Activist Groups Take Cautious Approach to White House Democracy Summit 

When leaders of more than 100 countries virtually assemble next week for a Biden government-sponsored summit on democracy, groups focused on human rights and civil society say they want to see concrete pledges to address rising authoritarianism and an admission by the United States that it has to do it to sustain its own democratic institutions.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the summit from December 9-10 will focus on three things: defending against authoritarianism, fighting and combating corruption and promoting respect for human rights.

The meeting is part of an effort to reaffirm the role of the United States on the global stage as the leader of democratic nations, echoing President Joe Biden’s claim that “America is back” after four years in Donald Trump’s administration which the country for the most part resigned from an international leadership role.

The Biden administration has worked to position the United States as a buffer between democratic nations and the increasingly aggressive authoritarian governments of the world, particularly China and Russia.

However, the summit comes at a time when democratic institutions in the United States are under attack and is made more difficult by a guest list that includes countries that human rights groups have identified as tending to be authoritarian, including India, the Philippines and Poland.

“Democratic relapse is a fact”

“The damage that has been done to democracy in the last 10 years, but especially in the last five years, can be felt in all regions of the world. Democratic relapse is a fact, “Helena Hofbauer Balmori, International Civic Program Director and Government of the Ford Foundation, a philanthropic organization committed to promoting social justice, told VOA.

FILE – Security forces gather in Kampala, Uganda, Jan. 14, 2021 on Election Day. Uganda authorities recently suspended 54 aid groups, including the Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy and the Fourth Chapter in Uganda.

She said, among other things, that the summit should deal with the “closure of civil space”. The summit must “make a strong statement on democratic values ​​and practices and the fundamental rights associated with them, such as the right to freedom of speech, association and assembly, which are essential for civil society”. to play a strong role in any government. “

“Unfortunately, electoral democracy is not enough,” said Hofbauer Balmori. “We have to create spaces in which citizens can play a role, get involved and contribute to solving complex problems.”

Right-backs under pressure

In the run-up to the summit, the non-profit organization Freedom House issued freedom scorecards for the various countries participating in the event, stressing that many of them do not respect the rights and freedoms of their own citizens.

“We want to be very clear that governments are ready to face the challenges they face at home and recognize them as part of their process as democracies,” said Nicole Bibbins Sedaca, Executive Vice President of Freedom House VOA.

FILE – People take part in a protest in Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, Spain on November 15, 2021 to support Cuban dissidents and demand human rights in Cuba.

She said her organization would like the summit participants to come together in a statement in support of “human rights defenders” around the world who she believes are “under enormous strain”.

“These are journalists, activists, people who stand up for human rights [nongovernmental organizations], Women’s groups, religious leaders trying to stand up for universal human rights in their countries, “she said. “They are imprisoned, arrested, harassed and in some cases killed by authoritarian regimes.”

She also said that the world’s democracies should come together to condemn the increasingly common practice of “transnational repression” by which authoritarian governments go beyond their own borders to silence activists in other countries. As an example, she cited the alleged involvement of Saudi Arabia in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.

Complicated example

It seems ironic to some observers that the United States should convene a summit on democracy, as external organizations, including the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), have recently pointed to the country’s decline in engagement have to democratic values.

FILE – In this November 4, 2020 photo taken in Detroit, election challengers scream as they look through the windows of the central counting board while police helped prevent additional challengers from entering due to overcrowding.

Citing restrictive voting rules, orderly electoral districts that favor one party over another, and the persistent claim by some members of the Republican Party without evidence that the last presidential election was illegal, IDEA added the US to its list of “backsliding democracies” this month

“The idea of ​​the United States convening the world’s democracies to talk about democracy begs the question of whether the United States should be leading in such a thing,” said Eric Bjorklund, president of Democracy International, a group advocating for Establish government accountability and free, legitimate elections, VOA said. “Because we now have a situation where a substantial part of one of our political parties does not seem to believe in democracy and is ready to try to overturn elections.”

More than words

A common refrain from human rights organizations and civil society groups was the hope that the summit would not only give heads of state and government the opportunity to speak out in favor of democratic values ​​without holding them accountable for their actual implementation.

“We believe that the summit must be a place of honesty, humility and real engagement in order to resolve the problems, the human rights problems, that countries around the world, including the United States of America, are facing,” said Joanne Lin, national director for advocacy and government relations at Amnesty International USA, told VOA.

“It is a question of whether the summit will actually be the starting point for significant multilateral engagement and challenge, or if it will be more of a one-off event where governments are convened virtually but not really accountable afterwards.” ,” She said.

Ford Foundation’s Hofbauer Balmori agreed, “The big challenge is to actually develop some mechanisms that enable governments to be held accountable for their commitments and ensure that countries, governments and civil society are involved in those mechanisms . “Who can help to achieve the best goal.”

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