Two U.S. senators have urged the NBA to reassess its partnership with Rwanda and its leader, Paul Kagame, citing a shift in American government policy toward the small African nation, which has faced widespread accusations of human rights abuses.
In a letter sent on Friday to NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee wrote that they are “increasingly alarmed by the NBA’s deepening relationship with Rwanda.” They warned that the league “risks becoming complicit in sportswashing,” a practice in which governments or companies use sport to distract from human rights abuses, corruption and other activities. The senators described the partnership as “contrary to the spirit of American sports.”
NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement, “We received the letter on Friday and are in the process of responding to it.”
Previous Criticism and the NBA’s Position
The same senators wrote to Silver two years ago after an article detailed the NBA’s embrace of Kagame, who has led Rwanda since 1994. Rwanda, one of the poorest countries in the world, built a 10,000-seat arena in its capital, Kigali, and that facility has been central to the league’s expansion into Africa.
The governments of the United States and the United Kingdom, along with several other countries and a string of human rights organisations, have accused Kagame’s government of abuses. These range from imprisonment, torture and murder of political opponents to funding child soldiers in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Last week, Robert Kabera, a former Rwandan soldier who became an outspoken critic of Kagame and fled the country in 2020, was found beheaded in Uganda. Human rights organisations have called for an investigation into whether the killing was politically motivated.
Two years ago, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum explained the league’s position to both the press and the senators. The league, he said, has “[followed] the lead of the U.S. government as to where it is appropriate to engage in business around the world.” Tatum added, “If American policies were to change regarding business activities in and relating to Rwanda … our actions would of course change accordingly.”
Changing Policies and the Congo Conflict
The senators now argue that the policies of the U.S., the UK and other European nations have “shifted markedly” toward Rwanda. Their letter cites Rwanda’s role in fuelling the conflict in the DRC, including its deployment of 18,000 troops and its command of the M23 rebel group. The senators wrote that the M23 “has summarily executed hundreds of civilians, committed mass rape, recruited child soldiers, and tortured civilians.”
The letter closes with a series of questions for the league. The first asks: “What is the NBA’s red line for accepting money from foreign governments that commit human rights abuses?”
Rwanda’s Sporting Ambitions
Kagame has said his country uses sport to strengthen its economy and its standing on the world stage. This month, Rwanda signed a 10-year deal to bring Formula 1 racing back to Africa, and it expects to host its first race early in the next decade.
A year ago, the LA Clippers of the NBA and the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL announced multiyear deals under which the Rwandan government would pay the teams. “Visit Rwanda,” the marketing slogan of the Rwanda Development Board, became the Clippers’ exclusive jersey patch, and the slogan appears at the Rams’ home venue, SoFi Stadium.
The NBA launched a league in Africa in 2021, and its business there was valued at nearly $1 billion five years ago. Rwanda pays the NBA $6 million to $7 million per year to host some Basketball Africa League championships and to display “Team Rwanda” on jerseys, along with other marketing ties.
Calls for Partnerships to End
Early last year, the DRC called on the NBA, Formula 1 and major international football clubs to end their multimillion-dollar partnerships with Rwanda. At the time, an F1 spokesman said the sport had been “closely monitoring the developments relating to the DRC and Rwanda and continue[s] to do so,” adding that any future decisions would be based on “the full information and what is in the best interests of our sport and our values.”
Months later, under pressure from fans and the media, Bayern Munich and Arsenal announced that they were ending their multimillion-dollar sponsorship deals with Rwanda.