'I am scared': Inside Congolese city overrun by rebels as echoing blasts and crack of bullets force families to hide

I was wrongfully imprisoned abroad. The US must do more to help people like me.

USA Today

43 minutes ago

USA Today

I was wrongfully imprisoned abroad. The US must do more to help people like me.

I was wrongfully imprisoned abroad. The US must do more to help people like me. This summer will mark five years since I was wrongfully imprisoned by the Rwandan government. For 939 days I sat in prison, cut off from family and community. It was a nightmare I couldn't escape. Show Caption Hide Caption Mother of freed Hamas-held Israeli-American hostage speaks to son The mother of Israeli-American Edan Alexander, who was held captive for 19 months by Hamas, spoke to her son for the first time since being freed. Paul Rusesabagina, known for his actions during the Rwandan genocide, was arbitrarily detained for 939 days. Arbitrary detentions of Americans abroad have risen significantly, increasing from four countries in 2001 to 27 in 2023. Rusesabagina advocates for stronger U.S. government support for detainees and their families, including clearer agency roles and improved coordination. He highlights the need for improvements to the Levinson Act, urging clearer guidelines for wrongful detention designations and responses, especially for human rights defenders. This summer will mark five years since I was kidnapped and wrongfully imprisoned by the Rwandan government. For 939 days, I sat in prison, cut off from my family and community. I was held in solitary confinement, denied medical care and often unable to speak with my lawyers. The days felt endless ‒ like a nightmare I couldn't escape. For my family, it was a different sort of nightmare. Overnight, their lives were transformed. My wife and children were left to navigate the complex web of U.S. federal offices tasked with hostage recovery. My family became full-time advocates for my return, pleading my case before U.S. government officials and sharing my story with the news media. They recruited everyone from national nonprofits and grassroots organizations to Hollywood celebrities who had first learned my story from the movie 'Hotel Rwanda.' Led by my family's passion and persistence, all of these groups played a role in securing my freedom in 2023. There are no words to describe my gratitude. Alongside that gratitude is my fierce commitment to ensure that no individual ‒ and no family ‒ goes through this alone. More Americans are being detained abroad. We can't leave them behind. Over the past two decades, there has been a significant rise in the overseas arbitrary detention of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents like me. Arbitrary detention means someone is detained without due process, and most of the time as reprisal for exercising their rights or being a member of a targeted group. In 2001, only four countries had arbitrarily detained a U.S. national. In 2023, that number had grown to 27 countries. According to the Foley Foundation, at least 54 Americans were held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas during 2024. Opinion: Terrorists killed James Foley, my journalist son, and threaten others. Democracy needs them to be safe. The stories behind these statistics are chilling. Cambodian American human rights activist Theary Seng was jailed and sentenced to six years in prison for criticizing Cambodia's dictator on social media. Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was sentenced to more than six years after the Russian government accused her of spreading falsehoods about the army. I was jailed without a fair trial and punished for speaking out against Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his repressive regime. Addressing the rise in arbitrary detention, wrongful detention and hostage-taking isn't just about justice on an individual level. It's about safeguarding the very foundation of democracy ‒ the ability to speak out without the threat of a jail cell. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. Across administrations and across party lines, the United States has historically been committed to helping people who are wrongfully detained overseas, whether they are U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents like myself or citizens of other countries who are victimized by oppressive regimes. Amid an international context of increasing authoritarianism, it is more important than ever that the U.S. government provide a strong, unified front in fighting for the return of arbitrarily detained individuals and supporting the families left behind. America is capable of protecting its citizens abroad better. I know. My story proves what the U.S. government is capable of when it mobilizes resources and prioritizes democracy. To this day, my daughters speak about the State Department's above-and-beyond efforts to reunite us. For years, congressional representatives championed our cause, writing letters, speaking out and putting pressure on the Kagame regime. But there is still room for improvement. The U.S. government's ability to help detainees and their families is often hindered by the lack of clarity on the specific roles of various government agencies and the logistical difficulty of coordinating with all of those different groups. My family and I recently worked with Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the leading nonprofit that took my case to the United Nations when I was detained, to create a new guide that provides strategies and best practices for engaging with the U.S. government on arbitrary detention cases. It's my sincere hope that this resource helps individuals and families who find themselves in our position, desperately trying to secure the return of their loved one. Opinion: Hamas released me. But with my partner still held hostage, I cannot be truly free. Aside from independent resources, we need stronger federal guidance and coordination. The U.S. law that governs hostage recovery, the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, was passed in 2020 and significantly expanded the U.S. legal framework around arbitrary and wrongful detention. But for all its benefits, the Levinson Act doesn't give enough clarity on how the secretary of State makes wrongful detention designations, which is a crucial component of recovery efforts. It also doesn't provide a clear system for how the United States responds to arbitrary detention, particularly in cases involving human rights defenders. Organizations like the Foley Foundation that work closely with arbitrarily detained people and their families have spent years advocating for changes within the U.S. government. Their recommendations range from establishing a direct line of communication among the president, the special presidential envoy and the director of the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell to creating a more comprehensive reintegration support program for returning hostages and wrongful detainees. Admittedly, there is no one catch-all solution. Arbitrary and wrongful detention is a complex challenge, and addressing it requires ongoing collaboration within the government, strong recovery efforts, effective international relations and prevention strategies that tackle root causes. But all of this starts at home, with domestic policies that protect U.S. nationals and safeguard human rights defenders abroad. I escaped that Rwandan prison because of a powerful joint effort among individuals, nonprofit organizations and government agencies. There were many people who stood up and who fought for my freedom. That community saved my life. In a perfect world, no individual or family would ever go through what I did. But until we get to that point, we must stand alongside arbitrarily detained individuals and their families. The U.S. government has an opportunity to continue being a beacon of hope. Paul Rusesabagina is a Rwandan humanitarian activist and former hotel manager whose actions during the 1994 genocide inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda." He has since become an outspoken critic of authoritarianism in Rwanda and a global voice for justice and peace.

Hamas says it killed 12 Israeli-backed fighters. Israeli-supported group says they were aid workers

San Francisco Chronicle

an hour ago

San Francisco Chronicle

Hamas says it killed 12 Israeli-backed fighters. Israeli-supported group says they were aid workers

CAIRO (AP) — A unit of the Hamas-run police force said it killed 12 members of an Israeli-backed militia after detaining them early Thursday in the Gaza Strip. Hours earlier, an Israel-supported aid group said Hamas attacked a bus carrying its Palestinian workers, killing at least five of them. The militia, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, said its fighters had attacked Hamas and killed five militants but made no mention of its own casualties. It also accused Hamas of detaining and killing aid workers. It was not immediately possible to verify the competing claims or confirm the identities of those killed. The Israeli military circulated the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation 's statement on its social media accounts but declined to provide its own account of what happened. Aid initiative already marred by controversy and violence The aid group's operations in Gaza have already been marred by controversy and violence since they began last month, with scores of people killed in near-daily shootings as crowds headed toward the food distribution sites inside Israeli military zones. Witnesses have blamed the Israeli military, which has acknowledged firing only warning shots near people it said approached its forces in a suspicious manner. Earlier this week, witnesses also said Abu Shabab militiamen had opened fire on people en route to a GHF aid hub, killing and wounding many. The United Nations and major aid groups have rejected the Israeli and U.S.-backed initiative, accusing them of militarizing humanitarian aid at a time when experts say Gaza is at risk of famine because of Israel's blockade and renewed military campaign. Last week, Israel acknowledged it is supporting armed groups of Palestinians in what it says is a move to counter Hamas. Abu Shabab's militia, which calls itself the Popular Forces, says it is guarding the food distribution points set up by the Israeli- and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in southern Gaza. Aid workers say it has a long history of looting U.N. trucks. GHF has denied working with the Abu Shabab group. 'They were aid workers' In a statement released early Thursday, the foundation said Hamas had attacked a bus carrying more than two dozen 'local Palestinians working side-by-side with the U.S. GHF team to deliver critical aid' near the southern city of Khan Younis. 'We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms,' it said. 'These were aid workers. Humanitarians. Fathers, brothers, sons, and friends, who were risking their lives everyday to help others.' It did not identify the men or say whether they were armed at the time. Israel and the United States say the new system is needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid from the long-standing U.N.-run system, which is capable of delivering food, fuel and other humanitarian aid to all parts of Gaza. U.N. officials deny there has been any systematic diversion of aid by Hamas, but say they have struggled to deliver it because of Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order in Gaza. U.N. officials say the new system is unable to meet mounting needs, and that it allows Israel to use aid as a weapon by controlling who has access to it and by essentially forcing people to relocate to the aid sites, most of which are in the southernmost city of Rafah, now a mostly uninhabited military zone. Some fear this could be part of an Israeli plan to coerce Palestinians into leaving Gaza. Hamas says it killed traitors Hamas has also rejected the new system and threatened to kill any Palestinians who cooperate with the Israeli military. The killings early Wednesday were carried out by the Hamas-run police's Sahm unit, which Hamas says it established to combat looting. The unit released video footage showing several dead men lying in the street, saying they were Abu Shabab fighters who had been detained and killed for collaborating with Israel. It was not possible to verify the images or the claims around them. Mohammed Abu Amin, a Khan Younis resident, said he was at the scene of the killings and that crowds were celebrating them, shouting 'God is greatest' and condemning those killed as traitors to the Palestinian cause and agents of Israel. Ghassan Duhine, who identifies himself as a major in the Palestinian Authority's security forces and deputy commander of the Abu Shabab group, posted a statement online saying they clashed with Sahm and killed five. He denied that the images shared by Sahm were of Abu Shabab fighters. The Palestinian Authority, led by rivals of Hamas and based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has denied any connection to the Abu Shabab group, but many of the militiamen identify themselves as PA officers. Mounting lawlessness as Israel steps up military campaign Israel renewed its offensive in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas and imposed a complete ban on imports of food, fuel, medicine and other aid before easing the blockade in mid-May. The ongoing war and mounting desperation have plunged Gaza into chaos, with armed gangs looting aid convoys and selling the stolen food. The Hamas-run police force, which maintained a high degree of public security before the war, has largely gone underground as Israel has repeatedly targeted its forces with airstrikes. The military now controls more than half of the territory. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. They are still holding 53 captives, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's military campaign has killed over 55,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half of the dead. It does not say how many of those killed were civilians or combatants. Israel's offensive has flattened large areas of Gaza and driven around 90% of the population of roughly 2 million Palestinians from their homes. The territory is almost completely reliant on humanitarian aid because nearly all of its food production capabilities have been destroyed. ___

Yahoo

2 hours ago

Yahoo

Hamas says it killed 12 Israeli-backed fighters. Israeli-supported group says they were aid workers

CAIRO (AP) — A unit of the Hamas-run police force said it killed 12 members of an Israeli-backed militia after detaining them early Thursday in the Gaza Strip. Hours earlier, an Israel-supported aid group said Hamas attacked a bus carrying its Palestinian workers, killing at least five of them. The militia, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, said its fighters had attacked Hamas and killed five militants but made no mention of its own casualties. It also accused Hamas of detaining and killing aid workers. It was not immediately possible to verify the competing claims or confirm the identities of those killed. The Israeli military circulated the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation 's statement on its social media accounts but declined to provide its own account of what happened. Aid initiative already marred by controversy and violence The aid group's operations in Gaza have already been marred by controversy and violence since they began last month, with scores of people killed in near-daily shootings as crowds headed toward the food distribution sites inside Israeli military zones. Witnesses have blamed the Israeli military, which has acknowledged firing only warning shots near people it said approached its forces in a suspicious manner. Earlier this week, witnesses also said Abu Shabab militiamen had opened fire on people en route to a GHF aid hub, killing and wounding many. The United Nations and major aid groups have rejected the Israeli and U.S.-backed initiative, accusing them of militarizing humanitarian aid at a time when experts say Gaza is at risk of famine because of Israel's blockade and renewed military campaign. Last week, Israel acknowledged it is supporting armed groups of Palestinians in what it says is a move to counter Hamas. Abu Shabab's militia, which calls itself the Popular Forces, says it is guarding the food distribution points set up by the Israeli- and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in southern Gaza. Aid workers say it has a long history of looting U.N. trucks. GHF has denied working with the Abu Shabab group. 'They were aid workers' In a statement released early Thursday, the foundation said Hamas had attacked a bus carrying more than two dozen 'local Palestinians working side-by-side with the U.S. GHF team to deliver critical aid' near the southern city of Khan Younis. 'We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms,' it said. 'These were aid workers. Humanitarians. Fathers, brothers, sons, and friends, who were risking their lives everyday to help others.' It did not identify the men or say whether they were armed at the time. Israel and the United States say the new system is needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid from the long-standing U.N.-run system, which is capable of delivering food, fuel and other humanitarian aid to all parts of Gaza. U.N. officials deny there has been any systematic diversion of aid by Hamas, but say they have struggled to deliver it because of Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order in Gaza. U.N. officials say the new system is unable to meet mounting needs, and that it allows Israel to use aid as a weapon by controlling who has access to it and by essentially forcing people to relocate to the aid sites, most of which are in the southernmost city of Rafah, now a mostly uninhabited military zone. Some fear this could be part of an Israeli plan to coerce Palestinians into leaving Gaza. Hamas says it killed traitors Hamas has also rejected the new system and threatened to kill any Palestinians who cooperate with the Israeli military. The killings early Wednesday were carried out by the Hamas-run police's Sahm unit, which Hamas says it established to combat looting. The unit released video footage showing several dead men lying in the street, saying they were Abu Shabab fighters who had been detained and killed for collaborating with Israel. It was not possible to verify the images or the claims around them. Mohammed Abu Amin, a Khan Younis resident, said he was at the scene of the killings and that crowds were celebrating them, shouting 'God is greatest' and condemning those killed as traitors to the Palestinian cause and agents of Israel. Ghassan Duhine, who identifies himself as a major in the Palestinian Authority's security forces and deputy commander of the Abu Shabab group, posted a statement online saying they clashed with Sahm and killed five. He denied that the images shared by Sahm were of Abu Shabab fighters. The Palestinian Authority, led by rivals of Hamas and based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has denied any connection to the Abu Shabab group, but many of the militiamen identify themselves as PA officers. Mounting lawlessness as Israel steps up military campaign Israel renewed its offensive in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas and imposed a complete ban on imports of food, fuel, medicine and other aid before easing the blockade in mid-May. The ongoing war and mounting desperation have plunged Gaza into chaos, with armed gangs looting aid convoys and selling the stolen food. The Hamas-run police force, which maintained a high degree of public security before the war, has largely gone underground as Israel has repeatedly targeted its forces with airstrikes. The military now controls more than half of the territory. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. They are still holding 53 captives, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's military campaign has killed over 55,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half of the dead. It does not say how many of those killed were civilians or combatants. Israel's offensive has flattened large areas of Gaza and driven around 90% of the population of roughly 2 million Palestinians from their homes. The territory is almost completely reliant on humanitarian aid because nearly all of its food production capabilities have been destroyed. ___ Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at

'I am scared': Inside Congolese city overrun by rebels as echoing blasts and crack of bullets force families to hide

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I was wrongfully imprisoned abroad. The US must do more to help people like me.

Hamas says it killed 12 Israeli-backed fighters. Israeli-supported group says they were aid workers

Hamas says it killed 12 Israeli-backed fighters. Israeli-supported group says they were aid workers

'I am scared': Inside Congolese city overrun by rebels as echoing blasts and crack of bullets force families to hide

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I was wrongfully imprisoned abroad. The US must do more to help people like me.

Hamas says it killed 12 Israeli-backed fighters. Israeli-supported group says they were aid workers

Hamas says it killed 12 Israeli-backed fighters. Israeli-supported group says they were aid workers

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