In 2018 - 2019, the Rwandan government and NBA agreed on launching the Basketball Africa League (BAL) in Rwanda. The project was launched after Rwandan government built a $104 million stadium in one of the poorest countries in the World. The NBA-Rwanda Government project has been criticized by several leaders around the World given the well documented grave human rights abuses in Rwanda, under the bloody regime led by the Rwandan Dictator Paul Kagame, including widespread assassinations and disappearances of political opponents, journalists, and activists, enrollment of child soldiers, invasion of neighboring countries to loot mineral and natural resources, while massacring innocent civilians.
ESPN to NBA: How the NBA got into business with an African dictator.
In July 2024, in a report titled "How the NBA got into business with an African dictator" (see: How the NBA got into business with an African dictator ), ESPN, an America-based news and international cable sports media channel, covered the background of the controversial agreement between Paul Kagame and NBA. ESPN journalists started with a visit to Kigali by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, his deputy deputy Mark Tatum, and Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, where they met Paul Kagame and several members of his cabinet at Petit Stade. The Petit Stade, after a $104 million cost, became the NBA-style arena, which requires at least 10,000 seats and extras including suites, high-speed Wi-Fi, plush locker rooms, concessions, and VIP locations.
Following the agreement, several criticisms started to appear in media, public statements by reputable personalities, and protests by activists.
ESPN has been reporting on the partnership, with the inputs from interviews, the reviews of U.S. and international human rights reports, and trips to Rwanda. Those interviewed include NBA executives and coaches, Rwandan officials and opposition figures, U.S. government sources, human rights experts and investors in the NBA's Africa business.
From the reports, the agreement between Rwanda government and NBA was challenged. The report points to NBA "sportswashing repressive regimes accused of aligning with sports entities to distract them from their human rights abuses"
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ESPN Report: Rwandan Dictator Paul Kagame's Bloody Record In Rwanda and in the Neighboring Countries.
In the end, ESPN confirmed that the U.S. State Department has repeatedly cited credible reports that Paul Kagame's government is responsible for human rights violations ranging from the imprisonment, torture and murder of political opponents to the funding of child soldiers in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the invasions of DRC under the cover of rebels and militia to loot mineral and natural resources.
In fact they point to the U.S. State Department's annual human rights reports which have been confirming that in Rwanda, under Paul Kagame since 2000, "Significant human rights issues included: unlawful or arbitrary killings by the government; forced disappearance by the government; torture by the government; harsh and life-threatening conditions in some detention facilities; arbitrary detention; political prisoners or detainees; politically motivated reprisal against individuals located outside the country; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; serious restrictions on free expression, press, and the internet, including threats of violence against journalists, censorship, and website blocking; substantial interference with the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, such as overly restrictive nongovernmental organization laws; and restrictions on political participation."
In May 2021, the organization Human Rights Foundation sent a letter to NBA Commissioner expressing a "grave concern" about the league's relationships with Paul Kagame, in contradiction with NBA values and its projected leadership on social justice issues, looking past human rights abuses and injustices far worse than those they claim to speak against and oppose.
During one of the interviews with ESPN, Elizabeth Shackelford, a former U.S. diplomat with an extended experience in Africa, referring to the human tragedies caused by the Rwandan regime inside the country and in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, wondered why it's OK for NBA to partner with Paul Kagame, "someone who individually created this kind of suffering, both in his country and beyond." and said that the Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame "is, and has been for decades" a worse dictator.
US Senators Challenge NBA Regarding the Business Deals and Partnership With Rwandan Dictator Paul Kagame.
Now the challenges against the deal between Paul Kagame and NBA have taken a step forward.
On August 27, 2024 two U.S. senators, in a letter to NBA commissioner Adam Silver, reacted to ESPN report and challenged NBA Commissioner to explain how, it has been "developing relationships with dictators and despots" including Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame, breaking its own commitment to "social justice" and "putting profit over principle" . The letter was in response to an ESPN story that detailed the NBA's extensive relationship with Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame.
The two U.S. senators are from both the Democrats and Republicans parties: Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) and Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon). In the letter, the US senators also highlight that, "Anyone who dares to question Kagame's rule -- whether it be opposition candidates or the free press -- is jailed, disappeared or brutally murdered." and ask the NBA to stop dealing with dictators. "Playing ball with dictators and brutal regimes should not be the NBA's business model. Instead, the league should use its influence to advocate for governance reforms, including respect for the rule of law," the letter ends.
Following the letter by the US Senators, all eyes are now on the next steps and decisions by NBA commissioner Adam Silver and by the investors in NBA Africa - BAL, including former US President Barack Obama, actor Forest Whitaker, Atlanta Hawks' Grant Hill and former Chicago Bulls star Joakim Noah.
©2024 AfroAmerica Network.
