After Hotel Rwanda, Part 1: The Trap

Summary

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Podcast Summary: I Spy – "After Hotel Rwanda, Part 1: The Trap"

Host: Robby Grammer, Foreign Policy
Release Date: May 10, 2024

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the extraordinary story of Paul Rusesabagina, the man celebrated for saving over 1,200 people during the 1994 Rwandan genocide—a story popularized by the film Hotel Rwanda. Decades later, after years of exile and human rights activism, Rusesabagina becomes the victim of a complex international trap that ends with his shocking arrest in Rwanda. Told through personal accounts, interviews with experts, and family members, the episode unravels the events leading to his abduction—and the immediate aftermath faced by his family.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to Paul Rusesabagina’s Story

• Robby Grammer recounts being contacted by Anais Kanimba, Paul’s daughter, who is desperately trying to free her father from Rwandan imprisonment (00:30).
• Anais Kanimba describes the relentless anxiety endured by her family:

  "Imagine you have something worrying you 24/7...a cloud above you that doesn't allow you to do anything else except to worry and worry and worry." (01:32)

2. The 1994 Genocide and Paul’s Heroism

• Context is provided on Rwanda’s genocide: 1 million killed, the world watching idly (02:53).
• Paul’s life-saving actions as a hotel manager—later dramatized in Hotel Rwanda—turned him into a national hero, a Hollywood figure, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (03:32, 04:00, 16:44).

3. Growing Rift with Kagame’s Regime

• After the genocide, Paul becomes a vocal critic of the Rwandan government and President Paul Kagame, accusing the regime of authoritarianism and human rights abuses (05:13, 06:08).
• Rusesabagina articulates the dangers of dissent:

  "Kagame, he's the only one who should talk. Either you are with him or you a dead person." (06:24)

4. The Trap: How Paul Was Lured Back

A. The Invitation

• A trusted old friend, Bishop Constantine from Burundi, invites Paul to speak at his church, vowing to personally oversee logistics and safety (07:09, 08:04).
• Paul expresses caution about traveling in the region, aware of the risks to exiled dissidents (08:47, 09:33).

B. The Rwandan Regime’s Reach

• Human Rights Watch’s Louis Mudge describes how Rwanda “has a very sophisticated network" to threaten and attack opponents abroad, not just in Africa but internationally:

  "You see this type of repression expand much further...Australia, Europe, North America." (09:33–10:09)

C. The Flight

• Despite concerns and the COVID-19 pandemic, Paul flies to Dubai to meet the supposed private jet, reassured by the presence of the bishop and what appears to be a legitimate flight crew (10:25–12:27).
• He is served champagne—immediately after drinking, he falls asleep, something he says is highly unusual for him (12:27).
• Upon awakening as the plane lands, Paul realizes they are in Kigali, Rwanda, not Burundi—he has been tricked and is terrified:

  "When I saw it, I was almost dead." (14:29)

5. Family’s Discovery and Reaction

• As Paul goes dark, his family grows worried. Tatiana, his wife, and children vividly recount their panic and heartbreak, culminating when news surfaces—and photos emerge—of Paul in custody in Kigali (13:30–14:37, 24:51–25:32).
• Daughter Karine recalls the family's anguish and initial hope it was all a misunderstanding:

  "I felt like, you know, go back to sleep and wake up, and this was a terrible nightmare." (26:27)

• Son Tresoor describes the family's resolve:

  "You feel the emotions...but you don't let them take over everything, because if you let them, then you can't move, you can't act, and you can't help." (27:43; 28:20)

6. Shifting Perceptions in Rwanda

• The Rwandan regime and aligned groups begin to undermine Paul’s hero status, accusing him of terrorism and downplaying his actions during the genocide (19:23).
• Government spokesperson Yolanda Makolo and groups like Ibuka dispute Paul’s account, with Makolo stating:

  "The family has said a lot of things, haven’t they? They will say anything...to cover for their family member who committed these crimes." (22:26)

• Paul and human rights organizations deny all allegations, painting him as the victim of regime repression (19:48, 20:02).

7. Arrest, Torture, and Media Exposure

• Paul alleges torture and abuse immediately after his abduction, detailing brutal treatment in a secret facility:

  "I was tired from the back, my legs tied, my head put into a bag..." (22:49)
  "They just hit you, kind of break your mouth, everything...being tortured for almost four days." (23:04)

• The Rwandan government denies all accusations (24:02).
• Paul is eventually presented in a media event, charged with terrorism and related offenses, and the family finally learns his fate through news and images (24:32–25:32).

8. Launching a Rescue Campaign

• The family moves painfully from shock to action—determined to fight for Paul’s release against steep odds in a tightly controlled regime (27:23, 28:05).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Anais Kanimba, on anxiety:

  "Imagine you have something worrying you 24/7, and every minute that you have, all day long, you know you have a cloud above you..." (01:32)

• Paul Rusesabagina, on Kagame:

  "Either you are with him or you a dead person." (06:24)
  "What Kagame hates is somebody who tells the world what he does not want to be told. His crimes." (18:42)

• Paul Rusesabagina, on the betrayal:

  "So I started saying that, Mi pols as a beginner, I’m kidnapped...They are going to kill me." (21:23)

• Tatiana Rusessabagina, on discovering the truth:

  "I saw the picture then I was shocked. I was shocked. I cried. But when I saw his...Sorry." (25:24)

• Tresoor Rusessabagina, on family’s action:

  "Because if we don’t move, dad dies." (27:43)
  "But you don’t let them [emotions] take over everything, because if you let them, then you can’t move, you can’t act, and you can’t help." (28:20)

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Timeline of Major Events (with Timestamps)

• 00:30 – Robby Grammer explains his initial contact with Anais Kanimba.
• 01:32 – Anais describes living under constant anxiety.
• 03:32–04:00 – Paul’s heroism in the genocide and the making of Hotel Rwanda.
• 06:08–06:24 – Paul’s activism and detailed criticism of Kagame.
• 07:09–08:04 – Bishop Constantine’s invitation and the fateful plan.
• 10:25–12:27 – The Dubai meeting, dubious precautions, and Paul boarding the fateful private flight.
• 14:13–14:29 – Paul realizes he has landed in Kigali, not Burundi.
• 17:32–18:42 – The shift in Rwanda’s narrative about Paul’s legacy.
• 19:23, 20:02 – Terrorism allegations and Paul’s denial.
• 21:23 – Paul’s description of shouting for help after landing.
• 22:49–23:50 – Paul details the torture he endured.
• 24:19 – Rwandan officials formally announce his arrest to the press.
• 24:51–25:32 – Family members recount the distressing moment they confirmed his location.
• 27:23, 28:05 – The family’s pivot from shock to organizing a campaign for his release.

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Tone & Style

The episode’s tone is tense, emotional, and personal, echoing both the exhaustion and resilience of Rusesabagina’s family. Firsthand perspectives, especially from Paul, Tatiana, Anais, Tresoor, and Karine, alternate with investigative reporting and expert commentary, providing emotional depth and geopolitical context.

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Next Episode Preview

• The series will delve deeper into the 1994 genocide, hearing more from Tatiana about the legacy of violence and the lasting trauma that overshadowed the family’s life—even before Paul’s abduction (28:54).

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For further details and resources, the podcast team encourages listeners to read the accompanying article at ForeignPolicy.com.

End of Summary

Transcript

[Narrator]

A History of the United States in 100 Objects is a brand new podcast from 99% Invisible and BBC Studios. Each week we're looking at a different object from across American history with a unique story to tell about who we've been, what we've built, and what we've allowed ourselves to forget. Some of these objects are well known, many are not. But all of them carry the story of how we got to this moment. Find A History of the United States and 100 objects on the 99% invisible feed. Wherever you get your podcasts.

[Robby Grammer]

A bit more than a year ago, I was put in touch with a person I'd never met, a woman named Anais Kanimba. I'm a Washington journalist, and so it's not unusual for people to just reach out. Usually it's government spokespeople or experts or lobbyists. Anais was a little different. Her father was this legendary human rights activist who was imprisoned in Rwanda. By the time we got connected, this was in 2023. He had been locked up for nearly two years. He had initially been held in a secret facility and said he was tortured. President Joe Biden's team and the State Department were working on his case. I cover the State Department, which is how we got connected. I'd been following her father's case since I first learned about the bizarre circumstances around how he was imprisoned. Through it all, Anais and her family were worried that the United States wasn't doing enough, that she might never see her father again. For over two years, she'd been spending every minute of every day trying to get him released.

[Anais Kanimba]

The best way I could explain to somebody is that imagine you have something worrying you 24 7, and every minute that you have, all day long, you know you have a cloud above you that doesn't allow you to do anything else except to worry and worry and worry and worry.

[Robby Grammer]

Rwanda is this small country in Central Africa. Unlike some other countries in the region, it has political stability and a growing economy. But it also has disputes with its neighbors and a repressive leader. So human rights violations in Rwanda, let's just say they weren't that unusual. But Anais's father was unusual. His name is Paul Rusessabagina, and I'm going to refer to him mostly by his first name in this podcast. Anisha. I think it'll be easier on everyone. Paul was actually a national hero in Rwanda. 30 years ago. He helped save the lives of more than 1200 people, part of a conflict centered on ethnic groups known as the Hutus. And the Tutsis. Drunken government soldiers are embarked on an orgy of murder. Thousands of rotting bodies are raising fears of an epidemic as the staggering death toll mounts.

[Tatiana Rusessabagina]

Hundreds of refugees were pulled out of a former UN compound and and slaughtered by government troops with grenades.

[Yolanda Makolo]

In many cases, whole families were thrown in pits and Wells.

[Robby Grammer]

An estimated 1 million Rwandans were killed in the course of just a couple months. It was one of the worst genocides of the 20th century. Most of the victims were Tutsis or moderate Hutus, many of them hacked to death with machetes. The United States and other world powers stood by and basically did nothing to stop it. At the time, Paul ran a glitzy hotel in Kigali, the capital, where a bunch of people had taken refuge. Through his sheer force of will and a combination of careful politicking and even bribery, he prevented gunmen from entering the hotel and killing every single person inside.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

The Hutu army have come. They've ordered us, all of us, out of the hotel. Most.

Why are they doing this?

I think they will kill us all.

[Narrator]

Kill.

[Robby Grammer]

If his story sounds familiar, it's because a decade later, Hollywood made a movie about Paul called Hotel rwanda.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

We have 100 staff and now more than 800 guests.

[Robby Grammer]

That's the American actor Don Cheadle. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the role.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

I do not have much time left, sir.

[Robby Grammer]

And so you would think that a guy who saved all those lives, who left Rwanda for Belgium and then the United States, who received a Presidential Medal of Freedom for his heroics, you would think he would go on to live a quiet life. But Paul's story has a second act, one that begins 26 years after the genocide in 2020, but one that has everything to do with those horrifying events of 1994. And this next chapter of his life, well, let's just say it's bizarre. I've covered international crises around the world as a reporter at Foreign Policy magazine, but I can't think of a single one that had as many twists and turns as Paul's case. To the world, Paul was a symbol of courage and heroism. But to the government in Rwanda, he'd become a villain over the years, not just a villain, but a militant who supported armed resistance against the regime.

[Anais Kanimba]

What we were seeing in the news is not just dad is in Rwanda arrested, but they're calling him a terrorist. And so because of how outrageous it was, these allegations against him, we thought it was going to be quickly done. You know, it's just a matter of phone call. It's a misunderstanding. And we learned quickly how the world functions.

[Robby Grammer]

I'm Robby Grammer, and this is after Hotel Rwanda, a podcast from Foreign Policy about the abduction of Paul Rusessobogina and the incredible effort it took to bring him home. During his years in exile, Paul had become a public speaker. He lectured about human rights around the world. He also became a critic of the Rwandan government and specifically its leader, Paul Kagame, who would stabilize Rwanda after the genocide against all odds, but who also has hoarded power and stamped out opponents. The internal politics in Rwanda are complicated, much more complicated than just Tutsis and Hutus. In any case, to President Kagame, Paul Rosasobogina was a nemesis with a megaphone, a famous dissident who needed to be dealt with.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

They wanted me to stop talking about what they do, their crimes, how many people they have killed.

[Robby Grammer]

That's Paul in an interview I did in April of this year, one of the first extended interviews he's given since his release from prison.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

I am a speaker. I have done more than 400 speeches in many different institutions, including churches, including universities. But Kagame, he's the only one who should talk. Either you are with him or you a dead person.

[Robby Grammer]

I asked Paul to tell the story of his detention from the beginning, from 2020. In the spring of that year, he says he was approached by an old friend, a bishop from Burundi, a small country that neighbors Rwanda. The bishop's name, Constantine Niamongwere. He wanted Paul to speak at his church.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

He was a man of God. We talked many times. We even at a given time, invited him to our home. We sat down and shared a lot of things together.

[Tatiana Rusessabagina]

He was kind, nice. I even made dinner for them.

[Robby Grammer]

This is Tatiana Ricospagina, Paul's wife. She's describing a meal they shared at their home. The bishop said a prayer right there at the table.

[Tatiana Rusessabagina]

Then I was sure that he was a bishop. He was so nice.

[Robby Grammer]

Paul and the bishop developed a friendship over the years. Eventually, the bishop invited Paul to Burundi. Burundi and Rwanda are close neighbors politically and culturally. So to simplify things, whatever happens in Burundi affects Rwanda and vice versa. Paul says the invitation was for a speaking event.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

He said Burundi's need your message, which is very strong. I always tell people that the best solution is not a gun, but rather words. So through dialogue, people can sit down, talk about justice, talk about reconciliation, because that is the only way to solve any conflict.

[Robby Grammer]

Constantine the bishop said he'd even secured funding for travel and a speaking fee. But still, Paul said he was Nervous. Most flights to Burundi stop in Rwanda. Since Paul was a dissident, he ran the risk of being detained.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

I said, okay, now I'm coming to Burundi, but how do we do it? There's always a risk if I go through any neighboring country.

[Robby Grammer]

Paul had good reason to be worried. Rwandan leaders had accused him of being involved in plots to overthrow the Rwandan government. The regime claimed that he did this through his role in opposition groups with armed militia wings that had carried out attacks in Rwanda. Paul has consistently denied these charges. According to rights groups, the Rwandan government has used its intelligence services to keep tabs on dissidents abroad and has outsourced repression beyond its borders, including kidnappings and murder. And Burundi? It's right next door to Rwanda, too close for comfort.

[Louis Mudge]

They have a very sophisticated network and system by which they are able to intimidate, threaten, cajole, and ultimately attack opponents of the government outside of Rwanda.

[Robby Grammer]

Louis Mudge is Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

[Louis Mudge]

This is most acute on the African continent. So we see assassinations that we've documented in Mozambique, in South Africa, in Uganda, in Kenya. But also you see this type of repression expand much further beyond. You see it with the diaspora in Australia and Europe and North America.

[Robby Grammer]

But despite these risks, Paul says the opportunity to speak to communities in Burundi was too good to pass up. The bishop offered a solution. Paul would fly commercial to Dubai, and from there, the bishop would get him safely to Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

He told me that he's going to send me a private jet. And I said, that is a good idea, but how do I trust the pilots? You need to be there. He said, okay, our problem is not money. Our problem is not time. I'm going to travel with the private jet, and we come and pick you up from Dubai.

[Robby Grammer]

Keep in mind, this was during the height of COVID when everyone, especially older people, were advised not to travel abroad. Still, Paul decided to go. The first leg of the trip went smoothly.

[Anais Kanimba]

He left on August 26 from San Antonio, Texas.

[Robby Grammer]

This is Paul's daughter again, Anais.

[Anais Kanimba]

And on the 27th, he was supposed to be in Dubai. On the 27th, it was the 18th birthday of our nephew. And so he sent a text in our family group message and, you know, he said, happy birthday. And so we had this fact that, okay, he's made it to Dubai.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

When we landed at Dubai airport, I immediately took a phone, called my wife.

[Tatiana Rusessabagina]

He called me, and we talked, and the network was not good. He told me recently, I will call you tomorrow.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

And I said, as soon as we land at Bujumbura Airport, I will call you and let you know that I am at Burrumbura.

[Robby Grammer]

Paul then walked through customs and met up with Bishop Constantine, who would be accompanying Paul on the private flight to Burundi.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

As we were walking to the private jet, I greeted the pilot and told him that, sir, you are the one taking us to our destination. Where are we heading to, and what is your name? He told me, we are going to Burrumbura and my name is Alexander.

[Robby Grammer]

Paul says he was being cautious here, testing the pilot to see if the trip was legit.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

And then by the time we arrived at the plane, there was a young lady who was in the plane already. They introduced her to me, and I said, okay, madam, you are the one who is supposed to be taking care of us in the plane. Where are we heading to? What is your name? She told me also that we are flying to Burrumbura and my name is Alice. When the plane took off, they immediately brought a glass of champagne. I normally don't sleep in a plane, but when I tasted the glass of champagne, I immediately slept.

[Robby Grammer]

Tatiana was visiting family in Brussels at the time and waited eagerly for Paul to check in. But then he went dark. He stopped responding to calls and texts. His family started to get nervous.

[Tatiana Rusessabagina]

Saturday, he did not call. I tried to call him. He didn't respond. In my heart, I was worried.

[Robby Grammer]

Tatiana then tried calling Bishop Constantine. He didn't respond either. She waited a minute and tried again. This time, his phone was off.

[Tatiana Rusessabagina]

That minute, I knew that something was

[Robby Grammer]

wrong on the plane. Paul was in a deep sleep. He woke up when the wheels hit the Runway.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

When the private jet landed, I just kind of woke up.

[Robby Grammer]

He was supposed to be in Burundi, but the scene outside his window looked like someplace else, someplace much more familiar.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

That is when I just jumped up and said, this is the tower of the Kigali airport.

[Robby Grammer]

Paul quickly realized that he'd been tricked. He was back in Rwanda, and things were about to get much worse.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

So when I saw it, I was almost dead.

[Robby Grammer]

More after the break. The landing in Kigali marked the first time Paul had been back in Rwanda since 2003. Just before the film Hotel Rwanda came out. I'm just going to spend a minute talking about that, because in some ways, the film marks a certain turning point in Paul's relationship with his home country. When Hotel Rwanda came out, Rwandan President Paul Kagame actually seemed to like it at first. Kagame is a member of the Tutsi ethnic group. So were Many of the people Paul had protected at the hotel. Kagame even formed a friendship with Don Cheadle, the actor who portrays Paul versus Pagina.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

After the film was released and seen around the world, I also had the opportunity to spend time with President Kagame. And in all of my interactions with him, I've been shown kindness, generosity, up to and including he and his wife hosting my family at their residence.

[Robby Grammer]

Paul and Tatiana had left Rwanda by then and were living in Belgium.

[Tatiana Rusessabagina]

I was very happy to see the movie because it taught people how the genocide had happened.

[Tresoor Rusessabagina]

I mean, it was nuts to have your life, you know, essentially depicted for the whole world to see.

[Robby Grammer]

This is Tresoor, Paul and Tatiana's son. He was about 11 at the time of the film's release.

[Tresoor Rusessabagina]

I remember at school in Belgium, they had, like, posters of, like, dad and the movie. It was awkward as hell. It was just bad. I don't know. I wasn't like, yeah, you know. But also, it was a good thing that, you know, people got to learn what really happened.

[Robby Grammer]

Until then, Paul had been driving a taxi and then running his own transport company. But when the film came out, he became a celebrity. In 2005, he was honored at the White House by then President George W. Bush and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

His life reminds us of our moral duty to confront evil in all its forms.

[Robby Grammer]

The highest honor the United States can bestow on civilians for his spirit and

[Paul Rusessabagina]

bravery in defending and caring for his fellow man.

[Robby Grammer]

But all this attention on Paul started creating some friction back in Rwanda, especially with President Kagame. Back in 1994, Kagame played a key role in ending the genocide. He helped lead this military group called the rpf, the Rwandan Patriotic Front that ultimately recaptured the country and halted the genocide. As the rest of the world stood by. The RPF then became the ruling political party in Rwanda and has remained in power ever since. Okay, so back to Paul and Hotel Rwanda.

[Louis Mudge]

I don't think Kagame appreciated the history of the genocide being portrayed through this one lens of a major Hollywood blockbuster film and someone being seen as the protagonist being seen as a hero. And that protagonist was Paul Rusisabagina, not Paul Kagame.

[Robby Grammer]

This is Louis Mudge again from Human Rights Watch.

[Louis Mudge]

What you also saw was you saw Paul Rosacebogina by 04 start to have a real platform. You know, people were certainly listening to him at the time as they are now. And you saw him start to touch upon issues that have now, at the time and today are untouchable in Rwanda. These are issues around political Rights around the rising authoritarianism that he saw in 04. That has only worsened today of issues around extrajudicial executions, illegal detention. He's started raising those issues in the mid aughts. And he also started raising issues around full accounting for the genocide.

[Robby Grammer]

Paul says he knows how much his activism has rankled Kagame.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

What Kagame hates is somebody who tells the world what he does not want to be told. His crimes. How he killed. How he killed Rwandan since 1990 to date for the last 34 years.

[Robby Grammer]

In 2010, Rwanda's government accused Paul of funding terrorism activities of the fdlr, a rebel group led by Rwandan Hutus in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. In many interviews, Paul has consistently denied the allegations, calling them baseless. They claimed he was spotting FDLR

[Paul Rusessabagina]

that is simply a pure lie.

[Robby Grammer]

Others were turning on Paul as well, including Ebuka, a Rwanda genocide survivors group with close ties to Kagame's government. The group claimed that Paul exaggerated his own role in helping to save people back at his hotel in 1994. Claims that Paul, other survivors and outside human rights groups have all denied.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

So whatever the Iranian government is saying is a lie.

[Robby Grammer]

This is all to say that for years the recessive Gina family had been living in fear. Here's Paul speaking to Voice of America back in 2016.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

I can tell you that I never felt safe since 2000 when I started this struggle moving around the world, talking about what was going on in Rwanda.

[Robby Grammer]

This is why on August 27, 2020, when Paul failed to check in after his flight as normal, Tatiana knew her husband was in danger.

[Tatiana Rusessabagina]

In my heart I felt that something wrong. It reminded me what my mom used to tell me when I was young. Sometimes, he said, if something, people can feel it.

[Robby Grammer]

So what actually happened on that flight that brought Paul to Kigali today? All sides we spoke to agree on the basic facts. This is Yolanda Makolo, the spokesperson for the Rwandan government.

[Yolanda Makolo]

Because Paul Ruse Savage was the subject of this arrest warrant, our law enforcement sought to arrest him. And he was strict into coming into Rwanda.

[Robby Grammer]

But Paul would not describe it as simply being tricked. For him, it was a full fledged kidnapping. The moment he got off the plane in Kigali, he says he began shouting.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

So I started saying that, Mi pols as a beginner, I'm kidnapped. Mi pols as a beginner, I'm kidnapped. Repeating my names and everything. They are going to kill me. They are going to kill me. They are going to kill me so that somebody somewhere will hear what is Going on.

[Robby Grammer]

As for Bishop Constantine, it turned out he was no friend of Paul's. He had been working for the Rwandan government as part of a long term plan to nab Paul. Some people close to Paul say the Bishop was a secret agent planted by the Rwandan intelligence services in a years long operation to kidnap Paul. Constantine himself later said he simply agreed to work with the government as an informant to avoid his own prosecution. And he betrayed Paul after learning of Paul's alleged involvement in terrorist attacks. Yolanda, the Rwandan government spokesperson, says the two men were longtime friends, but she denies that the Bishop was ever a spy for the Rwandan government.

[Yolanda Makolo]

Well, the family has said a lot of things, haven't they? I mean, they will say anything. They will say anything to, to cover for their family member who committed these crimes. It doesn't mean that it's true.

[Robby Grammer]

But you're saying it's not true.

[Yolanda Makolo]

It's not true.

[Robby Grammer]

What happened to Paul immediately after he got off the plane is contested. Here's how Paul described it to me.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

I was tired from the back, my legs tied, my head put into a bag. I was almost dead. They threw me just like a bug in the back of a car.

[Robby Grammer]

What happened then?

[Paul Rusessabagina]

I was taken to that place. That is where they torture people. Very dark, there is no light, window, doors, everything locked. You don't see anything. And even those ones who are torturing you are masked. They just hit you, kind of break your mouth, everything. They were hitting my chest, my legs. At a given time, I had a military boot on my neck. So I was just on the ground being tortured for almost four days.

[Robby Grammer]

I brought this up with Yolanda, the Rwandan government spokeswoman. Paul and his family said that particularly during his first days of imprisonment, he was tortured and abused. What's your response to this?

[Yolanda Makolo]

It's a lie. He was, he was treated well. He was always treated well.

[Robby Grammer]

It took four days for the world to get any word of what had happened to Paul. On August 31, he was brought to a police station in Kigali where a Rwandan official read out his charges to journalists.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

He has been subject of an international arrest warrant, wanted to answer charges of serious crime, including terrorism, financing terrorism and related offenses.

[Robby Grammer]

At first, the Rwandan government claimed Paul was nabbed through international law enforcement cooperation with an arrest warrant. They later changed their story, fessing up to how they tricked him. Either way, Paul was now in handcuffs. And this is how the family's worst fears were finally confirmed.

[Tatiana Rusessabagina]

A friend from France, in the morning, she called me and she said, paul is in Chigari in Rwanda. Immediately, she sent me a picture where he was in front of the media. I saw the picture then I was shocked. I was shocked. I cried. But when I saw his. Sorry.

[Robby Grammer]

It's okay.

[Tatiana Rusessabagina]

When I saw his image that time, this image stayed in my mind. I hate that image.

[Tresoor Rusessabagina]

I was sleeping. It was like 3:00am and I was getting, like, 25 different calls.

[Robby Grammer]

Again, this is Tracer, Paul and Tatiana's son.

[Tresoor Rusessabagina]

And I just ignored all of them because I was trying to sleep. But then I saw my cousin's name who, like, you know, never calls. So I'm like, all right, this is definitely something weird's going on. So I picked up, and all he said was, they got him. And I knew what he meant.

[Robby Grammer]

I knew was that that weekend, that Saturday, Sunday your mom was talking about.

[Tresoor Rusessabagina]

It was that weekend.

[Paul Rusessabagina]

Yeah.

[Tresoor Rusessabagina]

Yeah, it was that weekend. As soon as he told me that, I looked. What did I do? I think I looked on Google, typed my dad's name. All these things came up. And then I just called my sisters, called my family, and they all found out that way. And it was a shock of a century.

[Karine Rusessabagina]

I was with Anais at her apartment in Washington.

[Robby Grammer]

This is Karine, the sister of Anais and Tresor.

[Karine Rusessabagina]

And we woke up in the middle of the night. Our brother Tresor told us, you know, dad is in Rwanda. We didn't believe it. I think it was. I felt like, you know, go back to sleep and wake up, and this was a terrible nightmare. But he told us, no. Look on the news. Turn on the news. You'll see dad is in Rwanda. And we immediately knew that this could not be good. And we just, I think in disbelief, immediately thought, you know, this will be fixed very quickly. He'll be home, and we just need to make a couple phone calls and somebody will know to bring him home.

[Robby Grammer]

That initial feeling that this was all a misunderstanding evaporated quickly. Their father was being held on terrorism charges in a country with a repressive and vindictive leader who saw Paul as a political opponent. This is Karine again.

[Karine Rusessabagina]

So our immediate reaction was, we need to tell the truth about what's really happening here to explain what we knew about the Rwandan government and what they'd done to him in the past. But we didn't know where to start in terms of beginning a campaign to bring him home.

[Robby Grammer]

That was the big question that consumed the family. What now?

[Tresoor Rusessabagina]

You feel the emotions. They rush in. You cry it out, you yell it out. You're like, God, why? Why? You know, and then you get with the family and you just start to say, listen, now we get up and we take action. And that's the only thing we can do. Because if we don't move, dad dies.

[Tatiana Rusessabagina]

I said, I need to do something because if I don't, my husband will be killed. He doesn't have lawyers, he doesn't have anyone in Rwanda. They will kill him.

[Tresoor Rusessabagina]

So, yeah, you feel your feelings, and they're useful, because when you talk to people, you're gonna need them. You're gonna need to tell them really what you feel, because that's the only way they're gonna want to help you. But you don't let them take over everything, because if you let them, then you can't move, you can't act, and you can't help that.

[Robby Grammer]

Next time on After Hotel Rwanda, we go back 30 years to one of the most heinous acts of violence in modern history. We'll hear the story from Tatiana about the genocide and the long, painful legacy that followed.

[Tatiana Rusessabagina]

It was 8pm when I heard the missile hitting the plane. From that day, the war started.

[Robby Grammer]

After Hotel Rwanda is a production of Foreign Policy. Our series is produced by Rob Sachs and edited by Dan Effron. FP's audio production staff includes Laura Rosbrough Telum, Rosie Julin and Claudia Tate. For more about Paul's story, check out Foreign Policy dot com. We'll have an accompanying article there with more details on the story. And if you like what you're hearing, listeners to this series can get a 15% discount on a subscription to Foreign Policy magazine. Go to the website and enter the code. Ispy I'm Robby Grammer. Thanks for listening.