" Documentary

Media contact:

Chelsea Hedquist

+1 603.229.2017

chelsea@lantosfoundation.org 

Lantos Foundation Supports Man of the Year Documentary, Exposing Dark Truth Behind Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s Propaganda 

October 4, 2021 – The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice today announced its financial support for a forthcoming documentary in the early stages of production – Man of the Year, a first-of-its-kind film that will take a deep and unfiltered look at the truth behind the lies of Rwanda’s brutal dictatorship.

For more than two decades since Rwanda’s tragic genocide, President Paul Kagame has manipulated and bent the world’s most powerful people and organizations to his will, successfully getting them to adopt his false narrative and simultaneously turn a blind eye to his ruthless repression. Man of the Year follows survivors of the genocide and activists who courageously risk their lives to expose the deadly workings of the Rwandan regime and the disinformation campaign orchestrated by Kagame and his Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). 

“Paul Kagame is a complex figure who has had some notable achievements, but his descent into brutal dictatorship has been ignored for too long,” said Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation. “The time has come to expose the dark side of the ‘darling dictator’, and Man of the Year promises to do just that. I am so pleased that the Lantos Foundation can play a part in supporting this worthy project, as I truly believe it has the potential to break through Kagame’s propaganda machine and make it impossible for the world to continue to ignore his regime’s human rights abuses.”

Man of the Year is poised to be a tour-de-force, combining the best elements of investigative journalism and documentary filmmaking. With never-before-seen footage from inside Rwanda, including of Rwandan human rights activists shortly before their arrests, and exclusive access to former ruling RPF officials and United Nations documents, the filmmakers expose the machine that turned a one-sided narrative into official dogma. They demonstrate how journalists, academics, and well-meaning global philanthropists became accidental propagandists for Kagame’s regime, and they show the devastating consequences for those who dared to speak out – and have been silenced. 

Man of the Year is directed by Benedict Moran, an award-winning filmmaker who has directed, reported and produced for major global broadcasters and publications in dozens of countries.

As part of the Lantos Foundation’s support, Man of the Year received financial assistance through the Front Line Fund grant program, which was created to assist brave individuals and organizations in their fight against injustices around the world. The Foundation’s Front Line Fund has made more than 150 small grants to individuals and organizations located across the globe, from the United States to Canada, Germany, India, China, Bangladesh, the Middle East and more. In keeping with the Foundation’s focus on “Activist Artists”, the Foundation supports select film and book projects through the Front Line Fund, as well as other human rights-related art initiatives that aim to shine a spotlight on major human rights challenges and expose human rights abusers. 

For more information about Man of the Year, please visit: manoftheyear.film

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About the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice: The Lantos Foundation was established in 2008 to carry forward the legacy of Congressman Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress and a leading human rights champion. The Foundation works with a range of partners and often in cooperation with the U.S. Government on issues that span the globe. The Foundation’s key areas of focus include human rights issues related to religious freedom, rule of law, internet freedom and activist art. The Foundation also administers the Lantos Congressional Fellows Program, supports human rights advocates, activists and artists through its Front Line Fund grant program, and awards the annual Lantos Human Rights Prize to honor and bring attention to heroes of the human rights movement. Past recipients of the Prize include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Professor Elie Wiesel, the real-life hero of Hotel Rwanda Paul Rusesabagina, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Iraqi Parliamentarian Vian Dakhil, Hong Kong Democracy activist Joshua Wong, Bill Browder, the driving force behind the global Magnitsky movement, among others.

Lantos Foundation Calls on U.K. Foreign Ministry to Reject Credentials of Newly Appointed Rwandan Ambassador

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media contact:

Chelsea Hedquist

+1 603.229.2017

chelsea@lantosfoundation.org

Lantos Foundation Calls on U.K. Foreign Ministry to Reject Credentials of Newly Appointed Rwandan Ambassador

U.K. Government instead urged to investigate appointee’s human rights violations and impose Magnitsky-style sanctions

September 9, 2021 – The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice today called upon the U.K. Foreign Ministry to reject the credentials of the newly appointed Rwandan Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Johnston Busingye, and to instead carefully investigate human rights violations committed by him, which could result in the imposition of Magnitsky-style sanctions.

Lantos Foundation President Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett has written directly to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, encouraging him to reject the credentials of Mr. Busingye based on the evidence that he played a key role in the extraordinary rendition and kidnapping of Paul Rusesabagina, the real-life hero depicted in the film Hotel Rwanda, in late August 2020. At the time of Mr. Rusesabagina’s kidnapping and subsequent arrest, Mr. Busingye served as Rwanda’s Minister of Justice, the agency which has overseen Rusesabagina’s capture, imprisonment and subsequent sham trial. Then-Minister Busingye admitted during a televised interview on Al Jazeera in February 2021 that the Rwandan government had paid for the plane that transported Mr. Rusesabagina, against his will and without his knowledge, to Kigali. Mr. Busingye’s own statements make his complicity in the kidnapping of Mr. Rusesabagina crystal clear.

In light of the clear evidence of Mr. Busingye’s involvement in the kidnapping, the Lantos Foundation filed a formal submission to the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Treasury in May 2021, recommending Global Magnitsky sanctions against Mr. Busingye and another high-ranking official from the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB). The submission made the case that these men played a significant role in grave human rights violations for which they should be held accountable. This submission was simultaneously transmitted to authorities in the U.K. for consideration. Neither country has taken action to impose sanctions, to date.

On September 1, 2021, Rwandan President Paul Kagame unceremoniously dismissed Mr. Busingye from his role as Minister of Justice. He gave no reason and has not announced a replacement to lead the Ministry of Justice. He did, however, appoint Mr. Busingye as Rwanda’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom – effectively removing him from the country just weeks before a verdict is expected in the sham trial against Mr. Rusesabagina, which has been underway for nearly seven months.

“President Paul Kagame may believe that by sending Johnston Busingye to London, he can divert the focus from the former Justice Minister’s shameful actions and the way he brazenly violated the basic human rights of a humanitarian hero,” said Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett. “But nations who respect human rights cannot allow Kagame to try and sweep these violations under the rug by simply assigning Mr. Busingye elsewhere. We call upon Foreign Secretary Raab and the British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office to refuse to legitimize Mr. Busingye by accepting his credentials as the Rwandan Ambassador to the Court of St. James. Furthermore, the British Government should seriously and thoroughly investigate the circumstances of Mr. Rusesabagina’s kidnapping and Mr. Busingye’s involvement in these events. If they find the case that we have submitted compelling, and I truly believe they will, it is imperative that they immediately consider Magnitsky-style sanctions against Mr. Busingye and his accomplices.”

Mr. Rusesabagina, a Belgian citizen and U.S. Permanent Resident, has been an outspoken critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who human rights organizations, journalists and policymakers around the world have increasingly characterized as a brutal dictator. Mr. Rusesabagina had stated publicly on several occasions that he could not return to his native country for fear of retribution, and last August he believed he was traveling from his home in Texas to a speaking engagement in Burundi. The private jet he boarded after a layover in Dubai in fact transported him to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, whereupon he was disappeared for three full days before reappearing in the custody of the RIB. Tragically, Mr. Rusesabagina is not the first critic of the Rwandan government to find himself in this situation – or one that is even worse. Over the past several years under President Paul Kagame, the Rwandan government has demonstrated an alarming pattern of subjecting its critics to a range of gross human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, unlawful imprisonments and extrajudicial killings.

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About the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice: The Lantos Foundation was established in 2008 to carry forward the legacy of Congressman Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress and a leading human rights champion. The Foundation works with a range of partners and often in cooperation with the U.S. Government on issues that span the globe. The Foundation’s key areas of focus include human rights issues related to religious freedom, rule of law, internet freedom and activist art. The Foundation also administers the Lantos Congressional Fellows Program, supports human rights advocates, activists and artists through its Front Line Fund grant program, and awards the annual Lantos Human Rights Prize to honor and bring attention to heroes of the human rights movement. Past recipients of the Prize include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Professor Elie Wiesel, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Iraqi Parliamentarian Vian Dakhil, Hong Kong Democracy activist Joshua Wong, Bill Browder, the driving force behind the global Magnitsky movement, among others.

A letter from Annette Lantos : Celebrating a human rights legacy on my 90th Birthday

Dear friends,

On June 27, I will celebrate my 90th birthday. As that day approaches, I find myself considering with wonder and gratitude my nine decades of life and all that I have experienced. As a young girl in Hungary, forced to flee from the Nazis, I often thought that I would not live to see my 20th birthday, let alone my 90th. Thanks to the heroic efforts of the humanitarian hero Raoul Wallenberg, both I and my beloved husband Tom received a precious second chance at life. From the ashes of the Holocaust, we – like many of our fellow survivors – built a wonderful life in America. Today, I am a proud mother and grandmother, and I am a great-grandmother to 24 beautiful children. The family Tom and I created is, for me, the greatest triumph over the darkness and evil I witnessed in my early years.

Tom and Annette as teenagers in Budapest

As you well know, Tom and I always believed that our miraculous second chance at life came with a sacred obligation to follow Wallenberg’s example and to do whatever was in our power to fight injustice and protect the vulnerable, as he had. This belief defined our lives and shaped Tom’s passionate human rights work during his nearly 30 years in Congress.

Today, as I prepare to pass a milestone birthday, I take great comfort in knowing that this vital work will continue, even once I am reunited with Tom. His life’s work has become our family’s legacy, and it gives me tremendous peace and satisfaction to know that the Lantos Foundation will carry this legacy forward – particularly at a time when basic human rights and democracy face tremendous threats.

We see it in the erosion of the rule of law in places like Russia and Hong Kong. We see it in the continued persecution of religious minorities across the globe and the alarming rise in antisemitism. We see it in the digital dictatorships that deprive their citizens of their right to information and contact with the world beyond their borders.

As Tom famously said, “The veneer of civilization is paper thin. We are its guardians, and we can never rest.”

Tom and Annette with their rescue dog Gigi. Over their shoulder is Raoul Wallenberg, the hero who rescued them during the Holocaust

The Lantos Foundation, I can assure you, is not resting. It is pressing forward boldly with work that would undoubtedly make Tom proud, including:

• Supporting efforts to introduce and pass state-level Holocaust education and genocide prevention legislation

• Advocating to strengthen the United States’ foreign policy response to antisemitism, including antisemitism cloaked in anti-Zionism

• Providing grants to support the work of filmmakers, artists and activists on the frontlines to educate, inform and inspire action

• Partnering with leading human rights organizations to call upon the United States government to hold human rights abusers to account through powerful mechanisms such as Magnitsky sanctions

• Raising the alarm about the urgent threat posed by digital dictatorships and the pressing need to open the internet to everyone, everywhere.

Annette with Condoleezza Rice in Budapest

With your continued support, Tom’s legacy will be secure, and the Lantos Foundation will never rest in its mission to safeguard human rights and justice around the world.

With deepest affection and gratitude,

Annette Lantos
Chair Emeritus, Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice

New Episode of The Keeper - Episode 21: Rule of Law Season Finale – 2020 Lantos Prize Laureate Bryan Stevenson on Justice

On the final episode of our 7-part Rule of Law season, we return to the subject of the state of the rule of law right here in America. We hear from our 2020 Lantos Human Rights Prize Laureate Bryan Stevenson, who has been a tireless advocate for applying the rule of law equally and fairly in the United States, regardless of race or economic status, as well as for dealing more honestly and openly with this country’s history of inequality. Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of the best-selling book Just Mercy, has spent more than three decades advocating on behalf of incarcerated people who have been wrongly convicted or unfairly sentenced. In this episode, we hear his perspective on the difference between law and justice, how America compromises its standing as a human rights leader when it fails to confront its own human rights challenges, why mercy is as fundamental a principle as justice, and more. Listen to this powerful and inspiring conclusion to the Rule of Law season.

Equal Justice Initiative

Just Mercy (best-selling book adapted into a film)

2020 Lantos Human Rights Prize Recipient

Bryan Stevenson: From the courtroom to Hollywood (BookTube)

The Moment to Close America’s Hypocrisy Gap, by Katrina Lantos Swett (Medium)

Op-Ed : The time for US timidity is over: Rwanda should meet Magnitsky

Published on The Hill 6/10/21
BY KATRINA LANTOS SWETT, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR

As I write this, Paul Rusesabagina, the real-life hero of the Oscar-nominated film “Hotel Rwanda,” has been unjustly imprisoned in Kigali, Rwanda, for more than 280 days. In all that time, the administrations of two American presidents have failed to make so much as a statement in support of this humanitarian, who also happens to be a U.S. Permanent Resident and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

Rusesabagina, an outspoken critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, had no intention of going back to his native country. He publicly stated on several occasions that he could not return for fear of retribution. Nevertheless, that is where he found himself last August, when an associate secretly working with the Rwandan government tricked him into getting on a private jet he thought was bound for Burundi. Instead, the plane landed in Kigali, Rusesabagina was held for three days incommunicado, and finally reappeared handcuffed and in the custody of the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB). 

This was a textbook case of enforced disappearance, a clear violation of Rusesabagina’s basic human rights and of the United Nations’ International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Put in simpler terms, Rusesabagina was kidnapped. 

These events prompted some outrage among human rights groups and certain lawmakers in the U.S. and Europe, as it well should. But the deafening silence from official government channels has drowned out the chorus of voices calling for action. And what has that silence enabled? More than just the continued abuse and imprisonment of a Belgian citizen and U.S. Permanent Resident, as in the case of Rusesabagina. It has created a template for other dictators and apparently has given them carte blanche to use increasingly audacious methods to capture and arrest their most vocal critics. 

Consider what just happened in Belarus, where President Alexander Lukashenko used military jets to divert — some say hijack — a flight carrying 26-year-old dissident journalist Roman Proasevich, so that he could be arrested and thrown in jail. Only days after this incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to try his own “airplane ploy” and had opposition leader Andrey Pivovarov hauled off an outgoing flight at St. Petersburg Airport.

The Belarusian event took place on May 23; in less than a week, the United States had raised its travel advisory for Belarus to a level 4, “Do not travel” warning and had announced forthcoming sanctions on Belarusian officials involved in the incident. All these actions were warranted and well justified. But it’s worth noting that it took no more than a few days for the U.S. to spring into action and censure Belarus on behalf of a Belarusian national; Rusesabagina, who renounced his Rwandan citizenship in 1996, has languished in prison for the better part of a year without any meaningful action from the countries he calls home.

The U.S. silence in the case of Paul Rusesabagina, and its unwillingness to call Rwanda to account for its human rights abuses, undoubtedly has much to do with the status of President Kagame as the so-called “darling tyrant.” Some hold him up as a paragon of democratic leadership, even against an ever-growing list of critics who have been forcibly disappeared, imprisoned or killed. But the time for timidity is over — we have seen its fruits in Belarus and Russia — and the U.S. no longer can afford to turn a blind eye to Rwanda’s crimes. 

For this reason, the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice has filed a formal submission to the State Department and Department of Treasury urging Global Magnitsky sanctions to be imposed on two Rwandan officials reportedly complicit in Rusesabagina’s kidnapping: Justice Minister Johnston Busingye and head of the RIB, Col. Jeannot Ruhunga.

Proving culpability in human rights abuses, such as an enforced disappearance, can be challenging. But in this instance, the Rwandan officials named in the sanctions submission have made it surprisingly easy to prove their guilt. Busingye admitted during a televised interview that the Rwandan government paid for the private plane that took Rusesabagina from Dubai to Kigali. Ruhunga not only made public comments about the unilateral “operation” carried out by the RIB (after initially, and falsely, claiming that the arrest was made with international cooperation), but he also was named in the sworn affidavit of Rusesabagina’s jailhouse testimony as one of only two people who had contact with him in an unknown facility during the three days between the flight leaving Dubai and the public news conference announcing the arrest in Kigali.

Rusesabagina faces terrorism charges in a show trial that began in late January and is ongoing. I mention this almost in passing because the charges, which I believe to be trumped up by Kagame and his supporters, are immaterial to this indisputable fact: Paul Rusesabagina was brought to Rwanda illegally under international law. Any individual, government or organization that truly values human rights and the rule of law must recognize this fact and acknowledge that whatever follows Rusesabagina’s kidnapping — the charges or any eventual, predetermined, conviction — is simply fruit of the poisoned tree. 

It is beyond time for the United States to stand up and lead on behalf of a man who once risked his own life to save more than 1,200 people amid the horror of the Rwandan genocide. It is beyond time to put President Kagame on notice that Rwanda’s free pass on human rights abuses has finally, and deservedly, expired. It is time to use targeted Magnitsky sanctions — one of the most potent and powerful tools for human rights — to hold accountable the men responsible for kidnapping Paul Rusesabagina.

Lantos Foundation Calls for Magnitsky Sanctions in Paul Rusesabagina Case

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media contact:
Chelsea Hedquist
+1 603.229.2017
chelsea@lantosfoundation.org

Lantos Foundation Calls for Magnitsky Sanctions in Paul Rusesabagina Case

Formal petition filed for U.S. action against Rwandan officials complicit in his kidnapping

June 7, 2021 – The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice today announced that it has filed a formal submission to the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Treasury recommending Global Magnitsky sanctions against Rwandan Justice Minister Johnston Busingye and head of the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) Colonel Jeannot Ruhunga for their role in human rights violations committed against Paul Rusesabagina – namely his extraordinary rendition and kidnapping in August 2020.

Paul Rusesabagina, the real-life hero of the Oscar-nominated film Hotel Rwanda and a Presidential Medal of Freedom awardee, was lured to Rwanda last August by an associate secretly working with the Rwandan government. Rusesabagina, a Belgian citizen and U.S. Permanent Resident, has been an outspoken critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who human rights organizations, journalists and policymakers have increasingly characterized as a brutal dictator. Rusesabagina had stated publicly on several occasions that he could not return to his native country for fear of retribution, and last August he believed he was traveling from his home in Texas to a speaking engagement in Burundi. The private jet he boarded after a layover in Dubai in fact transported him to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, whereupon he was disappeared for three full days before reappearing in the custody of the RIB.

It can sometimes prove difficult to build a case that establishes government officials’ direct involvement in and responsibility for human rights abuses. However, in the case of Paul Rusesabagina’s kidnapping, the complicity and responsibility of both Busingye and Ruhunga is crystal clear. Minister Busingye admitted during a televised interview on Al Jazeera in February 2021 that the Rwandan government had paid for the plane that transported Rusesabagina, without his knowledge, to Kigali. Likewise, Colonel Ruhunga, as head of the RIB, not only oversaw the operation to kidnap Rusesabagina but was also named in a recent jailhouse transcript as one of two people who visited Rusesabagina when he was held incommunicado in an unknown location during the three days between the time he was kidnapped and when he was presented in handcuffs in Kigali.

“For too long, the appalling actions of the Rwandan government under the leadership of Paul Kagame have gone without consequence,” said Lantos Foundation President Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett. “In this instance, there is unequivocal evidence that Minister Busingye and Colonel Ruhunga violated the basic human rights of a humanitarian hero. A strong response by the United States is fully warranted and anything less would only embolden the Rwandan government to continue its abuse.”

The Lantos Foundation’s submission to State and Treasury presents the overwhelming evidence that these two individuals can and should be held responsible for Rusesabagina’s kidnapping – a clear violation of the United Nations’ International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The submission calls for the United States to hold Busingye and Ruhunga to account for this violation by imposing Magnitsky sanctions on them. The submission was simultaneously transmitted to officials in the United Kingdom and the European Union for consideration of their own respective sanctions.

Tragically, Paul Rusesabagina is not the first critic of the Rwandan government to find himself in this situation – or one that is even worse. Over the past several years under President Paul Kagame, the Rwandan government has demonstrated an alarming pattern of subjecting its critics to a range of gross human rights violations, including enforced disappearance, imprisonment and extrajudicial killings. Indeed, the Lantos Foundation’s submission includes an attachment that details numerous chilling examples of what has happened to a long string of Kagame’s opponents, among them Patrick Karegeya (assassinated in South Africa), Boniface Twagirimana (disappeared from Rwandan prison), Kizito Mihigo (died in Rwandan prison) and many others. Rwanda bills itself as a vibrant democracy and an inspiring success story, but its repeated and increasingly bold-faced efforts to stifle any form of dissent tell the story of a country that has descended deep into authoritarian rule.

Dr. Lantos Swett said, “The United States was quick to announce its intention to sanction Belarusian officials involved in diverting a commercial airline for the purpose of arresting a prominent Belarusian dissident. Yet, there has been shockingly little action from the U.S. in terms of censuring, let alone holding accountable, the individuals responsible for the unlawful kidnapping of this courageous man: a U.S. Permanent Resident who received our nation’s highest civilian honor and whose story has inspired millions of people around the world. The U.S. government has an important opportunity to right this wrong by moving to impose Magnitsky sanctions on Minister Busingye and Colonel Ruhunga. We must take action now – failure to do so may send the message that the Rwandan government has carte blanche to trample on the rights of Paul Rusesabagina. The consequences of such a message could be tragic and fatal.”

The Lantos Foundation filed its formal submission on May 18, 2021.

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About the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice: The Lantos Foundation was established in 2008 to carry forward the legacy of Congressman Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress and a leading human rights champion. The Foundation works with a range of partners and often in cooperation with the U.S. Government on issues that span the globe. The Foundation’s key areas of focus include human rights issues related to religious freedom, rule of law, internet freedom and activist art. The Foundation also administers the Lantos Congressional Fellows Program, supports human rights advocates, activists and artists through its Front Line Fund grant program, and awards the annual Lantos Human Rights Prize to honor and bring attention to heroes of the human rights movement. Past recipients of the Prize include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Professor Elie Wiesel, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Iraqi Parliamentarian Vian Dakhil, “Hotel Rwanda” hero Paul Rusesabagina, and Hong Kong Democracy activist Joshua Wong, among others.

Lantos Foundation Announces Activist Artist Scholarship Winners

For Immediate Release
March 5, 2021

Media Contact:
Chelsea Hedquist
chelsea@lantosfoundation.org
+1 603.229.2017

Lantos Foundation Announces Activist Artist Scholarship Winners
Three New Hampshire High School Seniors to Receive A Total $10,000 in Scholarship Funds

CONCORD: The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice today announced that Taylor Kenison, a senior from Newmarket Jr/Sr High School, has received the top award for its first-ever Activist Artist Scholarship competition. Ms. Kenison’s winning essay examined the impact of two separate pieces of art that address the pressing issue of human trafficking, and it described her own aspirations to attend law school and advocate on behalf of trafficking victims. She wrote that, while she is not a talented artist in the same form as those whose work she examined in the essay, “eventually through pen and voice I hope to influence progress to end human servitude in all forms.” Ms. Kenison will receive a $5,000 scholarship to be paid to Dartmouth College, which she will attend this fall.

The Foundation also awarded two runner-up prizes of $2,500 each to Michelle Eweka of Bow High School and Prescott Herzog of Stevens High School. Ms. Eweka received her award for her stirring original poem, “The Ceiling”, and its accompanying essay, while Mr. Herzog’s provocative winning essay focused on the impact of actor/rapper Childish Gambino’s “This is America” music video. Mr. Herzog will attend Dartmouth College in the fall, and Ms. Eweka has not yet committed to a university.

Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation, said, “We were inspired and deeply impressed by the dozens of thoughtful, thought-provoking and sophisticated applications that we received. The wealth of talent and intellect on display was a testament to the power and potential of New Hampshire’s youth. We are so delighted to honor these three outstanding young scholars and to support their continuing education. We hope that the experience of participating in the scholarship competition will motivate our winners, and all the participants, to continue shining a light on human rights issues and using their considerable talents to advocate for change.”

The Activist Artist Scholarship, launched in October 2020, challenged applicants to examine the influence of a particular Activist Artist and show how that artist used his/her medium to influence, inform and inspire during their lifetime or beyond. Alternatively, applicants were given the option to submit their own original piece of activist art. The scholarship competition was open to all New Hampshire residents graduating high school in Spring 2021 and intending to enroll in a 2- or 4-year college program. Funding for the scholarship was generously provided through a grant from the Bank of New Hampshire.

“Giving back to our communities is not just about making the donation, it’s about making a difference,”  said Cydney Shapleigh, EVP – Chief Wealth Management and Retail Banking Officer for Bank of New Hampshire. “Like the applicants for the Activist Artist Scholarship, we embrace our responsibility to be a leading corporate citizen. By supporting organizations like the Lantos Foundation, we can help strengthen our communities and enhance the lives of our neighbors in impactful ways.”

The scholarship winners were selected by a distinguished panel of judges from the New Hampshire arts and education communities, and beyond, including: Concord film-maker John Gfroerer, New Hampshire artist and gallery owner Pam Tarbell, Lantos Foundation Board of Trustees Member Ambassador Richard Swett , Bank of New Hampshire’s Cydney Shapleigh, Lantos Foundation President Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, and Duke University student and former Lantos Foundation intern Daniel Wolf.

The Activist Artist Scholarship program falls within the Lantos Foundation’s “Global Citizenship” area of work. The Foundation recognizes the powerful, yet often overlooked, role that artists play in the human rights movement. Through the Activist Artist Scholarship and other programs, the Foundation seeks to encourage, support and elevate the work of artists who use their mediums to advocate for important causes.

To learn more about the Foundation’s Activist Artist work and to stay updated on future awards, visit: https://www.lantosfoundation.org/activist-artist

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About the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice: The Lantos Foundation was established in 2008 to carry forward the legacy of Congressman Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress and a leading human rights champion. Based in Concord, NH, the Foundation works with a range of partners and often in cooperation with the U.S. Government on issues that span the globe. The Foundation’s key areas of focus include human rights issues related to religious freedom, rule of law, internet freedom and activist art. The Foundation also administers the Lantos Congressional Fellows Program, supports human rights advocates, activists and artists through its Front Line Fund grant program, and awards the annual Lantos Human Rights Prize to honor and bring attention to heroes of the human rights movement. Past recipients of the Prize include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Professor Elie Wiesel, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Iraqi Parliamentarian Vian Dakhil, “Hotel Rwanda” hero Paul Rusesabagina, and Hong Kong Democracy activist Joshua Wong, among others.

New Episode of The Keeper Podcast : RULE OF LAW SEASON – Hong Kong Activist in Exile (Nathan Law)

In this episode, we focus on a part of the world that has become one of the front lines of the fight to uphold the Rule of Law – Hong Kong. In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has been imposing increasingly strict measures on the once autonomous and democratic Hong Kong, designed to erode that autonomy. The response has not come from the powerful or well-connected members of Hong Kong society, but from the vibrant, beating heart of Hong Kong: its youth. Nathan Law, who became the youngest lawmaker ever elected to the Hong Kong Legislative Council in 2016, has emerged as one of the most recognizable and respected voices on the Hong Kong democracy movement. He spoke to us from the UK, where he is now living in exile, about China’s spreading authoritarianism, the global importance of Hong Kong’s struggle for freedom and autonomy, and his optimism that democracy will prevail in the end. 

Nathan Law – The Magnitsky Human Rights Award

Give Hong Kong the Autonomy It Was Promised, Nathan Law in The New York Times

Mr. Biden, Keep the Pressure on Hong Kong, Nathan Law in The New York Times

No More Waiting: The Time Has Come to Fight for Hong Kong, Katrina Lantos Swett in The Hill

Lantos Foundation Statement: Restoring U.S. Leadership on Human Rights

Nearly six weeks into new Administration, the human rights community continues to watch carefully to see whether President Biden will seize the opportunity to re-establish the United States as a beacon of hope for freedom, justice and democracy around the world. In some instances, the community has reason to feel encouraged – such as the announcement that the U.S. Government will sanction several Russian individuals and businesses for their involvement in the poisoning of Alexey Navalny. Likewise, the move to sanction the Myanmar generals involved in the coup demonstrated President Biden’s commitment to holding human rights abusers accountable. However, last week the Administration missed an important opportunity with its response to the report that unambiguously identified Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the impetus behind Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder. It cannot be said that the U.S. did nothing, but the State Department’s “Khashoggi Ban” certainly does not hold the most culpable and highest profile human rights abuser to account.  

We recognize that rebuilding America’s diplomatic ties and restoring its credibility on human rights will be a complicated process. We fully understand that each small action taken can have a ripple effect of consequences across a range of geographic areas and political interests. We do not expect the Biden Administration to be able to approach each human rights issue with the boldness and singular focus of, for example, an organization dedicated entirely to advocating for human rights. But we do expect the Administration to make good on its promise for America to, once again, lead on human rights. This will require a strong, unambiguous response to human rights abuses ranging from brutal military coups to extrajudicial killings, oppression of minority communities, and flagrant violations of the rule of law. Sometimes it will require a forceful response even when it comes with a political or diplomatic cost. True leadership is a product of making hard choices, not easy ones.

Sadly, there is no shortage of opportunities for President Biden to demonstrate his commitment to leading on human rights. On February 11, an investigative report was released that clearly identified the would-be assassins of twice poisoned Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara Murza. The men named in this report could easily be added to the Magnitsky sanctions list. Paul Rusesabagina, the hero of “Hotel Rwanda” and Presidential Medal of Freedom awardee, currently faces a show trial in Kigali, with little hope of ever returning to his home in Texas. The Biden Administration could use its influence to help free Rusesabagina from Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s authoritarian grasp. Hong Kong democracy activists Agnes Chow and Joshua Wong languish in prison; the U.S. could do more to negotiate their release. And millions of Uyghurs are experiencing a modern-day genocide in the Xinjiang province of China; a strong condemnation from the U.S., backed up with substantive economic and political pressure, could ease the plight of this long-suffering but proud Uyghur population.

We urge President Biden to seize the opportunities before him and hope that, in doing so, he will restore America as a beacon of hope and will send a powerful message to countries and leaders who would violate human rights.