The PANAFRICAN Review
the Newsmaker , in an incoherent and cynical attempt to downplay the damning evidence of Rusesabagina ’ s self-incriminatory recording in which he took responsibility for the very terrorist attacks that had prompted western diplomatic representations in Rwanda to issue travel warnings to their citizens . Still , for Amnesty and Human Rights Watch , there is no shame in being associated with supporters of terrorism in Africa .
Clearly , if these were organizations defending the human rights of Africans , as they feign to do , they would be sitting in the courtroom demanding justice for the victims . But they seem to have more urgent issues . Like their colleagues , the “ democracy promoters ” scattered across the continent , in the assertiveness of Rwanda and other non-western countries they perceive a threat to their supervisory role in the international order .
“ We also want to take our relationship to the next level in terms of a common understanding of governance . The attitude of ‘ adult supervision ’ has to be left in the past . Examples of bad or wrong conduct can be found everywhere … there cannot be a mutually respectful partnership premised on the unspoken assumption that one party lacks values , or has defective values , while the other party is a fully-formed moral agent ,” President Kagame told participants in the 5th meeting of the High-level
Group of Personalities on Europe-Africa Relations . These remarks were meant for political leaders in Europe , but they are also relevant for western “ human rights ” organizations and “ democracy ” promoters because this attitude towards Africa is pervasive across sectors .
In simpler terms , Rwanda and other African countries have the right to – and should – acquire whatever technological means necessary to guarantee the safety of their people .
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