Hotel Rwanda’s Rusesabagina’s Speech from The Hague

“Giving Voice to those Silenced by Genocide, Empowering Survivors to Transcend Its Effects and Moving to a Lasting Peace” 

By Paul Rusesabagina, Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation

When I began the The Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation, my goal was to improve the lives of victims of genocide in Rwanda, particularly the survivors left orphaned and widowed. 

Because of my firm belief in the power of education to lift generations out of the grasp of poverty, our philanthropic initiatives were focused in the areas of education, vocational training and mental health services for those left behind as the living victims of genocide. 

Over the last few years, I began to realize that helping to provide relief for the direct victims in Rwanda and the Great Lakes region was not enough to prevent violence and more killing throughout the region. 

We were putting on band-aids on the wound, but the wound was not healing.

So, in addition to our relief work,  the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation embarked on a journey of education. We began a discussion with the international community about the need for truth and reconciliation across the African Great Lakes region, particularly in Rwanda and our neighbor Burundi. 

Through public education and a series of town hall meetings throughout the world, the HRRF is working to promote an understanding of the conditions which can lead to instances of hatred, violence and future genocides and the need for an internationally sanctioned Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

We believe that through truth and reconciliation those silenced voices can finally be heard and only then can a nation be truly healed from the long-term effects of genocide. In post conflict areas all across the globe Truth and Reconciliation Commissions have been shown to help the people and the nations affected by violence and genocide to heal. 

As we have traveled on this journey to lasting peace and a stable future for the victims of genocide, we have been attacked by naysayers trying to stop our efforts. I can only ask, why are these people against truth and reconciliation for a nation and region? At our previous events and even today they have tried to silence our discussions and prevent our promotion of peace and healing.  Why? They have threatened today to protest our program on peace for Great Lakes region. Why?  Who is threatened by peace and healing? What truth are they afraid of?

To view speech visit http://www.seero.com/broadcaster/hrrf