April 24, 2006

A Rwandan Speaks Out on Darfur

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Paul Rusesabagina wants to make sure we pay attention to history so that we do not repeat our mistakes. The Rwandan hotel manager—whose actions during the 1994 genocide saved the lives of 1,268 refugees and inspired the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda—is using his book tour not only to promote his recently released autobiography An Ordinary Man but to also call attention to the devastating slaughter in Darfur, as well as to continuing human rights abuses in Rwanda.

This past Friday evening in San Francisco, Rusesabagina spoke about his ordeal, recounting intense moments of sadness, terror, and heartbreak. The 51-year-old who now lives in exile in Belgium expressed frustration with the ongoing political situation in his homeland, noting, “There are no free elections in Rwanda.”

Rusesabagina also challenged his audience to confront the situation in Sudan, comparing the crisis there to Rwanda during the early 1990s. He said the United States needs to send a clear message to the Sudanese government that they are not “untouchable.” His recommended action of choice? Begin by freezing the assets of those in power.

As he noted in a recent fundraising letter on behalf of the Save Darfur Coalition, “I see what is going on in Darfur right now and I wonder how the world can let it happen again. This is a shame to mankind.”

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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