Rwanda, rights and the Commonwealth

Michela Wrong (The long read, 15 January) writes that the inquest in Randburg into the murder of Patrick Karegeya, an opponent of President Paul Kagame, should be a “reality check for western governments, development agencies and philanthropic foundations”. It should also haunt the Commonwealth, which is none of the above.

In 2013, on behalf of all member states, the Queen signed a Commonwealth charter whose chapters on democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression the current Rwandan regime flagrantly defies. Yet last year in London,, which boasts of all these values, Commonwealth leaders accepted an offer from Kagame to host its next summit in 2020, making him the chair-in-office for the following two years.

At least three governments – Canada, the UK and South Africa – were fully aware of the contradiction. In Trinidad in 2009 the UK and Australia, worried about human rights abuses in Sri Lanka under the Rajapakse government, managed to postpone a Sri Lanka summit, subsequently waved through in Perth in 2011 by David Cameron and other leaders. The Commonwealth charter – RIP?
Richard Bourne
London

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