Erstwhile Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is dead. In other words, the man responsible for heaping unimaginable persecution upon his constituents and who lived out his last days — two decades' worth — in cozy exile in Saudi Arabia has gotten off practically scot-free, at least in this lifetime.

Amin presided over eight years of bloody rule in the 1970s, during which hundreds of thousands of people were murdered and 50,000 Indians and Pakistanis, after having their money and possessions stolen, were expelled from Uganda. Agence France Press offers a timeline of the, um, achievements of the Ugandan general's reign of terror.

Death is never good news, in my opinion, but sometimes it can serve a higher purpose. As Amnesty International says, the demise of Amin points out serious flaws in the way the international community deals with murderous tyrants.

"The fact that Idi Amin was able to evade justice for over two decades underlines the present need for an international justice system that can hold people responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, and other grave human rights abuses," said Amnesty spokesperson George Ngwa in a statement.

Perhaps the dictator's demise will inspire world leaders to make sure no other war criminals and bloodthirsty politicans will be able to flee from accountability, as Amin did after his administration was overthrown in 1979.

In political and business weekly Peoples Review, M.R. Josse presents his thoughts on the dictator and how the world treated him (this was published when Amin was near death):

I know it's not the done thing to say unkind things about the dead or the dying. Yet, given the reported horrors that he inflicted upon his country and its citizens for long, the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada Qumee has, once again, become the focus of media attention though on his death bed.

A Guardian [UK] piece, for instance, had a full-length feature on the man, including some of his great thoughts. Here is a sampling, culled from the Guardian piece.

On liberty: In communist countries you do not feel free to talk, there is one spy for every three persons. Not here. No one is afraid here. It's like Uganda girls. I tell them to be proud, not shy. It's no good taking a girl to bed if she is shy. Do you get my point?

On miscegenation: Ugandan women should not carry on with white men. Black men are stronger than whites. This is why white girls run after black men.

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