HRW: Leaders failing to defend democracy
Human Rights Watch yesterday criticised US President Joe Biden and other Western leaders for a weak defense of democracy and for failing to meet challenges from the climate crisis and Covid-19 pandemic to poverty, inequality and injustice.
In contrast to what Human Rights Executive Director Kenneth Roth described as former US president Donald Trump's "embrace of friendly autocrats", Biden took office in January 2021 with a pledge to put human rights at the center of his foreign policy.
"But he continued to sell arms to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel despite their persistent repression," Roth wrote in Human Rights Watch's annual World Report, released yesterday.
"Other Western leaders displayed similar weakness in their defense of democracy," Roth wrote, naming French President Emmanuel Macron and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Roth also said that during key summits Biden "seemed to lose his voice when it came to public denunciation of serious human rights violations."
"If democracies are to prevail in the global contest with autocracy, their leaders must do more than spotlight the autocrats' inevitable shortcomings. They need to make a stronger, positive case for democratic rule," Roth said.
Comments