With only bland references to human rights, Obama's speech did little to make the region's autocrats feel uncomfortable
Heba Morayef
(Heba Morayef is a researcher for Human Rights Watch)
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 4 June 2009
"President Obama's much-anticipated speech, before 2,500 invited guests at Cairo University, was billed as a candid discussion about the reasons for the estrangement between Muslims and the United States. He addressed some of those concerns, but he did not satisfactorily address the concern in the Muslim world about the financial and political backing by Washington of repressive governments – and in particular the government of Egypt.
Obama's speech essentially failed to address the dismal human rights record of Egypt and its neighbours, beyond generalities. His words, greeted with both rapturous applause and moments of silence, were addressed to the whole Muslim world. But he could and should have alluded in a far more direct way to the repressive practices of Egypt and many of its neighbours. Those troubled by the signs that the Obama administration is downgrading the place of human rights in US foreign policy will have found nothing reassuring in his speech......"
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