HRF Letter to Doja Cat, Angola Cracks Down on NGOs, Senegal Escalates Criminalization of LGBTQ+ Individuals, and more.

The Human Rights Foundation is urging @DojaCat to cancel her #MoveAfrika Kigali show sponsored by the regime of Rwanda’s warmongering dictator Paul Kagame.

Doja Cat would be headlining a party organized by @GlblCtzn in partnership with Kagame’s regime just two weeks after the US imposed sanctions on Rwanda’s army and senior Rwandan officials for their role in fueling a bloody war and one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Doja Cat would follow John Legend, who headlined the 2025 #MoveAfrika Kigali concert amid public outcry as Kagame exploited the concert to grandstand and project a deceptive image of openness and progress.

Legend performed after Nigerian Grammy-winning artist @temsbaby cancelled her show in Kigali after Rwandan troops and their sanctioned proxy militia M23 illegally seized eastern DRC’s two largest cities and imposed a reign of terror, exploitation, and plunder marked by extrajudicial killings, massacres and rapes, forced recruitment, and the use of child soldiers.

The #MoveAfrika tour claims to promote the development of local entertainment industries, but Rwandan artists who have spoken freely and criticized injustices have suffered imprisonment, censorship, enforced disappearances, and even death. They include the presently jailed fashion designer Moses Turahirwa, the forcibly disappeared poet Innocent Bahati, and the late popular gospel singer Kizito Mihigo.

HRF condemns Angola’s imposition of new draconian controls on NGOs. These measures bring back the centralized control of the country’s one-party rule era, enabling the regime to dismantle at will independent groups advocating for human rights, transparency, and accountability ahead of the 2027 general elections.

On March 2, Angola’s authoritarian ruler João Lourenço signed into law the controversial Law on Non-Governmental Organizations, which sets up a a central body designated by the President to control NGO accreditation, closely monitor activities, and impose strict bureaucratic and financial compliance requirements under the banner of transparency and anti-money laundering. Under the law, authorities may suspend NGOs for up to four months or dissolve them under vague provisions, including “strong indications” of acts harmful to Angola’s sovereignty or security.

The parliamentary majority of the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) approved the controversial bill despite fierce opposition from civil society. Critics said the law is contrary to the spirit of Angola’s 2010 constitution and rejected the regime’s claim that it is meant to curb money laundering, pointing out that no Angolan NGO has been convicted of such crimes.

Civil society groups told HRF that the law places heavy administrative and financial burdens on organizations, threatening to suffocate Angola’s civic space, especially for grassroots organizations. They expressed concerns that the law could be used to target groups that monitor transparency and human rights abuses, in a context where unjustified delays for NGO registration are already common. The Angolan regime has given NGOs 180 days to meet the new requirements or face suspension of their activities.

HRF condemns the parliament of Senegal’s unanimous approval of draconian legislation that doubles the maximum prison sentence for those convicted of same-sex relations, for a total of up to 10 years. This marks an alarming escalation in the criminalization of LGBTQ+ individuals and rights advocacy, while Senegalese officials have failed to enact reforms of other repressive laws used to stifle dissent.

Championed by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko to fulfill President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s 2024 campaign promises, the bill was approved by 135 National Assembly lawmakers with zero votes against. The bill amends Article 319 of the penal code, spiking penalties from 1–5 years to 5–10 years and imposing massive fines. The law also targets those accused of “promoting” homosexuality — a vague provision that could be used to silence allies and human rights defenders.

While same-sex relations have been criminalized since 1966, this new measure intensifies an existing climate of state-sanctioned fear. Recent arrests under “acts against nature” provisions highlight a worsening pattern of harassment and violence, stripping a vulnerable community of its most basic protections.