<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> WorldTribune.com: Mobile Ñ Cairo rights group blasts Obama's Mideast policy

Cairo rights group blasts Obama's Mideast policy

Monday, December 14, 2009   E-Mail this story   Free Headline Alerts

CAIRO Ñ President Barack Obama has dropped the U.S. insistence that Middle East countries respect human rights, an organization here reported.

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies said the Obama administration broke from its predecessor in making human rights in the Middle East a U.S. priority. The institute, in a report on 12 Arab countries, said this has encouraged pro-U.S. dictatorships.

"President Barack Obama avoided taking a clear stance on human rights issues in the Arab region," the report said.

The report, titled Bastion of "Impunity, Mirage of Reform," said the administration has failed to address human rights in summits with Arab states. The institute cited a meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton with her Arab counterparts in Morocco in November 2009.

"This was a kind of a green light given to the Arab governments to continue these practices," institute director Bahey El Din Hassan said.

The report said Arab states, including those under pressure during the Bush administration, were cracking down on human rights activists. The institute cited Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia as countries that repress independent political and social activities.

"Moreover, the Egyptian police state is increasingly acquiring certain theocratic features, which have reduced some religious freedoms, and have lead to an unprecedented expansion of sectarian violence within the country," the report said.

Syria was also identified as a country that has increased repression. The Obama administration has been wooing the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"The single most worrying sign for the future of the Arab region is the widespread impunity and flagrant lack of accountability that persists," the report, released on Dec. 8, said.

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