One stop Obama ought not make

Obama, as the USA in general, is forever lecturing the world about abuses of human rights, the Rule of Law and that democracy reigns supreme.

It is therefore more than troubling that the US is rushing headlong into courting Burma, including Obama visiting Burma, today - only a year after the world started a tentative recognition of the country after it was in virtual isolation for many years.

It is clear that all is not well in Burma on the human-rights front, as Human Rights Watch spells out.

"United States President Barack Obama’s visit to Burma will be a success only if it generates concrete and lasting steps toward improving human rights in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. On November 19, 2012, Obama will visit Rangoon and hold meetings with President Thein Sein and the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, in the first visit to Burma by a sitting US president.

Obama should press for the release of all political prisoners and an end to abuses by state security forces in ethnic minority areas, Human Rights Watch said. Obama should also publicly call for legal and constitutional reform in Burma, including ending military authority to dismiss the government, dropping the military’s 25 percent quota of parliamentary seats, and revising laws limiting basic rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly. All those responsible for serious abuses should be held to account, Human Rights Watch said."

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