Obama under fire for failing to raise human rights issues with Saudi King

It was the hope that never came. Despite calls for US President Barack Obama to address human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, the outcome was far less than lawmakers on Capitol Hill would have hoped for.
Florida US Senator Marco Rubio sent the latest request to Mister Obama to urge Saudi Arabia’s leader King Abdullah bin Abdel- Aziz to reconsider the imprisonment of people confined under various charges including sorcery. {Ghareeb: “I think that it’s different that the two countries are different from each other. They are different in terms of their cultures. Different in terms of their political institutions.”} Groups have come out against the Saudi Arabian government and the US’ alliance. King Abdullah’s critics say that the Persian Gulf nation’s justice system defies the values of American democracy. According to a US State Department report the biggest violations there include restrictions on universal rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. {CAMPBELL: This week–52 bipartisan members of Congress and more than a dozen non-governmental organizations sent President Obama their own letter asking him to confront leaders on human rights violations.} Shortly before the meeting, Amnesty International urged Obama to condemn discrimination in the Persian Gulf kingdom during his visit. It also urged the U-S president to send Riyadh a strong message that such systematic violations are unacceptable. The US president’s visit was also seen as a way to broker Saudi Arabia’s military agenda. Saudis want air defense systems for Syrian insurgents. Currently, the Obama administration says it’s only providing humanitarian and small weapons assistance. {Ghareeb: “It’s strategically important for the United States and they have been supplying Saudi Arabia with small arms.} Despite President Obama’s failures to force resolutions on human rights issues, it appears that Riyadh has given up on hopes that the US will end war in Syria. And the alliance remains with little attention by the leaders to the under-privileged and oppressed.