U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Mr. Michael Posner, had invited every one who is concerned about human rights to a live discussion on Facebook today. The topic was Human Rights Agenda for the 21st Century. Hoping that Mr Posner would answer some questions about the brutal repression in Ethiopia by the tribal junta that is being bankrolled by the U.S. Government, I and other Ethiopians posed some questions. To our dismay — but not surprisingly — Mr. Posner talked about China, Darfur, and a few other places, but completely ignored questions about Ethiopia.
This is just one more proof that the U.S. is using human rights as a political tool to badger governments around the world that are perceived to be against its economic interest. There is no genuine concern on the part of the U.S. Department of State about human rights outside of the U.S. borders. That is why no one pays attention any more when the U.S. Government talks about human rights. See the so-called discussion here. – Elias Kifle