The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, and the Amer Foundation have come together to present this powerful community conversation, “Heroes Among Us: Insights into the World of Political Prisoners & Hostages”. Headlining this event is a fireside chat with Paul Rusesabagina, the real life hero of Hotel Rwanda, to discuss his experience being taken as a political prisoner of the Kagame government in Rwanda. Following this chat will be a panel discussion with Beth Cooper, Former Senior Advisor to the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs; Diane Foley, Founder & President of the Foley Foundation, and Zoya Fakhoury, Co-Founder of the Amer Foundation, to answer the question of how civil society and governments can work together to release illegally detained people. Audience Q&A will follow. Through engaging in this event, audience members will hear stories of people who have suffered greatly under an illegal detention, what steps were taken to secure their release, and the long term impacts this had on families and communities. Audiences will also gain insights into the very real ways that everyday people can help end the detention of people around the world.
