The State Department has put out a press release detailing new initiatives to support human rights that will begin next year. By and large, the plans focus on supporting NGOs that operate under fierce government repression, thus countering the global trend of cracking down on such organizations from Russia to Venezuela. Here is a list of the three programs:
1) Human Rights Defenders Fund
In countries where tyranny persists, and even in states with some semblance of democratic institutions, human rights defenders are frequently put in jeopardy by the nature of their work. They are harassed, physically threatened or harmed, and many times detained and imprisoned. The creation of a global Human Rights Defenders Fund will enable the U.S. government to respond to human rights defenders???????? emergency needs quickly by providing assistance to activists who are facing extraordinary financial, legal or medical needs as a result of government repression. The Fund will begin with $1 million and will be replenished as needed.2) NGO Principles
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are essential to ensuring government transparency and accountability. When NGOs are under siege, freedom and democracy are undermined. The U.S. government is advancing ten core NGO Principles which guide our own treatment of NGOs and which we urge other governments to respect. These principles will be an important tool for the U.S. and other governments in measuring governmental treatment of NGOs. The Principles distill and complement existing United Nations and European Union documents. We hope they will also be a useful tool for civil society groups and the media as they monitor the treatment of NGOs across the globe.3) Freedom Awards
Beginning in December 2007, The Secretary of State will present two awards annually to recognize those striving to advance human dignity. The Freedom Defenders Award will be awarded to a foreign activist or NGO which has demonstrated outstanding commitment to advancing liberty and courage in the face of adversity. The Diplomacy for Freedom Award will honor the U.S. Ambassador who best advances the President????????s Freedom Agenda by working to end tyranny and promote democracy using the full array of political, economic, diplomatic, and other tools. The Ambassador will be recognized not only for individual achievement, but for his or her leadership in engaging the entire Embassy on implementing the Freedom Agenda.
I think the most important is the first. That kind of money can help keep people out of jail, keep an important and influential independent newspaper going to press, or even save an activist’s life. Given how slowly government usually works, how quickly this emergency money will be distributed in each case and whether or not the situation is transparent is very important if this is to be effective.
To a degree, the money could act as a doube-edged sword. Populist-nationalist regimes such as in Russia, where foreign funding of NGOs has become illegal, criticize NGOs for using money from abroad and aim to turn public opinion against them. A newspaper facing legal fees for printing “lies about public officials” is now suddenly an enemy agent because it received a one-time award from the Human Rights Defender’s Fund. It may not even end up being an issue, but it is important that these people do not in essence become unwilling propaganda tools of the government’s that they’re working to change.
Going from one spectrum to the other, I think the NGO Principles are probably the most useless. While it may be used by the State Department to evaluate how countries treat NGOs, in general, we could likely get a similar idea by taking a look at Freedom House’s index. Here’s a concept: unfree countries tend to treat NGOs poorly, while free ones do not… Even if the State Department begins creating an annual report on such a matter, it’s not as if it isn’t done elsewhere (probably by an NGO, even!), and the outcome likely wouldn’t greatly affect U.S. policy.
The last initiatve, Freedom Awards, is interesting though there aren’t many details provided about it. Recognizing rights activists working under tyrannical governments is important as it highlights their cause. With such international focus on the person, it may even grant them some immunity from undue government prosecution, depending on whether or not the particular government is concerned at all with international legitimacy. Such a thing would not work in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, but there is always the chance that more mild authoritarian regimes which are not international pariahs would move much more cautiously. A cash prize to go along with that, such as the Sakharov Prize awarded by the European Parliament, carries the risks that I’ve already outlined and could probably be put to better use.
The Diplomacy for Freedom Award is the second award that the State Department will be giving out under these new initiatives, and personally I like the idea. American ambassadors don’t have to worry about the propagandizing effect like the activists do as they are not native to the country they are working in. Such an award is also an incentive to carry out the Freedom Agenda as it would help raise their profiles and careers. There are a lot of good ambassadors out there who are fighting hard for freedom in the countries they work in and giving them a reputation boost for this hard work is deserved. They will then be better able to use their influence both where they work and within the State Department itself to make advancing freedom and democracy a top priority.
Now, since I have reviewed the three initiatives that the State Department will be instituting, the discussion today will focus on what further actions the State Department can take to help individual activists, NGOs, and democracy in general. Does the answer lay in political activism or more generally in building local economies and healthcare/education infrastructure? I think there’s a lot of ways this can go, so let’s hear it.