TLU hosts the real life hero of “Hotel Rwanda” as well as experts on the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa who will discuss the history of political unrest and new opportunities for peace in African nations.
Remarks by Mr. Rene Lemarchand, Sen. Bob Krueger, Jean-Marie Ngendahayo
Audience Q&A
About the Speakers
Paul Rusesabagina
Mr. Paul Rusesabagina, the man who helped save 1,268 people during the 1994 Rwandan genocide by providing shelter and safety at a Kigali hotel, is founder of the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation which strives to promote truth and reconciliation in Rwanda and provides educational assistance to the orphans of African civil wars, genocide and the AIDS epidemic. Rusesabagina, whose story was dramatized in the Academy-award nominated film “Hotel Rwanda,” will address TLU guests on the lessons learned from the Rwandan genocide and the steps necessary to prevent future genocides.
Dr. René Lemarchand
Dr. René Lemarchand, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Florida, is a French political scientist who is known for his research on ethnic conflict and genocide in Rwanda, Burundi and Darfur. In July 1971, while on a two-month research trip to Chad, Lemarchand was arrested and charged with visiting a restricted zone and failing to respond to a summons by the country's president. He was released at the end of August 1971. Mr. Lemarchand will discuss “Mass Murder in the Great Lakes: A Backward Glance at the Roots of the Crisis” on March 10 at TLU.
Senator Bob Krueger
Senator Bob Krueger is a former U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Texas. He has served as U.S. Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Mexican Affairs, U.S. Ambassador to Burundi, and U.S. Ambassador to Botswana and Special Representative of the U.S. Secretary of State to the 14 nations of the Southern African Development Community. During his service in Burundi, Krueger’s outspokenness on human rights issues provoked an ambush of his convoy in which two people were killed and eight wounded. Krueger is the author of “From Bloodshed to Hope in Burundi.” (Dallas Morning News Column) Sen. Krueger will speak at TLU on March 10.
Jean-Marie Ngendahayo
Jean-Marie Ngendahayo is a visiting scholar in residence at TLU. Born in Burundi, he served in some of his nation's highest offices before fleeing Burundian dictatorships and living as a refugee in South Africa and Finland. Ngendahayo returned to Burundi in 2005 and was appointed Minister of Home Affairs in the transitional government where he conducted the second democratic elections in independent Burundi.In 2008, he joined 19 other Members of Parliament in speaking out against corruption within their own party. All were striped of their parliamentary seats, two were imprisoned and others were threatened. Ngendahayo was forced once again to flee – this time to the U.S. in October 2008. Ngendahayo will speak at TLU on March 10.
