David Lipson
News Reporter

The man portrayed as the central figure of the film Hotel Rwanda spoke to hundreds of students and faculty last Monday at a lecture organized by the college.

“Hotel Rwanda is the true story of what was going on in a small place called a sanctuary,” said Paul Rusesabagina at the Bloor Cinema.  “It does not recall what was happening outside, except for one footage – which was true footage – when you saw people cutting other people into pieces.”

Rusesabagina sheltered 1,268 refugees as manager of the Hotel Milles Collines in Kigali during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

“His story is one that unfortunately really needs to be heard,” said Corey Norman, 24, an international project management program student. “Because it’s something that continues on today that we haven’t learned and we need to hear a first hand recounting of, before it starts to have real impact.  I thought it was a very important conversation to be having.”

Roughly 800,000 people were killed and two million people displaced after 100 days of fighting between Hutus and Tutsis.

In the lecture titled Hotel Rwanada:  A Lesson yet to be Learned, Rusesabagina urged students to speak out peacefully against the ethnic conflicts in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“Today I’m urging you to deliver – to stand up. For so long we stood by. Today is the day for all of us to stand up and say ‘no’ kindly to killers.”

But not all attendees wished to heed his message.  A small group of protesters gathered outside the theatre accusing him of corruption and playing down the conflict.

“He’s fake,” said John Rwabyoma, a member of the Rwandese Association of Canada.  “They had to pay to stay at that hotel – he never says that.”

Humber journalism student Andrew de Souza voiced protestors’ concerns by asking if their claims of refugees being charged to stay were true.

“I did not charge anyone,” said Rusesabagina.  “No one has showed bills.”