NAIROBI, Kenya – Paul Rusesabagina, the prominent dissident who was portrayed in the Oscar-nominated film Hotel Rwanda, is denied food and medicine in a prison in Rwanda where his family claims he is being held for terrorism, lawyers and Foundation, the 66-year-old also complained about poor health.
Mr. Rusesabagina told his family members that the prison officials had informed him that they would block his access to food, water and medicine from Saturday.
His family and lawyers believe the Rwandan authorities’ move was an attempt to pressure him to return to his trial, which he stopped attending in March after saying he was not expecting justice. Mr Rusesabagina, the former hotelier whose efforts to save more than 1200 people during the country’s genocide were depicted in Hotel Rwanda, later became a critic of President Paul Kagame’s government.
The Rwanda correctional facility tweeted later on Saturday that it was treating all inmates “equally” and that Mr Rusesabagina had access to meals and a doctor.
Rusesabagina’s lawyers were due to visit him on Friday but were refused entry to the prison, said senior attorney Kate Gibson. Gibson called the recent developments “worrying” and said the legal team had filed an “urgent filing” with the UN Task Force on Arbitrary Detention to request an investigation into Mr. Rusesabagina’s situation.
“It is hard to imagine direct and willful harm being done to an inmate, especially if they are in poor health,” Gibson told the New York Times.
Mr Rusesabagina was arrested last August and charged with nine criminal offenses, including murder and formation of an armed group accused of carrying out deadly attacks in Rwanda. A Belgian citizen and permanent resident of the United States, he had traveled from his home in San Antonio, Texas to join Constantin Niyomwungere, a pastor he says he invited to his churches in Burundi, neighboring Rwanda would have.
Little did Mr. Rusesabagina know that Mr. Niyomwungere was working as an agent for the Rwandan government and was part of a plan to lure him into the country. After meeting in Dubai, the two boarded a private jet that Mr Rusesabagina thought would fly to Burundi – only to land in Kigali on August 28, where he was unceremoniously arrested.
Rwanda authorities have announced that Mr Rusesabagina is traveling to Burundi to meet rebel groups based there and in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In the days before he was introduced to the press on August 31, Mr. Rusesabagina was hand and foot cuffed, unable to breathe properly or use the toilet, and was held in what he called the “slaughterhouse” where he did the Screams were heard from other inmates, according to an affidavit from one of his Rwandan lawyers, Jean-Félix Rudakemwa.
Murangira B. Thierry, a spokesman for the Rwanda Investigation Bureau, denied the allegations in the affidavit. The office, he said, “is a professional investigative agency that respects human rights.”
Mr Rusesabagina’s lawyers say that not only have they been banned from visiting, but they must first submit to the authorities any documents they wish to share with him. Previously, any notes the attorneys made when they met him had to be reviewed by prison officials before they could be released from prison, Ms. Gibson said.
“Access to lawyers of his choice, to the files against him, to the time and resources to prepare a defense has been denied,” said Ms. Gibson. “The trial of Mr. Rusesabagina has systematically violated his rights as a defendant, to the point that he has decided not to take part anymore. “
Mr. Rusesabagina’s family and lawyers say that his health has deteriorated since he was arrested and that he feared dying from a stroke.
“Of particular concern is the fact that the doctor provided by the Rwandan government has prescribed three bottles of water a day and he doesn’t get them,” said Kitty Kurth, spokeswoman for his foundation, in a statement on Friday.
Mr. Rusesabagina is a cancer survivor, has cardiovascular problems and complains of severe back pain.
“My family is very scared and concerned,” said Mr. Rusesabagina’s daughter, Anaise Kanimba, on Saturday. “We don’t know if his health can take it. We don’t know when to speak to him next time. That is devastating. “
