Rwanda’s winning F1 bid sparks uproar over human rights abuses

Just days after winning a historic bid for Africa’s first Formula 1 race in decades, Rwanda’s authoritarian government has been hit with fresh allegations of involvement in human rights abuses.

The body of a prominent Rwandan dissident was found in Uganda on the weekend, and police confirmed on Monday that he had been beheaded. The gruesome discovery has provoked outrage among Rwandan refugees and human rights activists, with many citing the killing as an example of why they oppose the F1 decision.

Police have not identified any suspects in the death of Robert Kabera, a longstanding critic of the Rwandan government who has suffered threats and physical assault in Uganda after being granted asylum there. But many exiled dissidents have been killed or injured in attacks that are often linked to the Rwandan government.

For the past decade, F1 has been aggressively expanding into emerging markets worldwide, and Africa is its latest frontier. The continent has not played host to an F1 Grand Prix race since a money-losing race in South Africa in 1993. Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton is among those who complained about Africa’s absence from the world circuit, and F1 agreed with him.

“Africa is home to more than 100 million Formula 1 fans, and that number continues to grow rapidly,” F1 president Stefano Domenicali said last week as he announced a 10-year agreement with Rwanda.

Formula 1 announces return to Africa with Grand Prix in Rwanda in early 2030s

The African Grand Prix will begin in Rwanda in the early 2030s, he said, calling it a “landmark” decision. “With Rwanda joining the calendar from the next decade, our sport will race in every inhabited continent, bringing the World Championship closer than ever to fans around the globe,” Domenicali said.

South Africa had been pushing for the right to hold F1 races at an upgraded version of the Kyalami racetrack near Johannesburg where the South African Grand Prix was held from 1967 to 1985 and again in 1992 and 1993. Last year, South Africa’s cabinet approved a proposal to bid for an F1 event at Kyalami next year.

By selecting Rwanda over South Africa, F1 chose one of the continent’s most repressive countries, rather than one of its most democratic. But F1 has never hesitated to hold races in other autocratic countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China, Bahrain, Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates.

Global sports events have been a key element in the national branding strategy of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who has dominated his country for 32 years after taking power at the end of the 1994 genocide. He has invested millions of dollars in partnership deals with the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA, the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL and the Aston Villa and Paris Saint-Germain soccer teams. He has also brought cycling and cricket championships to his country.

Critics have called this “sportswashing” – the use of sporting events to whitewash the image of an authoritarian regime. The new agreement with F1 is a “sportswashing prize for the Rwandan authorities,” said Felix Jakens, head of campaigns for Amnesty International in Britain.

“Rwanda is buying into the world’s biggest sports to polish its image and deflect from its appalling human rights record,” he said in a statement.

Rwandan elections are tightly controlled. Authorities have repeatedly arrested the country’s most prominent opposition leader, Victoire Ingabire, who was imprisoned for eight years and is again on trial now on charges of inciting public unrest.

Rwanda has also sent thousands of troops across its border into the Democratic Republic of Congo to support the M23 militia, which has allegedly killed hundreds of civilians as it captured huge swathes of eastern Congo, according to United Nations reports.

The decapitation attack on Kabera, who had attracted 144,000 subscribers to a YouTube channel that often criticized Kagame, has drawn further attention to the long history of attacks on exiled Rwandan dissidents.

In a 2023 report, Human Rights Watch documented the threats, intimidation and violence that Kabera had suffered in Uganda. It also documented Rwanda’s demands for reprisals against Uganda-based dissidents and opposition activists.

“While the full circumstances of Kabera’s horrific killing have yet to be determined, the fact that he was a critic of the Rwandan government living in exile has to be a consideration in the investigation into who killed him and why,” said Clémentine de Montjoye, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Michela Wrong, who wrote a book about Rwanda’s links to the 2013 killing of exiled dissident Patrick Karegeya, said the timing of the attack on Kabera “tells Formula 1 fans exactly what they need to know about the country their organization has chosen for its much-hyped African return.”