“Trump has been a disaster for the human rights movement, in part because he seems to have this insatiable desire to embrace people who have been able to govern without the checks and balances of democracy.” Roth said in an interview. Since he came to power in May, Macron has been criticised for only raising human rights with countries when there was little at stake for France, but shying away when its national interests could be hurt. He cited Macron’s visit to China, where he barely spoke of rights, his failure to support an investigation of Saudi actions in Yemen, and his telling Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that he would not lecture him on human rights. “It’s easy to defend human rights when it’s free, when there’s no real cost in doing so. But when you’re dealing with Chinese or Saudi (business) contracts, or you’re dealing with Egypt’s potential assistance in fighting terrorism ... Macron has been more resistant to standing up for human rights.”

Source: bd News24 January 18, 2018 14:48 UTC