WASHINGTON — The U.S.-Africa summit has focused on trade, security and even the Ebola virus, but human rights advocates say abuses by some leaders who are attending are being swept under the rug. “It is kind of like a missed opportunity,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director for Human Rights Watch. Bekele said President Obama “is focused on trade and security issues” at the summit this week, while giving less attention to flagrant violations of law and human rights.
Four leaders of the continent’s most notorious autocracies — Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Eritrea’s Isaias Afewerki and the Central African Republic’s interim President Catherine Samba-Panza — were barred from the summit. But critics faulted the presence of leaders like Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos, accused of using arbitrary arrests and a repressive police force to silence critics, along with Mulatu Teshome, president of Ethiopia, which has used anti-terror laws to suppress dissent.
Gambian activists protested the invitation to President Yahya Jammeh, a virulent foe of gay rights. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, whose country passed a Draconian anti-gay law that the judiciary then repealed, posed for a picture Tuesday with Obama.
Obama, Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Kerry have all cited human rights in their remarks this week. “Nations that uphold these rights and principles will be prosperous and economically successful,” the President said at a Wednesday news conference. But critics like Bekele said Obama’s strong words on the topic have often not translated into policy.
SOURCE: Daily News, NY
