By David Himbara
President Joe Biden’s Administration avoids General Paul Kagame like a pandemic. The reason is simple. As the US government explains, the Biden-Harris Administration is determined “to put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy.” The US government adds that it is opposed to authoritarian regimes that “target dissidents, journalists and activists outside of their sovereign borders to silence dissent.” The deployment of digital spyware tools by repressive regimes is especially unacceptable.
Kagame is the leading offender, not least, his extensive use of the Israeli NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware to hack 50,000 victims that included South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s and Ugandan Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda’s. In a development that indicates that the Biden Administration is determined to punish governments and businesses that engage in such transnational repression, the US Department of Commerce announced on November 3, 2021, that it has blacklisted the NSO Group. Kagame, take note. Stay tuned.
