By TesfaNews,
HUNDREDS of Ethiopian protesters on Friday (03) gathered outside of the White House to denounce the scheduled visit by President Barack Obama to Ethiopia where a dictatorial regime won a recent election by 100 percent of votes.
The protesters denounced the misguided U.S. foreign policy in the region and for supporting one of the most brutal regimes in the world.
The White House recently announced that, while traveling to Kenya this month, President Obama will also stop in Ethiopia, the first such visit by a sitting U.S. president to the country.
The plan had been highly criticized by democracy and Human right groups for implying the wrong message about democracy and democratic governance in Africa.
Ethiopia is a major recipient of U.S. development assistance, and the African Union has its headquarters there. But it also stands out in Africa for its increasingly harsh repression and its escalating chokehold on independent media and political dissent.
Since June 2014, a total of 34 journalists have been forced to flee the country, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Ethiopia is also one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists.
By paying a visit to such an autocratic dictatorship, the Obama administration literally rewarding the regime and its sham elections while undermining the struggle for democracy and human rights in the country.
As a matter fact, the United States actually stood against human rights and democracy in Ethiopia.
