Progress towards democracy in the Eurasia region continued to face many challenges in the past year. In most countries the trend was toward backsliding from previous democratic gains. During 2003, NED continued to provide assistance to democrats throughout the region as they continued to struggle to break with former Soviet practices.
Although Russia’s economy, buoyed by high oil prices, grew at a record pace in 2003, the country’s already weak democratic institutions came under the greatest threat since the collapse of the USSR, with the complete exclusion of the pro-democratic parties from the country’s legislature after parliamentary elections in December. Endowment funding in Russia helped grantees resist authoritarian trends and push for greater freedom and openness. A program to develop a capable cadre of young people to continue the work of earlier generations of dissidents and activists was conducted by the Youth Human Rights Movement, while the INDEM Foundation developed and taught a course on techniques for fighting corruption at Moscow State University.
The Endowment also supported efforts to preserve historical memory and develop civic education materials through a grant to the Perm-36 Memorial Museum of the History of Political Repression and Totalitarianism. Despite being a target
of violence, and even the assassination of its volunteers, the Society for Russian-Chechen Friendship continued to gather and distribute information about the ongoing conflict in Chechnya. CIPE programs in Russia have worked to identify the causes of corruption and implement strategies to reduce its impact
on small business. IRI and NDI continued to provide training and support for democratic political parties and candidates.
In Ukraine, 2003 was characterized by the ongoing struggle between the political opposition and the pro-presidential forces as they prepare for crucial presidential elections scheduled for October 2004. The election is likely to determine which path Ukraine will take in the near future–integration with the West or remaining beholden to Russian interests with strong links to other post-Soviet states in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Endowment programs supported a broad range of civil society initiatives. Youth Alternative and Smoloskyp, Inc. conducted programs to place student interns in the national parliament and to carry out a series of seminars and conferences for young political activists. NED funds were used to publish a journal and hold roundtables on topics of importance to democratic development. ACILS re-opened its office in Kyiv for the first time since the late 1990s, while CIPE worked with Ukrainian think tanks to identify key policy issues and promote a “national business agenda” to improve Ukraine’s small-business environment.
In Belarus, Alexander Lukashenka remained “Europe’s last dictator,” while the presidents of the Central Asian states reaffirmed the sub-region’s reputation as being among the most authoritarian in the world. The Endowment remained one of the largest foreign donors operating in Belarus. NED resources went to support hundreds of NGOs and independent publications that are opposing Lukashenka’s authoritarian regime. NED assistance proved crucial in helping the country’s nascent civil society to survive and grow in a year when dozens of NGOs and independent publications were closed down. Support was used to assist NGO development, independent media, youth groups, regional NGO resource centers, human rights organizations and third sector umbrella groups. Activists and democracy-building NGOs in Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic also received NED funding to assist their counterparts in Belarus through crossborder exchanges and training programs. One important success in 2003 was the election of at least forty representatives of NED-supported organizations to local government positions throughout Belarus.
In the Caucasus, Armenia and Azerbaijan held deeply flawed parliamentary and presidential elections. The year ended with the only positive development for democracy occurring in Georgia with the “revolution of roses.” Mass popular protests against electoral fraud brought people out onto the streets and forced the resignation of the president. Mikheil Saakashvili, the new president elected in January 2004, has promised to push forward a democratic agenda in Georgia.
In the aftermath of the elections in the Caucasus, the prospects for the development of the third sector have diminished. In 2003, NED support focused on human rights and electoral programs. In Armenia, the Helsinki Association provided human rights monitoring and legal support to Armenian citizens, and the Association of Women with a University Education held conferences, trainings, and seminars to encourage women’s participation in the political process. In Azerbaijan, the independent newspaper, Ekho, published a special supplement and internet chat on the elections, and the Model Constitutional Court and Debates in Civil Society taught young people the skills of analytical reasoning, rhetoric, and parliamentary debate.
In Central Asia, many forms of independent activity are either suppressed or at an embryonic stage of development. Starting from this low point, conditions in Central Asian states are actually declining as new restrictions criminalizing NGO activity were imposed in Turkmenistan and restrictive media regulations were passed in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Against this bleak background, NED’s programs in Central Asia aim to lay the foundation for long term development of democratic societies so that gradual progress towards democratization will coincide with a growing public capacity to take full advantage of such change.
In Uzbekistan, NED funds supported a unique conference, which gathered all of the factions of the Uzbek opposition as well as the major human rights organizations, in an effort to coordinate strategies for the future. In Tajikistan, the Independent School for Journalists and the National Association for Independent Mass Media focused on training journalists and encouraging government accountability. In Kazakhstan, the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law provided legal assistance to the indigent and trained law students in human rights legislation and human rights work. The discussion club Polyton carried on its regular meetings and internet publications despite the arrest of its director, Sergei Duvanov, whose imprisonment on highly dubious criminal charges has prompted an outcry from international human rights organizations.
|
