For those who never passed Political Science 101, I need to remind them that the current leaders of the DRC, Rwanda, and Uganda were armed rebels, i.e., criminals, and violated the laws of their own countries by promoting insurgency and participating in the killing of innocent people. Rebellion is a crime; any rebel is a criminal; any former rebel who becomes a statesman is still a criminal in Rwanda, Uganda, the DRC, etc. and must be prosecuted based on the laws he violated and not based on the laws he enacted to protect himself against prosecution. There is always a case départ !
As a democracy advocate and human rights activist, I urge those with power in world politics to use their influence and pressure to promote the cause of freedom and democracy in the countries cited above and others across the globe and to starve to death every single dictator and armed rebel group by freezing any direct and indirect foreign aid to dictators, their assets, and their associates' assets. Throughout the years, I have repeated this same message over and over again in meetings with Western diplomats and on the Internet. There is no other way to safeguard foreign taxpayers' money!
Much has been achieved in recent weeks in freezing the assets of the Rwanda-and-Uganda backed M23 rebels. Now is the time to focus on the foreign assets of the dictators of Africa's Great Lakes region and work towards the end of tyranny in this part of the world. This is a second test for the international community to help eliminate dictatorships and build democracies.
For those who still struggle with Foreign Policy 101, the reasoning is very simple: dictatorship, freedom, and rule of law cannot mix; they're like water and oil. No dictator can promote democracy and the only specie a dictator can turn into is that monstrous creature I once coined "dictocrat" at the Foreign Policy Magazine. This is a weird specie that sheds its skin through fraudulent elections to camouflage its tyrannical origins and ends. Paul Kagame, Yoweri Museveni, Joseph Kabila, Paul Biya, Bozizé, etc. are just a few examples. Along the same lines, there is no such a thing as "benevolent dictator". I've heard some diplomats praise creatures such as Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni as benevolent dictators. They're wrong and must go back to school: these individuals and some of their peers are not only tyrants, but they also belong to what I've also coined a "new generation of African thieves".
I am pleased that only a few countries still roll the red carpet for visiting dictators, and it is comforting that state dinners in presidential palaces to honor visiting dictators and tyrants have become a rare event in today's world. I commend those leaders who refuse to physically associate, even on picture, with African dictators and tyrants. I urge them to move beyond the symbolic state dinner ban and start playing a more active role towards the end of tyranny in Africa in general and in Africa's Great Lakes region in particular. A bon entendeur, salut!
