Hero for some, impostor for others.
Paul Rusesabagina, 66, was arrested on August 31 in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
The man, who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda", is "suspected of having financed and created terrorist groups" operating in the Great Lakes region, said the Rwanda Bureau of Investigation (RIB).
This publicized arrest had the effect of a bomb in the Rusesabagina family.
Firstly because this longtime opponent of Paul Kagame, now a Belgian citizen and American resident, had been living in exile for more than twenty years.
"We do not know how he got there (in Rwanda, editor's note), he would never have gone to Rwanda on his own," Anaise Kanimba, one of his daughters, said on BBC.
His family therefore believe that he was kidnapped in Dubai to be taken to Rwanda and arrested there.
"He was traveling to Dubai, he was there the last time we were in contact with him, last Thursday. Since then we have not heard from any more and learned on television that he had been arrested," continues his daughter.
"The charges he is accused of are unfounded"
The RIB said for its part that Paul Rusesabagina had been arrested thanks to international cooperation.
RIB deputy spokesperson Thierry Murangira nevertheless refused to clarify the circumstances of the arrest, arguing that it could "compromise the investigation".
And the charges are vast: acts of terrorism, fires, kidnappings and murders, notably committed on Rwandan soil, in June and December 2018.
RIB STATEMENT ON THE ARREST OF PAUL RUSESABAGINA
1. RIB informs the general public that, through international cooperation, Paul Rusesabagina was arrested and is in the custody of RIB.
- Rwanda Investigation Bureau (@RIB_Rw) August 31, 2020
Anaise Kanimba, who lives in Washington, denies the charges against her father.
"My father is a human rights defender," she insists.
"The charges with which he is accused are unfounded. He is a vigorous critic of the power in place in Rwanda and we know how this government works. As an opponent, he is labeled as a terrorist. He is very threatened and must be. get out of Rwanda as quickly as possible, ”she insists, adding that the family has requested the support of the Belgian and American authorities.
In exile, Paul Rusesabagina founded the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD) and for years criticized President Kagame for silencing the opposition.
In power since 1994, Paul Kagame is often accused of ruling the country with an iron fist, of suppressing all forms of dissent or of exiling opposition politicians.
Human Rights Watch has notably accused its regime of summary executions, arrests, unlawful detentions and torture in detention.
The construction of the Hollywood myth
"We must save him as he saved us during the genocide. We must find him and bring him home", therefore pleads his daughter.
His father is his hero of course.
And that of the Hollywood film of Terry George, nominated for three Oscars.
The drama features the "true story" of the manager of the Hotel des Milles Collines in Kigali, who did everything to prevent the forces of the genocidal regime from entering the hotel.
In fact, Paul Rusesabagina took charge of this luxury establishment on April 12, 1994, when the Tutsis were relentlessly hunted down in the country.
Many have sought refuge in the famous hotel in the Rwandan capital, where 1,248 people were saved.
After the film's release in 2004, Rusesabagina became an international hero.
He received in 2005 the "medal of freedom" from the hands of the American president George Bush, published in 2006 "An ordinary man", translated into several languages, and he was received by Barack Obama, Muhammad Ali or Condoleehttps: // fr- fr.facebook.com/condoleezzarice/zza Rice, among others, to tell her story.
"A cynical profiteer"
But little by little, the image of the hero becomes embellished.
In 2012, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung published an article in which the former hotel manager was described as a “cynical profiteer who built up capital thanks to the genocide”.
The man would have made his hosts pay for their survival.
Asked about these profits, Paul Rusesabagina did not deny, but highlighted the lives saved.
Associations of victims also denounce the "construction of the Hollywood myth".
"Hollywood built a myth that was nothing real. Rusesabagina walked past the hotel in 1994 and took charge of it for his own interests. Then he sold his legend," comments to France 24 Étienne Nsanzimana, president of the Ibuka association which defends the victims of the genocide.
"We are not going to cry over his fate today," he adds.
On the Kigali side, Rusesabagina is especially criticized for having financed the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), a rebel movement initiated by former Hutu genocidaires, based in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In 2018, Kigali issued an international arrest warrant against him for financing a guerrilla war, whose fighters openly claimed responsibility for attacks in southern Rwanda.
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