Biden put rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. Then he punched

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (Reuters) – Hours after the last U.S. troops and diplomats were out of Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said in a White House speech that Washington will continue to support the remaining Afghans and it would defend their basic rights, especially those of women and girls.

“I have been clear that human rights will be at the heart of our foreign policy,” he said, repeating a campaign promise he has made frequently in speeches since taking office on January 20th.

The comment fueled growing skepticism among critics, who argued that the United States had abandoned these same people to the Taliban, a brutal group with a history of crushing women’s rights in the name of their radical interpretation of Islam. .

A review of the Biden administration’s record so far shows that human rights concerns have been diverted several times in favor of national security priorities and to ensure continued engagement with foreign powers.

Defenders say Biden has been punched at crucial moments.

In the Middle East, support for authoritarians such as Egyptian General President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has continued despite rhetoric about democracy and human rights, according to advocates.

In Saudi Arabia, the administration released internal intelligence linking the price of the crown and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman to the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but distanced itself from any action against itself. Crown Prince.

In Myanmar, the administration denounced the military coup and imposed sanctions on its generals, but left alone a major source of revenue for the Board: offshore natural gas projects involving international companies, including the company. US-based oil company Chevron.

And in at least one high-level meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, human rights concerns and freedom of the press were sidelined by other issues, sources familiar with the meeting told Reuters.

While proponents say the Biden administration has placed far more emphasis on promoting human rights than that of its predecessor Donald Trump, who praised authoritarian leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Kim Jong Un , they say this cannot be seen as a success.

“That’s not the right criterion,” said Amy Hawthorne, deputy director of research for the Middle East Democracy Project, a advocacy group.

The real test was Biden’s willingness to participate in rights issues himself, Hawthorne said. “That’s what it means to focus this issue on your foreign policy. I don’t see any evidence of that.”

PRIVATE DIPLOMACY

Defending administration records, a senior State Department official said diplomats have often raised human rights concerns with foreign leaders, including difficult talks with opponents such as China and Russia.

In some cases, the official told Reuters, raising human rights concerns in private could be a more effective approach and not constitute the United States “pulling the strings.”

“In some contexts, it is not useful to publicly assassinate governments that do what is wrong, but to raise things privately,” said the official, who asked for anonymity to talk about U.S. policy.

Sometimes the problem can be too thorny to raise even in private. Sources said that at a high-level meeting in June with Erdogan, Biden did not discuss concerns about Turkey’s human rights record and focused on issues such as the future of Kabul airport, a priority already that U.S.-led troops were withdrawing from Afghanistan.

The two NATO allies are already at odds over issues such as the purchase of Armara of Russian air defense weapons, and U.S. officials said any debate over Turkey’s treatment of dissidents and the press could have increased pressure.

Turkish officials saw it as a sign that Washington would not press hard on human rights, sources said, despite repeated public criticism from the Biden administration over Ankara’s treatment of opposition groups and their official recognition that the massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during 1915 were a genocide.

Rights defenders and some U.S. officials were appalled at the missed opportunity to take a stand.

“With anti-democratic rulers, nothing is more powerful than hearing it from the president himself,” said Annie Boyajian, Freedom House’s defense director.

“NOT SERIOUS”

The first test of Biden’s commitment to democracy abroad came just days after he took office, when Myanmar’s military seized power and shut down elected politicians.

Biden responded with sanctions against board members, but failed to hit the target for offshore gas projects that account for about half of Myanmar’s foreign currency earnings.

The administration was still weighing whether to impose sanctions on gas projects, a senior U.S. official said, but added that much of Myanmar’s population, as well as neighboring Thailand, relied on gas.

A close test is whether Secretary of State Antony Blinken continues his predecessors’ policy of overturning a Congressional control over military aid to Egypt, granting an exception to release about $ 300 million for the government of Egypt. Sisi on this argument that would be in the national security of the United States. interest. A decision is expected in late September.

More than a dozen freedom groups told Blinken in a letter in April that if it refused to release the funds, “the United States will send a clear message about its commitment to supporting human rights. abroad”.

Sisi, who ousted the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013, has overseen a crackdown on dissent that has hardened in recent years. He denies that there are political prisoners in Egypt and claims that stability and security are paramount.

U.S. officials say Washington is reviewing its relations with Middle Eastern governments, including those in Sisi.

“We have expressed publicly, as well as privately, our concerns about the many, many human rights abuses in Egypt and we will continue to do so,” the official said.

Report by Simon Lewis and Humeyra Pamuk; Edited by Mary Milliken and Daniel Wallis

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