LONDON, Oct 13 : Human rights campaigners Amnesty International accused Formula One of hollow words and offering Rwanda a "sportswashing prize" with a 10-year African Grand Prix deal announced on Tuesday.
The landmark deal envisages a race sometime in the early 2030s, at a circuit that has yet to be built near a new international airport to the south of Kigali. It will be the first race in Africa since 1993.
"A 10-year Grand Prix 'presented by Visit Rwanda' is a sportswashing prize for the Rwandan authorities," said Felix Jakens, Amnesty UK's head of campaigns in a written response.
"Arsenal, Aston Villa, the cycling world championships and now Formula One - Rwanda is buying into the world's biggest sports to polish its image and deflect from its appalling human rights record.
"Formula One says sport can be 'a positive force for good'. That rings hollow if F1 shrugs off who it is partnering with. Rwanda's authorities are prolific in arbitrary detention, torture and the repression of free speech – these are abuses at home."
The Rwandan government did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The allegation of "sportswashing" is levelled at countries perceived to be using sport to improve a tarnished image abroad. Several other Formula One hosts, mainly in the Middle East, have been accused of it.
Premier League side Aston Villa's sponsorship agreement with Visit Rwanda drew similar criticism from human rights campaigners last July.
The African nation's tourism board also has sponsorship agreements with Atletico Madrid and Paris St Germain, as well as US sports teams including the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Rams. It had branding on Arsenal's shirt sleeves for eight seasons.
Rwanda's President Paul Kagame has won praise from Western and regional leaders for helping to end the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and rebuilding the country into an attractive destination for investment and aid.
He also stands accused of a crackdown on critics at home, and supporting the M23 rebel group in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, who rights groups say are guilty of killings, rapes and other rights abuses.
Kagame told a press conference in Kigali that the deal would set Rwanda on a journey "that will change how Africa is perceived in the world of sport".
"We are looking at Rwanda in the context of a continent," he added.
A Formula One spokesperson said the sport had "the opportunity to inspire and bring the passion of F1 to 100 million people across Africa and sport can be a positive force for good."
Jakens urged Formula One to push for change "rather than lend its brand to a PR exercise."