OSCE Human Dimension Meeting: U.S. Calls for More Democracy in Eurasia :: Charter'97 :: News

Europe’s largest human rights and democracy conference, the 2005 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM), opened September 19 in Warsaw, Poland.

U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Julie Finley recalled in her opening statement President Bush’s recent observation that, “despite tremendous progress, much remains to be done to achieve a democratic, prosperous, and secure Euro-Atlantic community.” (See related article (http://usinfo.state.gov/eur/Archive/2005/Aug/01-428471.html).)

After noting the triumph of popular revolutions in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, Finley listed some of the states in which freedom remains under attack: Belarus, which she called “an outpost of tyranny”; Turkmenistan, a country that “remains on the fringes of the OSCE in terms of its nonimplementation of its human rights commitments”; and Uzbekistan, “a regime that actively seeks to quell all opposition and will go to any lengths to maintain its stranglehold on society.”

Russia, too, came in for criticism. Finley called on Moscow “to fulfill its OSCE commitments and to halt its retreat from democracy and human rights.” She reiterated U.S. concern about human rights abuses in Chechnya.

Finley also criticized Kazakhstan for resorting to the Soviet-era argument that human rights practices are “internal affairs,” noting that in 1991 the OSCE participating states "categorically and irrevocably declare[d] that the commitments undertaken in the field of the human dimension … are matters of direct and legitimate concern to all participating States and do not belong exclusively to the internal affairs of the State concerned."

Indeed, the purpose of the September 19-30 HDIM meeting is to review implementation of existing OSCE commitments. The term “Human Dimension” serves as a short-hand phrase for all the human rights and humanitarian provisions of the agreements concluded through the process initiated by the 1975 Helsinki Accords, as well as the democratization commitments made by the OSCE since 1989.

Finally, Finley discussed the challenge to OSCE’s monitoring of elections. “Our election standards and the objectivity of OSCE election observation teams have been under attack from within the OSCE for several years, at first very subtly, but lately more aggressively,” she said, referring to Russian criticism of OSCE monitoring procedures and allegations that OSCE election monitors played a role in the post-election upheavals in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.

She called on other governments to “resist attempts to diminish our common election standards, including under the guise of reform.”

“In particular, we should preserve OSCE election missions` independence from outside influence; maintain mission heads` ability to publicly assess the degree to which an election has met OSCE commitments on the day after voting; and ensure that ODIHR [the OSCE’s Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights] can appoint heads of observation and assessment missions based on ability and without the political involvement of governments,” she said. (See related article (http://usinfo.state.gov/eur/Archive/2005/Sep/12-423017.html).

Another member of the U.S. delegation, Paul DeGregorio, elaborated on the U.S. view of the OSCE’s role in elections.

The United States has been attempting to improve the conduct of its own elections, noted DeGregorio, who serves as vice chair of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. OSCE election observation missions consistently have been welcomed in the United States, as have their constructive recommendations, he said.

After reviewing the most recent elections in Ukraine, Belarus, Albania and Kyrgyzstan, DeGregorio turned to the upcoming elections in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, saying he hoped those governments “will take the necessary steps to ensure the upcoming elections will be seen inside and outside their respective countries as fully meeting OSCE commitments.”

He said opposition candidates and parties must be allowed to participate “on an equal basis, including equal media access, with incumbents or pro-government parties.” There must also be transparency and balanced and impartial electoral commissions and observers, he added.

The kind of stability that results from rigged elections aimed at keeping current rulers in power is an illusion, DeGregorio said. “Long-term stability is possible only through democracy. … All states have a vital interest in seeing to it that their elections conform to OSCE standards.”

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)