CHARACTER BIOS
H.E. PAUL KAGAME
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA
Paul Kagame was sworn in as President of the Republic of Rwanda for a seven-year term in September 2003 following the country's first ever democratically contested multi-party elections. Born in October 1957, he spent thirty years as a refugee in Uganda after his family fled violent ethnic persecution 1960. He returned to Rwanda thirty years later to lead the Rwandan Patriotic Front's struggle to liberate Rwanda from the autocratic and divisive order established since independence. In July 1994, the Rwanda Patriotic Army commanded by Paul Kagame, defeated the government that planned and executed the genocide in which over a million Rwandans died.
In the new post-genocide Government of National Unity, Paul Kagame first as Vice President and then as President led the rebuilding of the shattered country from scratch. This included the establishment of Gacaca, a remarkable process of justice and reconciliation which has seen one and a half million genocide suspects tried in community courts, with many sentenced to community service and reintegrated into society. Paul Kagame is forging a united, secure and forward looking nation. His leadership and the achievements of Rwanda in peace building, reconciliation, human rights, women's empowerment, good governance and development have been recognised internationally.
ROSE KABUYE
CHIEF OF STATE PROTOCOL
Rose Kabuye is the Chief of State Protocol in the Office of the President of Rwanda, H.E. Paul Kagame, having being appointed to the position in October 2003. A retired Lieutenant Colonel, she is the highest ranking female officer in the history of Rwanda.
Ms. Kabuye was born in eastern Rwanda in 1961 and raised in a refugee camp in Uganda after her parents fled the violence against the Tutsi minority in Rwanda in 1963. Upon finishing her university studies in Kampala in 1985, she joined the fighting forces of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, and was part of the group of RPF forces that attacked Rwanda from western Uganda on 1st October 1990 in an effort to reclaim a homeland. In July 1994 after the RPF won the war and stopped the genocide, Ms. Kabuye was appointed the first Mayor of the country's capital and was responsible for helping the city get back on its feet with hard won peace, stability and creating a functioning infrastructure. Thereafter, she served as a Member of Parliament for two years, chairing the Security and Defence Committee.
November 2008, Ms. Kabuye was arrested in Germany on a international arrest warrant issued in Paris by French terrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere on November 17, 2006.
April 2009, France allowed Ms. Kabuye to return to Rwanda. They have refused to rescind her arrest warrant or to schedule a formal trial.
She is married to David Kabuye and together they have three children.
JEAN PIERRE SAGAHUTU
Jean Pierre Sagahutu, 47, works as a fixer and is based in Kigali, Rwanda. He has worked for various international news organizations and as a transportation coordinator on many feature film shot in Rwanda.
During the 1994 genocide, his two parents, four brothers, and three sisters were murdered. His father, Joseph, was the doctor of Kibuye, a western province that borders Lake Kivu and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This region was under French military occupation at the end of the genocide under 'Operation Turquoise'.
Jean Pierre has searched for details about his father's murder for the past fifteen years, wanting to know exactly what happened, who killed him and why.
"For me the most important thing is to know the truth. It is the most important thing because as you know, the justice, it is a very long wait."
To survive during the genocide, Jean-Pierre hid in a septic tank for two months and sixteen days - eating only two or three times a week because a friend brought him food.
He is married with four children. Earth Made of Glass is his first and only appearance in a documentary film.
