Obama Ignores User Rights With African Investment Plan

The White House hosted a summit this week with nearly 50 African heads of state to strengthen trade and investment ties. The Summit highlighted a multibillion dollar new investment program, and put President Obama on stage to answer questions from young entrepreneurs.  From its inception, however, the Summit has failed to confront some of the most pressing issues facing the region, like government corruption, in an inclusive way: civil society only received an invitation following public advocacy by civil society groups including the We Are Africa campaign launched by Front Line Defenders.

Even then, civil society groups and human rights defenders were only invited on Aug. 4, rather than to the exclusive meetings with government officials and private sector executives on the following two days.  The White House gave the impression that human rights defenders were intentionally cut out: Santiago Canton, Director of the RFK Partners for Human Rights, said, “human rights will not be on the agenda at the summit as organizers feared such African leaders might not otherwise attend.”

But the U.S. cannot so easily ignore its responsibilities under international law and norms, or turn a blind eye to the activities of its corporations abroad. The country is home to countless multi-national corporations, whose human rights impacts run from environmental degradation to abusive surveillance. The U.S. profits from and promotes business activities, launching a $14 billion initiative to invest in African tech and other sectors...