False and misleading statement aimed at ignoring/ minimizing the injustice endured by Victoire Ingabire under Kagame's order:
"She [Diane Rwagara] is hardly the only Rwandan presidential hopeful to pay dearly for challenging Kagame's position", Adjoa Agyeiwaa, Truthout, September 12, 2017.
About the Author "ADJOA AGYEIWAA":
Adjoa Agyeiwaa is a Ghanian-born US national who studied at the University of Maryland, graduating with a degree in history and a Master's in international relations with a focus on West African politics. Agyeiwaa lives in Paris and works as a consultant for a strategy company.
http://www.truth-out.org/author/itemlist/user/50728
About "Truth Out":
Truthout is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organizationdedicated to providing independent news and commentary on a daily basis. Truthout works to spark action by revealing systemic injustice and providing a platform for transformative ideas, through in-depth investigative reporting and critical analysis. With a powerful, independent voice, we will spur the revolution in consciousness and inspire the direct action that is necessary to save the planet and humanity.
http://www.truth-out.org/about-us
On Sep 20, 2017, at 3:14 AM, agnesmurebwayire@yahoo.fr [Democracy_Human_Rights] <Democracy_Human_Rights@yahoogroupes.fr> wrote:
Adjoa Agyeiwaa - truth-out.org
Paul Kagame may have just been re-elected president of Rwanda, but he clearly puts little stock in elections. Late last month, the man who has ruled post-genocide Rwanda for two decades rejected "Western democracy" and asserted Africa's need for its own version of democracy. Coming from a man whose opponents tend to turn up dead or imprisoned, the statement is an ominous one.
While Kagame's words would once have drawn international ire, he has less to fear these days. In Donald Trump, the United States has a leader who prefers to embolden autocratic leaders with his renunciation of moral foreign policy leadership. For good reason, Kagame and his fellow strongmen feel they have carte blanche from Washington to suppress their people while paying lip service to a concept they despise.
It is true that Rwanda has held elections regularly, but as Americans well know, elections alone are hardly the defining yardstick of democracy or democratic legitimacy. One look at the election that put Trump in the White House is enough to illustrate the inherent flaws of certain voting systems, not to mention the need for strong, independent institutions. Democracies need more than voting to survive: equally important are checks on executive power, adherence to civil rights and the rule of law, and a free media landscape -- all of which leaders like Trump and Kagame actively undermine.
Still, maintaining the outward appearance of a functioning democracy has served autocrats well for decades. By promising reforms and appealing to the West's hopes of alleviating poverty, African leaders like Kagame have played the system to their advantage. Rulers such as Kagame maintain a democratic veneer by staging meaningless elections to legitimize their own rule. Their version of "democracy" is simply part of a long-term survival strategy.
Perhaps most disconcerting is how well those tactics work in deflecting international criticism. After independence, many African countries sought national unity within their fractured societies by imposing one-party systems with the promise to relinquish power down the road. Some did, eventually, but many others built the repressive regimes we see today.
Kagame's hold on power, for one, is still justified through a vague notion of "African-style democracy" supposedly based on common consensus rather than individual votes. It is not coincidental that Diane Shima Rwigara, one of Kagame's most vocal critics, was barred from running against him on obscure technicalities and is now facing charges of tax evasion and bribery. She is hardly the only Rwandan presidential hopeful to pay dearly for challenging Kagame's position.
The "wave of democratization" that hit Africa in the 1990s has not altered the way many African nations are governed. In fact, as the number of procedural democracies has increased, substantive democracy across the continent has declined. Those façades serve to hide human rights violations and pervert the rule of law to silence opposing voices.
Posted by: Nzi Nink <nzinink@yahoo.com>
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