Politico Magazine outlines how U.S. foreign policy clashes with human rights

02/28/14
Natalie Chwalisz
Africa
Military and Police Aid, U.S. Policy, Human Rights

Politico Magazine ran a feature, America’s 25 Most Awkward Allies, in which it highlights how the Obama Administration works with repressive regimes across the world in order to advance United States’ national interests, often because of U.S. counterterrorism priorities. Several African governments made the list:

  • Equatorial Guinea: Politico emphasized the disconnect between the United States’ attempts to build better relations with Equatorial Guinea and the country’s human rights record. The magazine referred to the country’s security forces as “sadistic.” According to Politico, the reason for the rekindling of relations is vested economic interest: “Equatorial Guinea’s $9 billion oil and gas bonanza, almost all of it produced by U.S. companies, has made it one of the largest destinations for U.S. investment in Africa.”
  • Ethiopia: After emphasizing that Ethiopia uses anti-terrorism laws to repress opposition, Politico points to the considerable role Ethiopia plays in U.S.-Somalia policy. The tension between human rights and counterterrorism became untenable, when in 2008 human rights groups “accused the U.S.-trained-and-equipped Ethiopian military of war crimes.” The U.S. has slowly scaled-down Ethiopia’s security assistance since.
  • Rwanda: Politico features the close relationship that the U.S. maintains with the country despite the troubling autocratic tendencies of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame. The U.S. cut off security assistance to Rwanda last year over support for the M23 rebel group, but is reportedly considering reinstating the aid.
  • Uganda: Due to Uganda’s support for U.S. counterterrorism goals in the Horn, Uganda remains a close ally even as the country lags in political freedoms.
  • Kenya: Kenya’s election of a President on trial in the International Criminal Court in the Hague for crimes against humanity risked undercutting the close relationship between the country and the United States. Even as President Obama refrained from celebrating the relationship (he skipped Kenya on his Africa tour), the close counterterrorism cooperation continues.
  • Djibouti hosts the most important U.S. base in Africa, despite an abysmal record on human rights, political freedom and corruption.