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National Endowment for Democracy     News and Information     Fall 1999 Newsletter

The 50th anniversary of Communist rule in the People's Republic of China (PRC) was marked in Beijing with an elaborate but tightly controlled celebration that included a massive parade to which only select citizens were invited. Here in Washington, the anniversary was marked by two NED-sponsored events that highlighted more serious contradictions of communist rule in China than invitation-only parades.

In September, the Laogai Research Foundation, a NED grantee that is headed by Harry Wu, and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial organized an unprecedented meeting. "Voices from the Laogai: 50 Years of Surviving China's Forced Labor Camps" was a threeday conference that put a spotlight on the victims of forced labor camps throughout the history of the PRC. And on Sept. 28, Martin Lee, the leader of the democratic opposition in the Legislative Council in Hong Kong, spoke candidly about his grave concerns for the rule of law in Hong Kong at a luncheon on Capitol Hill. More than 80 former prisoners were present at the conference on the laogai, 20 of whom spoke to conference attendees, sharing their personal experiences. The testimonies of those prisoners will be compiled and published to increase awareness of the laogai, ensuring that their experiences are remembered.

Harry Wu, who spent 19 years as a political prisoner, gave the keynote address along with Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, founder of the RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights, Robert Bernstein, founding chair of Human Rights Watch, Nobel Laureate Oscar Arias, and NED President Carl Gershman. Actor Richard Gere also made a presentation the following day.

"We have endured unthinkable violence and profound inhumanity and managed to come out with our humanity and our dignity intact," said Wu to fellow former prisoners and conference participants. "Who is to speak out, if not we?" he said. "We can pardon those who violently abused us, but we cannot tolerate further violence against innocent victims." The event marked the first time that so many survivors of China's forced labor system came together to share their stories of political imprisonment and forced labor to an audience that included prominent academics, human rights activists, and members of the press.

Lee speaks on Capitol Hill

NED Democracy Award recipient (1997) Martin Lee discussed the state of freedom and the rule of law in Hong Kong during a Sept. 28 NED-sponsored lunch on Capitol Hill. Rep. John Porter (R-Ill.) introduced Lee as "Hong Kong's Thomas Jefferson and hopefully China's Thomas Jefferson."

A lawyer by profession, and an expert provisions of Hong Kong's mini constitution. This essentially overruled the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong, which is under law vested with the power of final adjudication.

"This is likely to happen again and again," said Lee, who described the decision as a "very bad precedent." Lee also expressed his concern that Chinese-style corruption would soon be exported to Hong Kong, long known for its good governance and exceptional civil service. Lee said that while the press is still free, there is a great deal of self-censorship on the rule of law in Hong Kong, Lee focused on the ongoing erosion of the independence of Hong Kong's judiciary, supposedly protected under Hong Kong's constitutional document, the Basic Law. He condemned the alarming precedent set earlier this year by the Hong Kong government in the "right of abode" case. The Hong Kong government, having lost its case in the Court of Final Appeal, rather than seeking amendment to the Basic Law, chose to ask the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in Beijing to reinterpret relevant when it comes to commentary on the government in Beijing. He pledged that Hong Kong's Democratic Party "will continue to be the voice of Hong Kong."

When asked what U.S. lawmakers could do to help, Lee emphasized the need to stay focused on the rule of law in Hong Kong. Admitting that it is difficult to bring attention to a situation with no immediate crisis - where "no one is dying or going to prison" - he noted that "when the world's attention goes, we suffer...The government is now allowed to get away with anything."

Realizing 'that tomorrow would be different from yesterday' NED celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution

Czech and Slovak representatives joined members of Congress, friends of NED, and representatives of the international community on Capitol Hill Oct. 20 to celebrate and reflect on the 10th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution that ended communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Czech Ambassador to the United States Alexandr Vondra and Slovak Ambassador to the United States Martin Bútora were awarded NED's Democracy Service Medal for their critical roles in the successful revolution, and in the subsequent transition to democracy.

Several members of the U.S. Senate were on hand to commemorate the great revolution of 1989, including Sens. Richard Lugar, Frank Lautenberg, Bob Kerrey, Paul Sarbanes, Bob Graham, Carl Levin, and two of the event's congressional co-chairs, Rep. John Mica and Sen. Joseph Biden. "It was an incredible, historic event in not only what it ended, but what it began," said Biden.

Democracy Service Medals presented

In 1989, Ambassador Bútora was a cofounder of the Public Against Violence movement, the leading Slovak force in the Velvet Revolution against communism. Following the revolution he served as a human rights advisor to President Vaclav Havel. After the "velvet divorce," during which the Czech and Slovak republics peacefully separated into two countries, Bútora continued his democratic activism in Slovakia, eventually becoming a co-founder of OK '98, the coalition of nongovernmental organizations that played a key role in restoring Slovakia's democratic transition. Wendy Luers, president of the Foundation for a Civil Society, presented NED's award to Bútora, describing both him and his wife, Zora Bútorová, as "incredibly important leaders of the NGO sector" in Slovakia. Luers said that despite Slovakia's difficult times following its split with the Czech Republic, the Bútoras chose to remain there. Instead of leaving, "they used their rooftop as a place for intellectuals, for the politicians, [and] the NGO leaders of Slovakia, and talked about the future," she said.

In his acceptance remarks, Bútora asked the audience not to forget the sacrifices made by many individuals for the sake of democratic change. "We should pay tribute to them and never, never forget them," he said. Bútora proudly went on to report that during Slovakia's last election, 80 percent of the 380,000 voters aged 18 to 21 voted, compared with 20 percent in the 1994 elections, thanks to programs such as the NED-supported "Rock the Vote" campaign. More than two-thirds of those young voters supported the opposition, helping to oust authoritarian president Vladimir Meciar.

Ambassador Vondra's entire adult life has been focused on bringing democracy to the Czech Republic. After graduating from college in 1985 he became involved in the democratic opposition, working on samizdat publications and helping to build coalitions with democrats in other eastern bloc countries, including Poland and Hungary. He signed the pro-freedom document, Charter 77, and as a result was forced to take jobs outside his profession, including one as a boilermaker. By 1989 Vondra had become a spokesperson for the organization Charter 77 and a co-founder of the Civic Forum movement, eventually earning himself two months in prison for his role in organizing opposition demonstrations in January 1989. Since the revolution, Vondra has served as a foreign policy advisor to President Havel in several capacities, including Deputy Foreign Minister.

Irena Kirkland, the widow of former AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland and a native Czech who was imprisoned for three weeks following the Communist takeover because of her democratic activism, presented the Democracy Service Medal to Ambassador Vondra. In her remarks she quipped that Vondra had lived out the Soviet dream, rising from a boilermaker to become Ambassador to the United States.

Panel addresses democracy in Central Europe

Prior to the award celebration a distinguished panel, moderated by NED Chairman John Brademas, discussed "The Legacy of the Velvet Revolution: Democracy, Independence and Peace in Central Europe."

Panelists included Sen. Biden, Zora Bútorová of the Institute for Public Affairs, Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick of the American Enterprise Institute, Michael Meyer of Newsweek, Karel von Schwarzenberg, former chancellor of the Czech Republic's Office of the President, Martin Simecka of the daily newspaper SME, and Martin Palou?s, deputy foreign minister of the Czech Republic. The Velvet Revolution, according to Simecka, became an example for the world of "change without the blood."

"It'd be interesting to ask people here when they really 'got it' that tomorrow would be different from yesterday," commented Palou?s, a founding member of the Civic Forum. "We can easily say at the end of the 20th century that the road we have before us is much different than the one we were on before 1989."

Exiled Cuban dissidents promote free expression NED-sponsored journal connects Cubans globally Editor Jesus Diáz and Managing Editor Annabelle Rodriguez of the NED-supported journal, Encuentro de la cultura cubana (Meeting of Cuban Culture), visited NED on Oct. 29 to discuss the role it plays in the Cuban intellectual and artistic community both in exile and in Cuba, the Cuban diaspora, and the Castro regime. Encuentro is a journal that is published in Spain and circulated internationally and inside of Cuba among dissidents, intellectuals, academics, and artists.

"They (Cubans) are afraid of the future," said Diáz, an internationally- acclaimed novelist and screenwriter. He said that while many Cubans are not happy with the Castro regime, the fact that Cuba is an isolated island means that its residents receive little outside information that would encourage them to believe that an open society could provide benefits for them. Before leaving Cuba in 1991 for Berlin, Diáz oversaw two magazines that challenged the Castro regime; both were eventually shut down by the government. His first novel was banned for 12 years in Cuba. In 1993 he moved to Madrid to create Encuentro.

Rodriguez, who also spoke at the NED lunch, described her childhood as the daughter of the late Carlos Rafael Rodriguez, the ex-vice president of the Castro regime. Although her parents were both leading members of the communist regime, at the age of 14 she decided that she would not support the country's communist movement. In 1956, when Soviet tanks invaded Hungary, Rodriguez had her first confrontation with her family regarding the new regime, and in 1971 she left Cuba for Madrid. She remained close to her parents despite their differences of opinion. When asked whether or not her parents ever regretted their roles in the Castro regime, Rodriguez said that while they publicly maintained their communist philosophy, privately they both expressed concern about Castro's Cuba.

"As somebody from a divided family, I think it is very important to connect people," said Rodriguez. "Encuentro helps to connect people from different fields - political fields, social fields, and technical fields - and helps to connect [Cubans] who have been isolated from the rest of the world." Encuentro's creators had three main goals in mind for the journal, according to Diáz. Those included maintaining that violence would not bring about democracy; ignoring the so-called division between Cubans on the island and those abroad, and instead focusing on common themes of a shared culture and history; and encouraging a "new kind of thinking" among Cubans.

Diáz emphasized the importance of what Cubans think about their country's relationship with the United States. "Many people think that as bad as Castro is," he said, "after he is gone Cuba will be in the claws of the United States." According to Diáz, Castro has succeeded in convincing Cubans that the United States is responsible for their economic woes and high unemployment. Encuentro attempts to address this by educating its readers about their country's cultural ties to, and historic relationship with, the United States.

Both international and Cuban readers on the island have praised the publication and its unique approach to spotlighting Cuban culture. A reader from Havana wrote, "Your magazine takes me to a curious place: I feel when I read it that I am in a country with a free press, where one can say the things as they really are."

A few weeks ago i had the exciting experience of visiting, for the first time, South Africa. I went to this beautiful country to take part in the Ninth International Anti-Corruption Conference, sponsored by Transparency International (TI), the organization that combats corruption in international business transactions. Some 1,600 persons from 134 countries attended the meeting, held in the city of Durban.

That TI chose South Africa for this important conference is testament to the success of the democratic transition that country has made since the demise of the hated-and hateful- apartheid system.

In Durban, I chaired a workshop organized by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) on "Countering Political Corruption: Can Money in Politics Be Contained?" Panelists from Colombia, Ireland, the Ivory Coast, South Africa, and Zambia discussed how money affects politics in their countries as well as strategies to curb the influence of money in politics and thus enhance public confidence in the democratic process.

I learned during my trip that NED, through its four core institutes, is assisting South African groups working to build genuinely inclusive institutions of democracy. For example, an NDI program brought South African parliamentarians to meet their counterparts in other countries that have moved from authoritarian to democratic governments while an International Republican Institute initiative has helped South African NGOs monitor and evaluate legislation.

In a concluding statement, "The Durban Commitment to Effective Action Against Corruption", the delegates to the TI conference declared, "On the eve of the 21st Century, we recognize that unless the scourge of corruption is combated effectively, the world beyond the year 2000 will be one where poverty . . . is deepened even further; the legitimacy of governments further eroded; human rights abuses proliferated; and the democratic gains of the past 50 years will be destroyed."

As South Africans continue on the path of democracy and reconciliation, made possible in large measure by the heroic leadership of Nelson Mandela, their nation, with all the challenges it still faces, serves as a model for the world in the century soon to begin.

John Brademas
Chairman

Kirkland devoted life to working people and the defense of freedom

Friends, family and colleagues of Lane Kirkland came together on Sept. 23 to pay tribute to the former union leader and champion of international workers' rights at Georgetown University, where he graduated from the School of Foreign Service. Kirkland was president of the AFLCIO and a founding member of the NED Board of Directors. The AFL-CIO, under Kirkland's leadership, provided material assistance and moral support to the Polish trade union Solidarity during its years in the underground. Several distinguished speakers honored him at the memorial service, including President Clinton, former Polish President Lech Walesa, NED Board Member Thomas R. Donahue, Henry Kissinger, Sen. Ted Kennedy and NED President Carl Gershman. The Republic of Poland presented Kirkland with its oldest and highest distinction, the Order of the White Eagle, which Irena Kirkland accepted on his behalf. The following are excerpts from the remarks made by Gershman at the memorial service.

When Irena accepted the National Endowment for Democracy's first Democracy Service Medal on Lane's behalf last April - Lane was in the hospital and could not be there himself to receive it - she said that the two proudest moment's in Lane's life were sailing on the last liberty ship during the 50th anniversary celebration of the Normandy invasion, and attending the first post-communist convention of Poland's Solidarity union. Each moment signified Lane's connection to an historic triumph of democracy: the first as a seaman in the Merchant Marines in the war against Nazism; the second, in his capacity as President of the AFL-CIO, as the most devoted and indispensable ally of Solidarity, whose victory set in motion the downfall of communism in Central Europe and the Soviet Union.

These were moments in a life devoted to the cause of working people and to the defense of freedom against its many enemies. Lane was an American patriot who believed that defending freedom was both the responsibility and the moral purpose of this country. Unlike many others who shared this belief, Lane also understood that in a world of totalitarian movements and regimes, the defense of freedom required the advance of democracy.

He didn't look to the government to lead that fight, or to the business community or the intellectuals. There were individuals he respected in all these fields, but in his view the dominant tendency in each of them - for reasons of diplomacy, profit, or intellectual fashion - was, at best, to embrace the status quo. Only the labor movement, he believed, could marshal the will, the power, and the resources to wage a consistent struggle for democracy around the world. Lech Walesa's presence here today shows that he was right. He had no truck with hucksterism, demagogy, and superficiality. Behind his reserve lurked a fierce commitment to justice and truth. In a world of virtual reality, Lane was the real thing. I know I speak for many others in saying that I feel privileged to have known him, and blessed to have been his friend.

JOD to mark its tenth anniversary with special issue

In January 2000, the Journal of Democracy, a quarterly published for NED by the Johns Hopkins University Press, will publish a special issue to mark its tenth anniversary – a collection of some two dozen essays by distinguished writers and thinkers on the theme "Democracy in the World."

Both the inspiration and the organizing framework for the issue come from Alexis de Tocqueville's classic work Democracy in America. Writing in the 1830s after traveling throughout the United States, Tocqueville confessed that "in America I saw more than America; I sought there the image of democracy itself, with its inclinations, its character, its prejudices, and its passions, in order to learn what we have to fear or to hope from its progress." America, in his view, was at the forefront of "a great democratic revolution" that had been proceeding for at least seven hundred years and was destined to bring to Europe "an almost complete equality of condition" like that which already reigned in the New World. His goal was to portray the effects of democratic social conditions not only on politics, but also "on civil society, on habits, ideas, and customs." He did not conclude that Europe would – or should – seek to copy American political institutions, but insisted that the study of America would yield instruction from which Europeans could profit.

Today the social revolution about which Tocqueville wrote has spread beyond the United States and Europe to every corner of the globe. Democratic political institutions (though they often function imperfectly) exist in more than half the world's states. They can now be found on every continent, in countries both rich and poor, and in countries with cultures derived from Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Thus the range of evidence upon which students of democracy can draw today is vastly greater and more varied than it was when Tocqueville wrote, and many things have changed in the intervening period of over a century and a half.

The authors in the tenth anniversary issue of the Journal of Democracy have been asked to "update" and reflect upon Tocqueville's analysis in light of the worldwide experience with democracy at the turn of the millennium. A tentative list of authors and topics appears above. Publication of the special issue will be celebrated with a panel discussion among contributors and a reception at the George Washington University on January 20, 2000. For more information and a Journal subscription form, please return the information request card at the back of this newsletter.

World Movement for Democracy steering committee begins strategic planning in Lisbon

The steering committee of the World Movement for Democracy met Oct. 10-11 in Lisbon, Portugal to discuss practical ways in which the Movement can begin to realize its objective of fostering cooperation and solidarity among those working to achieve democratic ends in all parts of the world. The committee, which consists of veteran international democratic activists and scholars, will serve as the governing body of the Movement until the second Assembly meeting, which is tentatively scheduled for November 2000. The committee decided that the Movement's secretariat should be housed at NED during this initial startup period. For more information about the World Movement for Democracy, visit its website at www.wmd.org.

Hamilton, Gerson join NED Board

Guardian International Corp. President and CEO Ralph Gerson and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Director Lee Hamilton joined the NED Board of Directors in September. "Lee's history of strong support for U.S. international involvement in the U.S. Congress and Ralph's experience in international trade and business make them ideal additions to the NED board," said NED President Carl Gershman.

Hamilton served in the House of Representatives for 34 years, earning himself a reputation as a highly respected authority on foreign affairs. He was chairman of the Intelligence Committee, the House chairman of the Iran-Contra Committee (1987- 88), and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (1993-1995).

Gerson is responsible for the worldwide operations of Guardian Industries Corp., the international arm of the Guardian group of companies, a major multinational manufacturing and entertainment conglomerate. He worked as a partner in a Washington, D.C. law firm from 1985 to 1987 where he focused on international trade and finance, and corporate and legislative law. Gerson also served as director of commerce for the State of Michigan (1983-84), and as counselor to Ambassador Robert S. Strauss in the office of the President's Personal Representative to the Middle East Peace Negotiations, and special assistant in the Office of the Special Trade Representative (1977-80).

1999 NED Contributors

The National Endowment for Democracy thanks the following for their generous support this year:

AFL-CIO Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. American Federation of Teachers American Standard Inc. John Birkelund John Brademas The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Kenneth Brody Building & Construction Trades Department AFL-CIO Harry Cahill Carnegie Corporation of New York Leo Cherne CIVITAS Communication Workers of America Confederation of Indian Industry Marshall B. Coyne Paula Dobriansky Thomas R. Donahue Edward Donley Donner Canadian Foundation Enterprise Investors Steve Forbes Ford Foundation Freedom House Robert A. Georgine German Marshall Fund of the United States Goals for Americans Foundation Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.

Holdeen India Fund John Hurford Fred Iklé Industrial Development Bank of India International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Emmanuel Kampouris Korean Research Foundation Winston and Bette Bao Lord Richard Lugar Luso American Development Foundation Matthew McHugh Mark Palmer Timothy Phillips Polish American Enterprise Fund RPG Enterprises Carl Schmidt Herman Schwartz Charles Smith The Starr Foundation Tata Steel U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor ULLICO Inc. Unite! United Steel Workers of America John C. Whitehead Winston Foundation Kenneth and Charlotte Young

The making of a democracy activist A profile of a NED grantee

Before 1988, when Zaw Moe Kyaw entered the Rangoon University of Arts and Sciences, he knew very little about politics, and virtually nothing about the concepts of human rights and democracy. During his first year there he witnessed a brutal government crackdown of a student demonstration at another school, during which two students were killed and several others were arrested and injured. When the demonstrations spread to the city's other universities, the schools were temporarily closed down and thousands of students sent home.

Angry about the two deaths and puzzled about the inaccurate coverage of that event in the state-run media, Zaw and other students began to question the events they had witnessed. "We started to wonder why we were being treated this way by our government," he said. "Some of the student leaders began to talk about human rights and democracy, so we began to look those words up in the dictionary. We decided that we should become involved in politics to help restore democracy in our country."

When Rangoon's universities were reopened, Zaw and other students joined a new series of demonstrations to push for an investigation into the two deaths, the release of the student protesters from jail, and an accurate media account of what had happened. Again the government cracked down, this time killing and arresting hundreds more.

When the protests against the totalitarian regime spread throughout the country, the regime closed universities throughout Burma in June 1988. Universities in Burma have been closed for extended periods during the past 10 years.

When Zaw returned to his home north of Rangoon, he continued his political activism. Zaw became a township level chairman, organizing other students to participate in the August 8 national uprising and local demonstrations throughout lower Burma.

Zaw's belief that democracy is necessary in Burma, he said, evolved out of his anger over the murder of his fellow students and what he called the "government lies." "Before that time we had never thought about human rights and democracy... [and] we began to question why we didn't have rights," said Zaw.

On Sept. 18, 1988, the military reasserted control over the country as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). In October, as the country prepared for general elections to be held in May 1990, a group of Burmese students formed the Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS). Zaw joined the party and began taking on a number of leadership roles. Despite calling for general elections and allowing the establishment of political parties, the SLORC continued to suppress dissent and harass leading opposition figures, including a number of DPNS members who fled the country in 1989, prior to the election. The DPNS continued to work inside the country to support the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the establishment of parliament until October 1991, when the SLORC banned the DPNS, forcing the remainder of its leadership to flee to the border area where they re-established their headquarters. Zaw continued to work in a variety of roles for the DPNS, and from 1997 to 1998, headed the DPNS Foreign Affairs Committee.

DPNS, a NED grantee since 1996, works to bring about a democratic government in Burma. DPNS distributes publications and other materials on democracy and nonviolent resistance and uses its network of democracy organizers to educate Burmese about the outside world and educate the outside world about Burma.

Zaw is currently serving a three-month internship in Washington, D.C. at NED. He was selected by the DPNS to participate in a nine-month foreign affairs training program for pro-democracy activists in exile from Burma. The program combines a six-month classroom component with an internship at an organization in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. "It is very helpful for us," said Zaw. "I am learning about organizational management, how to organize meetings, the importance of sharing information, and much more."

Zaw's family remains in Burma. His father has been arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison for supporting the NLD, and his mother, a teacher, is harassed regularly by local authorities. "I do not contact my family," he said. "It is too dangerous for them."