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Publications >> Democracy Newsletter
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National Endowment for Democracy News and Information Issue 2 2005
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First Ramallah Conference Addresses Past, Present and Future of Palestinian Authority
Since 1995, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has supported the work of the Panorama Center, also known as the Palestinian Center for the Dissemination of Democracy & Community Development, in its work to help the Palestinian people build a strong civil society, which it views as a prerequisite to a democratic Palestinian state. One of Panorama’s most recent projects is a bold initiative designed to engage average citizens with Palestinian leaders and other experts in a frank discussion of their recent history and the challenges that lie ahead in the struggle for an independent Palestine founded on respect for the rule of law, human rights and democracy.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia provided the opening remarks for the conference, which included 42 presenters and panel members. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos provided the keynote speech, which addressed European involvement in ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and building a subsequent Palestinian state. Other panelists included Ghassan al-Khatib, the minister for planning, Raja Shehadeh, prominent Palestinian human rights attorney, Islah Jad, a professor at Bir Zeit University, and Zahira Kamal, minister of women’s affairs. All of these proceedings took place in the context of an open public forum that organizers hope will “contribute to a genuine national debate, leading first and foremost to a strengthening of democratic practice in Palestine as well as to the promotion of good governance, institution-building, reform and a more responsive and enriched policy-making process,” as stated in the conference report. Throughout the meeting, there was lively discussion from the Ramallah audience that included representatives from the public and private sectors, the media and non-governmental organizations, as well as citizens form the wider public. There were also satellite connections to remote audiences in Gaza and Beirut. The conference was well-timed to fall midway between the January presidential and the July parliamentary elections. It provided a rare opportunity for citizens to interact with government officials, in particular to address sensitive topics assessing ten years of governance and looking toward political reform. Discussion centered on three themes: Who represents the Palestinian people? What political system do the Palestinians aspire to? What should be the elements of the Palestinian strategy? Panelists analyzed Palestinian reforms, the relationship between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, third party involvement in resolving the conflict and establishing a Palestinian state, and the status of the many elements of Palestinian democracy, including the constitution, the executive, the legislature, the judiciary, political parties and factions and civil society. The conference was widely covered in the media and was viewed as a success, and there are already plans to start incorporating some of the recommendations that it generated. “We will compile a set of results and recommendations from the participants in order to incorporate the greatest level of participation and interaction for the preparation of the coming conference,” said Malki. Panorama is studying other ways to follow-up the conference during the year, but is planning at a minimum to hold a second conference in 2006. A full report on the First Ramallah Conference can be found on the Panorama Center website, www.panoramacenter.org. [Top]
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NED and FPA Launch the New York Democracy Forum
The New York Democracy Forum is an exciting new joint venture of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the Foreign Policy Association (FPA). Since the advance of democracy is one of the fundamental struggles of our time, NED and FPA believe it is critical that the world's leading commercial center engage with those who are part of that struggle. Launched on March 9, 2005 with the first annual Democracy Dinner, and followed by a monthly lecture series held at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, the aim of the New York Democracy Forum is to bring key figures in the democracy movement, individuals who are leading the way in the advance of democratic values and institutions around the world, to New York audiences.
At the first annual Democracy Dinner, three individuals were honored for their lifelong contributions to democracy and human rights. John Whitehead and John Richardson both received the NED Democracy Service Medal (see sidebar article), while Ambassador John B. Richardson was presented with the Foreign Policy Association Medal. Remarks were offered by Henry Kissinger and Richard Holbrooke, both of whom have served as directors of NED.
Best-selling author Azar Nafisi gave the second lecture on April 20th entitled, “Women, Culture, Human Rights: The Case of Iran.” Nafisi spoke of how fundamentalist doctrine has corrupted religion and culture in Iran and she cautioned against accepting fundamentalism as the cultural norm in the Muslim World. “We justify it by saying, ‘It’s their culture,” said Nafisi. “This is a great insult to people who call themselves Muslims. It is a great insult to say that the desire for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is an American entity, or is a Western entity, that a woman in Nigeria, or Afghanistan or Iran does not want to be happy, does not want to pursue happiness. Do not think that you are giving us credit by saying that it is ‘part of their culture.”
The New York Democracy Forum will resume lectures in the fall. Future presenters, whether they are activists, scholars or decision makers, will be influential democratic figures, who through their work and the power of their ideas have made significant contributions to the promotion of democracy. Possible speakers include his Holiness the Dalai Lama, former Malaysian political prisoner Anwar Ibrahim, and Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, each closely linked to NED or the FPA and its broad network of democrats. All lectures are free and open to the public. To watch a video of the New York Democracy Forum Dinner, the Gephardt, Nafisi or Fukuyama lectures, or to find out how you can get involved, please visit the NED website at www.ned.org/nydf/nydf.html. [Top]
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Whitehead and Richardson Honored by NED
The NED Board of Directors created its Democracy Service Medal in 1999 to recognize individuals who have demonstrated through personal commitment their dedication to the advancement of freedom, human rights, and democracy. On March 9, 2005 in New York City, NED honored John C. Whitehead and John Richardson for their contributions to the work of the Endowment and their lifelong commitment to the advancement of freedom in the world.
“John’s message on human rights was consistent, low-key, but absolutely firm,” said NED president Carl Gershman. “Its essence was that human rights are at the core of the American agenda. They’re part of what we are as a nation, and that if governments want relations with us, they’ll have to take that into account.”
Speaking of Richardson’s work that helped lead to the establishment of NED, Gershman said, “When in the late 1970s John Richardson first proposed to a group of Washington policy makers a ‘public-private foundation for freedom,’ he could not have known that such an organization would not only be established, but one day grow into a major international institution. What he clearly did know, however, is that if such an entity ever did come into existence, it would project the two values he had already spent most of his own life fighting for, freedom and democracy.” [Top]
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Chairman’s Message
Who are the Uyghurs? A Turkic-speaking Muslim people numbering more than eight million, the Uyghurs are the largest ethnic group within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, a vast region that constitutes one-sixth of China’s land area. Leaders in their homeland have twice declared the establishment of a Republic of East Turkistan in the 1930 and 1940s, but both were short-lived, and the Chinese state asserted firm control after the Communist victory in 1949. Another parallel with the Tibetans is the challenge to the Uyghur culture posed by a government-supported influx of Chinese migrants. The percentage of ethnic Han Chinese in the Uyghur Autonomous Region has grown from six percent in 1949 to 40 percent at present as a direct result of government policies. According to a detailed report jointly issued in April by Human Rights Watch and longtime NED grantee Human Rights in China, the Chinese government has severely restricted Muslim religious activity in the region, confiscating religious publications, controlling appointments of Muslim clerics and prohibiting the teaching of Islam to children under the age of 18. The plight of the Uyghurs has come to public attention in the U.S. largely as the result of the case of Rebiya Kadeer. A successful businesswoman, philanthropist and community leader, Ms. Kadeer was arrested in 1999 just before a scheduled meeting with a U.S. congressional staff delegation to discuss human rights in China. Ms. Kadeer has long been known in her native land for her pioneering efforts to champion the rights of Uyghurs. Raised in poverty, she later became a prosperous entrepreneur, focusing her efforts on promoting education and employment opportunities for Uyghur women. Ms. Kadeer’s relations with the government began to worsen following the emigration in 1996 of her husband, a former political prisoner, to the United States. Following his departure, the government confiscated her passport. She was sentenced in March 2000 to eight years imprisonment for endangering national security following a secret trial in which neither she nor her lawyer had the opportunity to argue her case. The case of this mother of eleven became a cause celebre both in Congress and around the world. She was awarded the 2004 Rafto Memorial Prize by the Norwegian Thorolf Rafto Foundation for Human Rights and her plight was highlighted at a Capitol Hill reception last January co-sponsored by NED, the Rafto Foundation, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and the Uyghur American Association, a NED grantee that works on behalf of the political and cultural rights of the Uyghur people. In March, just days before a scheduled visit of Secretary of State Rice to Beijing, Chinese authorities released Rebiya Kadeer, allowing her to leave the country for medical treatment in the U.S. With characteristic concern for her people, Ms. Kadeer has vowed to continue her work. “The wishes of thousands and millions of people saved me from harsh reality,” she said in an interview with Radio Free Asia. “Now I will be a medicine to cure my people’s illnesses, a handkerchief for their tears, an umbrella to protect them from the rain.” Since the time of Ms. Kadeer’s release, security agents in Xinjiang have attempted to arrest her son, beaten and detained several of her family’s associates, and raided her business offices. Although her release is an occasion for celebration, it should also be a wakeup call to all of us concerned about the human rights of oppressed minorities. [Top]
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Journal Release New Book on World Religions
On March 14, The International Forum for Democratic Studies held a panel discussion entitled “Religion and Democracy: Rethinking the Relationship” to celebrate the publication of the Journal of Democracy’s latest book, World Religions and Democracy (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005). “Ours is a journal that focuses on democracy, not on religion,” said Journal of Democracy’s coeditor Marc Plattner, “but in trying to cover the struggle to establish and maintain democracy in places where it had not previously taken root, we very quickly found ourselves forced to address the question of religion.”
The panel included remarks by Abdou Filali-Ansary, co-founder and former editor of the Moroccan quarterly Prologues, a French-Arabic journal; Hillel Fradkin, senior fellow and director of the Project on the Muslim World at the Hudson Institute; Timothy S. Shah, senior fellow in religion and international affairs at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life; Francis Fukuyama, Professor of International Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University; Larry Diamond, co-editor of the Journal of Democracy and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution; and Marc F. Plattner, co-editor of the Journal of Democracy. World Religions and Democracy brings together insights from renowned scholars and world leaders in a provocative and timely discussion of the role of religion in the success or failure of democracy. The global resurgence of democracy over the past three decades has not been accompanied by the waning of religion that many social scientists anticipated but by its reinvigoration in many parts of the world. In this collection of essays, World Religions and Democracy tries to answer the question “Can religion be compatible with liberal democracy?” After setting up the conceptual framework in the first essay, Religion, Democracy and the “Twin Tolerations,” the book examines the relationship between democracy and Eastern religions—Confucianism, Hinduism and Buddhism—and then tackles Judaism and Christianity. The volume’s final section discusses what is perhaps the most challenging example of the struggling relationship between religion and democracy today: Islam and the governments of Muslim nations. World Religions and Democracy’s contributors include: Alfred Stepan, Hahm Chaibong, Francis Fukuyama, Pratap Mehta, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, Hillel Fradkin, Daniel Philpott, Tim Shah, Robert Woodberry, Elizabeth Prodromou, Peter Berger, Abdou Filali-Ansary, Bernard Lewis, Robin Wright, Abdelwahab El-Affendi, Radwan A. Masmoudi, Laith Kubba, Ladan Boroumand and Roya Boroumand. To purchase a copy of this book, please go to the Journal of Democracy’s website at www.journalofdemocracy.org. [Top]
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NED Grantees Win Reebok Human Rights Award
The National Endowment of Democracy is pleased to report that two of its grantees, Aloysius Toe of the Foundation for Human Rights and Democracy in Liberia and Charm Tong of the Shan Women’s Action Network, were awarded the 2005 Reebok Human Rights Award. Established in 1988, the Reebok Human Rights Award honors young people from around the world who, against great odds and often at great personal risk, have made significant contributions to the field of human rights. Awardees receive a $50,000 grant to further their work in human rights. “Each of these young people has risked personal safety to fight for the rights of those too vulnerable to fight for themselves,” said Paul Fireman, chairman and CEO of Reebok International Ltd. “They have taught us first-hand about tyranny and the courage it takes to stand up against it. They have taught us what can be accomplished by just one person—and they will continue to show us what can be achieved when one becomes many.”
Working within the guidelines set by the Transitional Justice Working Group, FOHRD is conducting programs that seek justice for victims of rights violations and for the reconciliation of Liberian citizens, ensuring that human rights are central to the peace process in postwar Liberia. This includes investigating and documenting past violations, monitoring conditions in prisons, providing legal aid to indigents, pressing for legislation that will monitor the behavior of judicial and other government officials, and embarking on private criminal prosecutions on behalf of victims of human rights violations. As an interim government tries to rebuild the war torn nation and prepare for elections this October, Aloysius’s role as a human rights leader and the work that his organization is performing has become more crucial than ever. “I dream of one day being able to sleep in peace in my own home, in my own country,” Aloysius says. “And I dream that one day we’ll be regarded as a dignified people, as a country with direction, as a country with national spirit.” For the past six years, Charm Tong has been courageously fighting for basic human rights for the ethnic Shan people of Burma. Because of the human rights violations and brutality that the Shan face in Burma, hundreds of thousands have fled the country seeking refuge on the borders of Thailand. When she was only six years-old, Charm Tong’s parents sent her to the Thai border. Despite facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles and with little more than a high school education, she has become one of the leading spokespersons for the Shan State community. Charm Tong has testified before UN bodies and in front of large public rallies; she has orchestrated advocacy campaigns that have reached from the jungles of Burma’s border areas, where she helped survivors of rape tell their stories, to the opinion pages of the Washington Post. Charm Tong has undertaken projects with two Endowment grantees that assist refugees by providing assistance to displaced communities, running schools and clinics for children and empowering women to work for their rights. When she was only 17, Charm Tong helped found the Shan Women s Action Network (SWAN). As one of the leading women’s organizations of Burma, SWAN works to promote women’s rights and the rights of children, oppose the exploitation of and violence against women and children, encourage women’s participation and input in the Burmese democracy movement and provide critically needed services to the large Shan exile community in Thailand. Charm Tong’s work has not been limited to Shan women: in 2001 she, along with several other Shan youth, established the School for Shan State Nationalities Youth (SSSNY). Since the Shan, unlike other refugees from Burma, do not have access to the established refugee camps where international NGOs provide basic education and training opportunities, they are often at a disadvantage when trying to access training or educational opportunities for their youth. SSSNY works with Shan youth in a variety of projects that advocate for democracy and human rights, women’s rights, the environment, emergency relief, human rights, media and health, while simultaneously providing them with high school-level educational opportunities. At a February 25th reception hosted by the Reebok Human Rights Award Program and the National Endowment for Democracy to honor Charm Tong for her accomplishments, NED Board member Julie Finely reflected the views of everyone gathered, saying “Charm Tong, we are all humbled and inspired by your perseverance, your initiative and your devotion to the cause of justice, peace, and democracy for your country and your people. We salute your courage.” [Top]
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NED Resumes Programs in Haiti
Over a year since the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti’s political, security and socio-economic situation remains in turmoil. The political upheaval that culminated in Aristide’s departure in February 2004 and the instability and confusion that has endured reveal a country plagued by corruption, violence and neglect. In September 2004, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) added Haiti to its direct grants program to assist it in building stronger government institutions, reinvigorating civil society and new leadership and encouraging and promoting democratic advancement. Still hobbled by the controversy surrounding Aristide’s departure, Haiti’s interim government led by Prime Minister Gérard Latortue continues to lead a deeply divided and violent nation. Ongoing political clashes among the interim government, Aristide’s Fanmi Lavalas party and other political factions have continually undermined the interim government’s ability to act, while its own indecision and questions surrounding its legitimacy have exacerbated tensions with the populace. Although presidential, parliamentary and local government elections have been scheduled for the end of 2005, there is concern that most citizens have become disenfranchised and do not see the benefits of voting. As the U.N. Stabilisation Mission in Haiti and the interim government struggle to disarm both anti- and pro-Aristide groups, there still exist large parts of the country where the current government has no control. In addition to the security concerns and political instability, Haiti’s population remains crippled by its extreme poverty. Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere; according to some estimates over 80 percent of the population lives in poverty, with relatively few signs of any sort of economic reconstruction taking place in the near future. In response to the great need for assistance in the country, in July 2004 international donors met in Washington, DC to discuss various aid strategies and secure pledges of financial support. Funding was allocated to programs related to humanitarian assistance, economic recovery, improving infrastructure and strengthening state institutions. While over $1.2 billion was pledged during the conference, to date only a fraction of that amount has been disbursed. After a three year hiatus, NED began making grants nine months ago to groups in Haiti; since then over $160,000 has been awarded to grantees throughout the country. In September 2004, the Centre de Formation Citoyenne et d’Appui au Developpement (Center for Citizen Training and Development Support) received an Endowment grant to work with nongovernmental community groups across the country on community organization and local development. Developing youth capacity is of crucial importance in Haiti, as over 70 percent of the Haitian population is under the age of 30. To address this need, Fondation Espoir (Hope Foundation) received its first grant in September 2004 to conduct a nationwide program to work with Haitian community youth groups to develop a democratic participation agenda for Haiti’s young population. In an effort to prepare the population for the upcoming elections, two election-related projects were approved in March 2005. Amicale des Femmes Haitiennes Journalistes (Haitian Female Journalists’ Group) is working to improve electoral coverage by the Haitian media by training 60 journalists in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel, Cap-Haitien, and Gonaives on journalistic ethics, elections law, reporting on candidate platforms and issues, and voters’ rights. The Grand Front National des Etudiants Haïtiens (National Grand Front of Haitian Students) is conducting a civic education campaign to educate Haitians about the political parties, candidates and issues being presented during the electoral season. This project will culminate in a series of debates for municipal and presidential candidates at the University of Haiti. Through its recent work in Haiti, the Endowment is helping these knowledgeable and capable civil society organizations improve the everyday lives of their fellow countrymen. As Haitians continue their struggle to rebuild their country’s democratic system, the Endowment will remain committed to supporting their work. [Top]
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Transatlantic Network Holds Meeting in Brussels
Leading European and North American democracy promoters and Atlanticists addressed critical issues of democratization, particularly in post-communist Eurasia and the Arab world, in a Transatlantic Democracy Network conference held in Brussels on May 25-26. Organized by NED, the German Marshall Fund, and Freedom House, and funded by the U.S. office of the European Commission, the meeting’s principal theme was the importance of making support for democratic transition and consolidation a core part of the transatlantic agenda. Participants included Members of the European Parliament, leading officials of the European Commission, European Council and US State Department, as well as figures from democracy promotion agencies and think-tanks. They discussed prospects for cooperation and coordination between EU and US initiatives, specifically within country-specific workshops which examined the challenges of democratizing Belarus and Egypt.
The Transatlantic Democracy Network publishes an indispensable regular e-bulletin, Democracy Digest, which analyzes democracy promotion and related issues, and provides details of events in the field as well as employment opportunities. To subscribe, please visit www.demdigest.net; you can also get back issues and more information on the Network. [Top]
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NED Announces its 2005 Democracy Award Recipients
On July 13, the National Endowment for Democracy will present its annual Democracy Award to three democratic activists from Afghanistan at an event in the U.S. Congress. Ms. Sakena Yacoobi, Mr. Mohammad Nasib and Mr. Sarwar Hussaini are leaders of civil society organizations who have worked diligently to educate average citizens and local leaders about the basic values and principles of democracy, the rights of women and ethnic minorities, strategies for peace-building and conflict resolution and the importance of broad political participation. “We are thrilled NED will recognize the enormous courage and achievement of the Afghan people in their struggle for democracy,” said NED Chairman Vin Weber. “The Afghan election in October 2004 was an exciting moment for the whole world as we watched millions of Afghans bravely cast their ballots. Now that the spotlight has shifted away, I hope that our Democracy Award will create renewed interest and concern for all those who are working so hard to deepen the democratic progress we have seen in Afghanistan.” Ms. Sakena Yacoobi is the founder and president of the Afghan Institute of Learning, a leading Afghan women’s organization focused on providing more than 350,000 Afghan women and children with education, health care and human rights training, both inside Afghanistan and in refugee camps in Pakistan. Mr. Mohammad Nasib is the director of the Welfare Association for Development of Afghanistan, an NGO working to advance the spread of democratic principles and strengthen local governance by training a network of more than 1,000 maliks, or key local power brokers, in the concepts and practices of human rights and democracy. Mr. Sarwar Hussaini is the chairman and director of the Cooperation Center for Afghanistan, a well established NGO working to promote citizen participation and democratic institutions in Afghanistan by empowering women and strengthening democratic practices in traditional institutions. The Democracy Award presentation and reception will be preceded by a roundtable discussion, “Building Democracy in Afghanistan: The Challenges Ahead.” Panelists will include the three honorees, as well as several country and regional experts and members of Congress. NED has been supporting the efforts of democrats in Afghanistan for more than 20 years. [Top]
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Liebenow Joins NED Board
On March 18, 2005, Larry A. Liebenow was elected to the Endowment’s Board of Directors. Liebenow is the president, CEO and director of Quaker Fabric Corporation, one of the world’s largest producers of upholstery fabrics. In 2002, Liebenow was appointed by President Bush to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations, which considers trade policy issues in the context of the overall national interest. Liebenow has served on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors since 1996 and held the office of Chairman from 2002-2003. From 1998 until 2003 he served on the Board of Directors of the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), one of NED’s four core grantees.
Liebenow has contributed his expertise to many other boards and committees, including the Council of the Americas, the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America, the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico and the American Textile Manufacturers Institute. [Top]
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