By David Himbara
General Paul Kagame and Myanmar’s military ruler General Min Aung Hlaing are among the world’s strongmen not invited to the Summit on Democracy hosted by the US President Joe Biden on December 9–10, 2021.
The purpose of the Summit for Democracy, is to establish an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the threats to democracy. The expected outcomes of the Summit include practicable ideas around three key themes, namely, defending against authoritarianism, addressing and fighting corruption, and advancing respect for human rights.
For the obvious reason, Kagame and other strongmen such as General Min Aung Hlaing did not qualify for Biden’s Democracy Summit.
Kagame runs one of the worst dictatorships on planet earth. On January 25, 2021, the US recommended that Rwanda should “independently and transparently investigate credible allegations of unlawful or arbitrary arrests and detentions, killings, and enforced disappearances of human rights defenders, political opponents, and journalists.”
With such a horrific human rights record, Kagame has nothing to offer to advance democracy. Stay tuned.
