Democracy Digest Democracy Digest
The Bulletin of the Transatlantic Democracy Network - www.demdigest.net

October 5, 2006

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Shanghai Cooperation Organization at the Crest of "Reverse Wave"?

Shanghai Cooperation Organization at the Crest of "Reverse Wave"? It's "a club for autocrats and dictators" and "the most dangerous organization that the American people have never heard of" to some. Others claim it's a generally benign, largely defensive grouping of states. For a relatively obscure organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is generating considerable debate and anxiety.

Initially and ostensibly focused on trade and economic links, and the security trinity of "terrorism, separatism and extremism," the SCO is also emerging as the institutional embodiment of what Belarusian analyst Vitali Silitski calls "pre-emptive authoritarianism", and others consider a new "authoritarian internationale" or axis. Currently comprising Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, the five-year-old SCO recently invited Iran to join Pakistan, Mongolia and India as an observer member. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the SCO to join forces to "prevent the threats of domineering powers and their aggressive interference in global affairs" when he was welcomed to the July 2005 five-year anniversary SCO summit.

SCO member states have also been cementing the axis on a bilateral basis. On a recent four-day trip to Belarus, China's defense chief, Cao Gangchuan, pledged to expand military ties with Minsk and insisted "Belarus and China shared views on all international events and situations."

"It gives them a club to go to, and be happy with each other," Richard A. Boucher, U.S. assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, told a recent OSCE hearing on Capitol Hill, providing a place where they would "not face any criticism, and therefore maybe lessen the pressure that can be brought on them from outside." Boucher did not share Senator Sam Brownback's concerns at the SCO's "vocal opposition to the exportation of democracy" or concur with one expert's view that it is "more than just an economic organization, the SCO is a potential Warsaw Pact."

While Boucher rejected Brownback's suggestion that the SCO represented an anti-democratic coalition, Central Asian expert Sean Roberts testified that the SCO reflected a fear of regime change, opposition to the US Administration's freedom agenda and a widespread conviction among regional elites that that the U.S. was "intimately involved" in fomenting colored revolutions in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, and the Andijan protests of May 2005.

Formerly active in promoting Central Asian democratization with USAID, Roberts believes the U.S. and the OSCE should find new means for engaging Central Asian states on "long-term democratic reforms". Assuring regimes that democracy promotion has "nothing to do with forcing regime change in the short term" but will help ensure the long-term sustainability of their sovereignty and independence is not an approach that is soft on democracy. "The U.S. and the OSCE need to talk tough about democracy with Central Asian leaders," says Roberts, but do so realistically and with a commitment to long-term engagement.

"It's easy to criticize the SCO as a union of non-democratic states," said Carnegie's Martha Brill Olcott. Yet she insists that SCO members are not bound by common interests in "keeping member states from becoming democracies" but by shared security interests and perceived risk. "Beijing sees the organization as a way to parry Russian influence," she argues, a view that prompts Roberts to suggest China's engagement in the region is somewhat less benign.

Indeed, the growing confidence and assertiveness with which the SCO assails initiatives to promote democracy and human rights does little to foster an image of beleaguered authoritarians, timidly huddled in a regional self-help group. "The time for color revolutions in Central Asia is gone," the SCO's executive secretary reportedly said.

The backlash against democracy assistance predates the color revolutions, yet Ukraine's Orange Revolution in particular prompted a more aggressive and coordinated response from authoritarian and autocratic regimes. The International Center for Not-For-Profit Law has reported on the marked similarity between legislation restricting NGO activity, for instance. Alarmed by the color revolutions, China has tightened controls on international NGOs. The Foreign Ministry's Bureau of International Organizations set up a new unit to review the work of foreign NGOs. The regime reportedly sent researchers to Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Georgia, and Belarus to assess the role of pro-democracy NGOs and to propose countermeasures. China is also exporting repressive techniques to other repressive regimes: Belarusian dictator Alexandr Lukashenka acquired China's latest internet monitoring and control technology while in Beijing in December 2005.

"Non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states" is one of the SCO's guiding principles. As the recent Lugar report on the backlash against democracy assistance noted, the 2005 SCO summit in Kazakhstan issued a statement insisting, in an explicit critique of democracy assistance, that "concrete models of social development cannot be exported" and that "the right of every people to its own path of development must be fully guaranteed." Such statements specifically target democracy promotion efforts in authoritarian former Soviet Republics. China clearly regards the SCO as a means of creating a new Eurasian order to reduce U.S. military power and to constrain democracy promotion efforts.

The post-1974 "third wave" of democratization finally seems to have petered out. Political scientist Samuel Huntington identified two previous waves: a long, slow wave from 1828 to 1926 and a second wave from 1943 to 1964, each of which ended with a "reverse wave" of democratic regression (from 1922 to 1942, and from 1961 to 1975, respectively). As an anti-Western alliance with considerable energy resources and nuclear power, the SCO is well-positioned to promote such a reversal. It remains "potentially harmful," says David Wall, a foreign policy analyst at Chatham House. "We should be watching very carefully." A year ago, NATO officials laughed off his concerns about the SCO. He says they're not laughing anymore.


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"Frontlash" Needed to Defend Democracy

The European Union has been "spectacularly ineffective" at promoting democracy beyond the process of enlargement, according to leading commentator Timothy Garton Ash. Addressing a recent conference on Defending Democracy organized by the Washington-based Center for Transatlantic Relations, he stressed the indispensable role of civil society groups and specialist democracy assistance groups, citing the recent "Moscow Rocks" incident as evidence that governments "don't do this kind of thing" very well. For the British Foreign Office to get involved in democracy assistance – at the expense of such groups as the UK's own Westminster Foundation — is to invite trouble, he argued.

While questioning the notion of democratic backsliding as implying a naïve Whig conception of history, Garton Ash cautioned against the erosion of democracy by ersatz forms — whether Sovereign or Bolivarian. His concern about such pseudo-democracies was seconded by the National Endowment for Democracy's Carl Gershman who nevertheless stressed that the anti-democratic backlash was real and prevalent. A meeting at the recent UN General Assembly heard democracy activists from Venezuela, Russia, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Central Asia relay their experience of the shrinkage of political space and undermining of democratic institutions. While governments inevitably had to balance competing interests while seeking to promote or defend democracy, civil society groups should join the leading democracies in a orchestrating a frontlash (a concept with a distinctive provenance) against democracy's detractors.

"Freedom has taken the offensive," declared Arthur Koestler, as democrats finally responded to Soviet aggression at the start of the "cultural Cold War". But a similar frontlash against the current backlash requires overcoming not only the resilience of authoritarian and dictatorial regimes but the ambivalence and opposition of many in the West. "Some think it neoconservative to favour spreading democracy around the world," notes Tony Blair. "Others on the Right think that policy is dangerous and deluded. Some on the Left see intervention as humanitarian and necessary. Others believe that, if dictators don't threaten us directly, they should be left alone. 'Open or closed' is once more the choice," he argues in a new pamphlet, A Global Alliance for Global Values.

The challenge "is not a clash between civilizations: it is a clash about civilization," Blair maintains. "It is the age-old battle between progress and reaction, between those who embrace in the modern world, and those who reject its existence; between optimism and hope on the one hand, and pessimism and fear on the other."

"Has the promotion of democracy favoured by Bush and Blair given that project a bad name?," asks the Financial Times' John Lloyd. "Easy to answer yes: harder to conceive of a series of policies and attitudes that will address a refractory globe, as they have had to," notes Lloyd. Harder still to imagine that a reversion to a stance of benign indifference to what regimes do to their own people will achieve anything better."


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EU Seeks "Typically European" Approach to Democracy Promotion

European democracy promotion "lacks a clear profile, a coherent set of policy principles and a communication strategy," the European Council concedes, in its first discussion paper on the subject. Similarly, two leading Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) criticize EU democracy assistance for a lack of focus.

The European Council stresses the EU's commitment to locally driven democratization; long term capacity- and institution-building; prioritizing fragile and conflict prone states; mainstreaming democratic principles in development; and emphasizing "the empowerment of poor people". It leaves open the question of cooperation with political foundations and engagement with political parties.

In an attempt to enhance the European profile of democracy promotion, the paper highlights such "typically European political principles and practices" as parliamentary practice; social dialogue and cohesion; civil society empowerment; support for transnational citizenship; sharing power through decentralization, devolution or transnational cooperation; media integrity and professionalism; and developing trust and transparency in public institutions.

European democracy and human rights policy requires a "sharper focus on implementation" through civil society, including unregistered organizations, European Parliament rapporteurs insist. Democracy Agenda reports that the rapporteurs – MEPs Edward McMillan-Scott (Conservative/UK) and Helene Flautre (Greens/France) – also suggest that the EU needs a more flexible instrument capable of adjusting to changing priorities over the 2007-2013 budget. The European Parliament established the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) in 1992 but it expires in December 2006 and time is tight if a new initiative is to be in place by January 2007.

The European Commission tried to subsume democracy and human rights within other external financing instruments such as development but MEPs demanded a separate instrument in order to maintain the EIDHR's distinctive advantage – that initiatives funded under the €140 million programme do not require host government consent. The Commission's efforts to promote democracy in neighbouring states, through the EIDHR, have been hampered by slow decision-taking, excessive bureaucracy and inflexibility. Analysts and activists have argued that the EU should create a European endowment for democracy to dispense funds currently managed by the Commission.


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Democratic Reform the Antidote to Jihadist Islam

"Greater pluralism and more responsive political systems in Muslim majority nations would alleviate some of the grievances jihadists exploit," according to the recently Declassified National Intelligence Estimate of trends in global terrorism. The report deems "the slow pace of real and sustained economic, social, and political reform" in many Muslim majority nations to be an underlying factor "fueling the spread of the jihadist movement."

The report concludes that if democratic reform efforts progress over the next five years, "political participation probably would drive a wedge between intransigent extremists and groups willing to use the political process." The extremists' greatest vulnerability is the unpopularity of their "ultimate political solution – an ultra-conservative interpretation of shari'a-based governance."

But U.S. democracy promotion in the Middle East faces significant challenges over the next two years if it is to remain a core part of foreign policy into the next administration, argues Brookings' Tamara Cofman Wittes in a new policy paper. To truly institutionalize the practice of democracy promotion, foreign policy in the region requires effective mechanisms to "overcome the inevitable tendency to trade long-term democracy promotion for shorter term gains in other issue areas." Given that Arab democratization will be a long, perhaps generational process, Wittes recommends that an effective strategy should: be tailored to country-specific circumstances; enjoy support from in-country ambassadors as well as at the highest levels of decision-making in Washington; push back against short-term exigencies, that may erode democracy promotion efforts over time; and, support social and institutional changes in Arab states that promote long-term expansion of freedom and political accountability."


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Preferring ‘Dignity' Over Democracy?

Arab democrats have long lamented the facility with which the region's rulers exploit the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to divert grievances and discontent over the Middle East's development and democratic deficits. Ever since the establishment of the state of Israel, they observe, local regimes have highlighted the supposed affront to "Arab dignity" to deflect attention from their own misrule and failures. The July 2004 Cairo Declaration on Priorities and Mechanisms of Reform in the Arab World, for example, insisted that "the suffering of the Palestinian people cannot be used to hinder reform or justify human rights violations."

So, at a time when the "Arab autocracies have largely ossified into massive bureaucracies that provide virtually no services to their people, no outlets for them to express their grievances, and no hope for political action to address their many difficulties ", the Hezbollah-Israeli war must have seemed heaven-sent. The war, and the related rise of Iran, are clearly being used as "a gambit on the part of those regimes to "conclusively put an end to democracy promotion in the Middle East," says Arab politics specialist Marc Lynch. "They are saying to the Americans: 'Look how useful we are.' " The war has also been used by realist critics to argue that democracy has caused instability while empowering and legitimizing Islamic extremists. But, as the Council on Foreign Relations' Steven Cook notes, "If Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Iran were truly democratic, it is unlikely that Hezbollah and Hamas could engage in irresponsible policies that bring only pain to their people." While the election of illiberal forces presents genuine dilemmas, he concedes, recent violence between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah "is not a result of the Bush administration's push for a more open and democratic Arab world; it is a result of not pushing enough."


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Hezbollah-Israeli Conflict Fallout Splits Arab Democrats …

So it is particularly disturbing, in the aftermath of war, to see some of the region's reformists succumbing to a familiar syndrome. Leading Egyptian democrat Saad Eddin Ibrahim dismayed many sympathizers when he recently described Hezbollah as "a model actor" in Lebanese and Middle Eastern politics, and as "Muslim democrats", alongside the likes of Hamas and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. He seeks to establish Hezbollah's democratic bona fides by noting that they have "accepted electoral systems and practiced electoral politics", as if electoral participation was a sole or determinant criterion.

Yet such a characterization not only neglects Hezbollah's status as Iran's terrorist proxy and its "fundamentally non-democratic nature" but also betrays Lebanese democrats who bravely protested against the radical Islamists' usurpation of state prerogatives in that fragile emerging democracy at a time of growing Shi'a disaffection with Hezbollah and Nasrallah's belligerent adventurism.

"By unilaterally making a decision of war and peace," says Amr Hamzawy, "Hezbollah confiscated the right of Lebanon's government, of which it is part, to determine the country's fate," acting like "a state within a state, taking advantage of the weakness of Lebanon's formal institutions and transgressing the principle of consensual decision-making." Hamzawy, an eloquent advocate of democrats' engagement with moderate Islamists, notes that "the positions of putatively democratic Arab opposition movements on the war in Lebanon have exposed their totalitarian and populist tendencies", suggesting that they "lack a key characteristic of reformist political forces: a willingness to combat ideologies of hatred and extremism rather than using them for political advantage."

Other Egyptian democrats have highlighted the intolerant tendencies of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood at a time when leftist and Nasserist elements of the anti-Mubarak opposition have joined with the Islamists around a populist demand for the revocation of the Camp David accords that brought peace with Israel. Conscious that the authoritarian populism of Hezbollah is "an alternative to civil society in the Middle East" and not its ally, Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey captured the absurdity of such opportunism in an open letter to Nasrallah:
A true leader shouldn't care about such trivial things like the welfare of his country or the safety of his people, as long as he engages in wars of dignity and inflicts some damages against the evil nazi zionists. That's what your glorious role model showed them, and the egyptian people have looked around, saw the peace and quiet we have been living in for the past 27 years, and screamed: i don't want this honorless peace! give me war! give me dignity.
Some insight into Hezbollah's credentials can be gleaned from a letter to the Left-Liberal Berlin daily, Der Tagesspiegel, from Dr. Mounir Herzallah, a Shiite from southern Lebanon. He recalls how, after the Israeli withdrawal in 2000, Hezbollah dug rocket depots in bunkers, and then built a school and a residence over them. He continues: "Laughing, a local sheikh explained to me that the Jews would lose in any event because the rockets would either be fired at them or, if they attacked the rocket depots, they would be condemned by world opinion on account of the dead civilians. These people do not care about the Lebanese population; they use them as shields and, once dead, as propaganda." Model democrats, indeed.


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… And Highlights Transatlantic Concerns

Nevertheless, the conflict did cause a pronounced shift in European perceptions of Mideast politics, with a "disengagement" from the prevailing paradigm of occupied and impotent Palestinians against a powerful colonial Israel. Some 60% of the French public, and 64% of its "elites," believe the heart of the Middle East conflict is the clash between moderates and extremists, with Israel on the side of the moderates, alongside Mahmoud Abbas, Egypt and Jordan. Transatlantic differences remain, however. Some 63% of US respondents blamed Islamic extremism and only 15% faulted Israel, while in Britain 18% cited Israel and only 27% Islamic extremism.

The Hezbollah-Israeli conflict sent a "surrealistic geopolitical signal", argues French intellectual Andr้ Glucksmann. "The outrage of so many outraged people outrages me. On the scales of world opinion, some Muslim corpses are light as a feather, and others weigh tonnes. …. Why do the 200,000 slaughtered Muslims of Darfur not arouse even half a quarter of the fury caused by 200-times fewer dead in Lebanon?" Disdaining the hypocritical geopolitics, which ordains the Mideast as a basic pillar of the world order, [and] has become the religion of the European Union," Glucksmann warns that Israel did not cause the emergence of anti-western ideologies and that the "green subversion" of radical Islamism will not stop at the elimination of the Jewish state. (Glucksmann joined Bernard-Henri L้vy and Alain Finkielkraut, amongst others, this week in a gesture of solidarity with Robert Redeker, a fellow philosopher, threatened by radical Islamists in France.)

His sentiments are shared by Syrian-born German analyst Bassam Tibi who fears that Europeans don't defend their values and by his compatriot Henryk Broder who questions the conviction that consensus-based problem-solving is not a universal political panacea. "Germans like to solve problems by sitting down at a round table to talk. The approach has worked for workplace conflicts and squabbles within clubs and associations," but, he argues, "it amounts to committing suicide for fear of dying when you're dealing with an enemy that loves death more than life."


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Arab Democrats' Home-Grown Initiatives Take Shape

The hype and over-expectation that greeted last year's short-lived Arab Spring appears to have given way to an equally exaggerated pessimism and skepticism towards reform prospects in the region. "As the United States realizes that it needs the support of friendly if authoritarian Arab regimes to ward off growing Iranian influence, one recent analysis suggests, US "leeway and willingness to promote reforms will diminish."

Demonstrably, the elections in Iraq, the Palestinian Authority and Lebanon did not generate the anticipated momentum for broader democratization. Similarly, the brief flowering of Egypt's opposition did not last much beyond the badly-flawed elections of a year ago.

It may well be true, as the old adage has it, that a pessimist is simply a well-informed optimist. But, amid the reversals and vanquished hopes, the region's democrats and civil society activists continue with their one-step-forward-two-steps-back labour of Sisyphus. Recent events confirm that there remains a "growing critical mass of Arab reformers who insist on blazing the trail and moving forward despite regressions in processes of reform."

Yemen's elections on September 20 showed how reform-minded Arab activists are "pooling their collective efforts", according to Oussama Safa, general director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, and Khalil Gebara, co-executive director of the Lebanese Transparency Association. They joined Palestinian, Egyptian, Moroccan and Lebanese observers in launching the first inter-Arab election observation mission, the Arab Network for Election Observation, which aims to establish "a precedent for anchoring similar inter-Arab democratic practices."

The delegation was supported by the National Democratic Institute, but, Safa and Ghabra note, this does not "preclude the fact that similar such initiatives are now locally developed and 'owned' …. and can be added to serious ongoing inter-Arab initiatives such as capacity-building training, advocacy and promotion of good governance programs."


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Yemen Elections – Best in Region, But Still Flawed

While flawed, Yemen's recent elections confirmed an openness to outside assistance and will to modernize that, says a leading democracy promoter, amounts to a democratic experience matching if not exceeding any in the Arab world. "Yemen deserves credit for seeking and inviting international participation in, and scrutiny of, its political reform efforts over the past 14 years," says Les Campbell, head of NDI's Middle East region.

While the poll was marred by election day violence, election commission partisanship, and official media attacks on opposition candidates, "as the only truly contested presidential election to take place in an independent Arab state, the achievement overshadowed the flaws," he argues. Yemen's President Ali Abdallah Salih and the ruling General People's Congress (GPC) opened themselves to a credible electoral challenge from the unlikely Joint Meeting Parties coalition of the Islamist, Islah party and the secular, formerly communist Yemeni Socialists.

The JMP presidential candidate, Faisal bin Shamlan, was universally respected as honest and competent, and even government-controlled media gave significant coverage of the opposition campaign. Women voted and ran in record numbers, with the result that dozens of women will probably take municipal seats. Finally, Yemeni civil society mounted the largest ever mobilization of over 43,000 domestic election observers – trained and supported by international organizations, including NDI, who, says Campbell, "provide a Yemeni voice to help citizens decide for themselves whether the election results reflect the will of the people."

The vibrancy of the opposition to Salih was confirmed when his popularity dropped from 57 per cent to 49 per cent, according to a pre-election opinion poll conducted by the Yemeni Opinion Poll Centre, in conjunction with the National Endowment for Democracy. The candidate of the opposition Joint Meeting Parties, Faysal Bin-Shamlan, was shown to be leading in urban areas and among the elite, with Salih leading in villages and among the less-educated. Salih won the presidential election but was forced to acknowledge the opposition's success in mobilizing opposition and expressing discontent with his regime's failure to reform.

Before his re-election with 77% of the vote, Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Salih told the London-based Al Hayat newspaper that he would use his mandate to initiate "wide reforms in the various state institutions and organs." Salih was particularly scornful of the Islamist Coalition for Reform, claiming that he was the first president in the region to open a dialogue with the Islamists and conceding that he "endorsed them in the period of the communist inflation …. when other regimes were putting them in jail", as a result of which "we dragged them towards moderation."

The election was the "best in the region, .. with genuine contest," said Ali Saif Hasan, head of the Sana'a-based Political Development Forum, and the preliminary report of the European Union Election Observation Mission described the elections as "an open and genuine contest" and a "positive development in Yemen's democratisation process".

But the poll was also typical of the region, with irregularities including underage voting, intimidation, arrest of opposition candidates, illegal campaigning by the ruling party, and breaches of ballot secrecy. The National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the IFES elections agency, expressed concern at the military's role in election logistics and security at the expense of the official elections commission. "Historically, Yemen's elections have been marred by violence and allegations of misconduct by military personnel stationed at polling centres," NDI observed.

The EU report criticized "the overwhelming use of state resources by the ruling party during the election campaign and a perception of partisanship within the decision-making of the election administration." The opposition coalition was not competing on a level playing field, said Hafez al-Bukari, the Yemen Polling Centre's director. "The GPC is the dominant party, both in terms of resources and control of media coverage," said Hafez al-Bukari, director of the Yemen Polling Centre. "After decades of the status quo, people don't distinguish between the GPC and the state. They think that all benefits arising from the state are actually coming from the president's party."

"The fact that in the region an incumbent president is being seriously challenged is a major step forward," said Madrid Robin, NDI country representative. But she lamented women's under-representation in the campaign. "It is all platitudes that women are sisters of the nation and should be involved," said Robin. "But there is no commitment by either side [ruling or opposition parties] to nominate women or to create closed constituencies."

In the meantime, it seems that Yemen has only postponed the tough challenges ahead in confronting endemic corruption, dwindling oil and revenue sources, and tribal conflict as it inches further towards failed state status.


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Tunisia Perfecting Theatre of Pseudo-Democracy

Tunisian officials halted an international labour meeting last month in a further sign of the global backlash against civil society. Some 50 activists from non-governmental organisations in 13 countries arrived in Tunis only to be turned away. It had been organized by the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, the Euromed Trade Union Forum, and the Spanish Comisiones Obreras trade union in liaison with the official Tunisian trade union -- the Union Generale des Travailleurs Tunisiens (UGTT). Palestinian and Jordanian participants were refused visas.

The cancellation further highlights the weakness of the human rights dimension of the EU's Barcelona Process. The Tunisian government has specific commitments to freedom of assembly, opinion and information under the terms of the EU-Tunisia Association Agreement (1998), reached within the Euromed Partnership and the European Neighborhood Policy Tunisia Action Plan.

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's regime has almost perfected the practice of "repressive tolerance" that is increasingly characteristic of pseudo-democratic hybrid regimes. Phones are tapped, e-mails monitored and Internet sites blocked. Democracy activists – including, most recently, independent lawyers - are harassed, intimidated and often arrested. Liberal activist Neila Charchour Hachicha and her family area test case of such harassment, suffering a 10-month prison sentence given to her husband, confiscation of her car, distribution of doctored photographs of a family member, and prolonged interrogation. The regime acted after Hachicha advocated freedom of the press and the need for democratic reform in Tunisia on Al Jazeera and at public meetings in Washington.

"It is theater," says Kadija Cherif, who heads the Tunisian Association of Women Democrats. "The regime wants to show to the world there is democracy, that there is civil society, but at the same time, they do the opposite. They want to control all the people, all the organizations." The best-rehearsed actors in Tunisia's political theatre are the state-sponsored or government-organized NGOs (GONGOs). GONGO representatives attend conferences and other civil society events to collect intelligence for government agencies monitoring independent NGOs. In a 2004 assessment mission to Tunisia, one democracy assistance group was told by senior government officials that if it wished to operate in the country, it would be expected to work with government appointed groups and not with independent bodies. Independent NGOs are often unable to register and it remains technically illegal for groups to receive funding from foreign sources.

Government interference in the activities of Tunisian NGOs is commonplace and severely limits independent actors' ability to work outside the field of officially sanctioned associational life. There are essentially two types of NGOs in Tunisia: those that operate with the support of the government and ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally Party (Rassemblement Constitutionnel Democratique); and those attempting to operate independently. Civil society groups in the latter category face government interference in planned activities, harassment of members and program beneficiaries, and over-zealous scrutiny of financial records.

A common government practice to limit the work of independent actors is denial of meeting permits and/or registration. Independent actors are frequently threatened with prosecution for accepting international donor funds, and public castigation in the government inspired press is used to discredit and harass activists. At the same time, official NGOs are promoted as part of the government's international public relations strategy to demonstrate the existence of civil society in Tunisia. These organizations' personnel, widely known to include members of the mukhabarat intelligence services, represent official Tunisian positions at various international forums and are used to crowd-out independent actors.

Tunisian authorities continue to freeze the assets and otherwise impede the work of the Arab Institute for Human Rights more than a year after authorities informed the institute that a financial audit requiring the freeze would take a few days. The Tunisian government invoked anti-terrorism and money laundering laws to justify further restrictions, including disabling internet, faxes, and mail. The Arab Program for Human Rights Activists believes the regime is pressuring the Institute because it is hostile to leading human rights activist Khamees Kaseela, who represents the Tunisian Association for the Defense of Human Rights on APHRA's board.


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Burma – Forcing or Feigning Democracy?

Burma's military junta arrested five former student dissidents in the past week in its latest crackdown, shortly after it was announced that pro-democracy activists' campaign to place Burma on the U.N. Security Council's agenda had borne fruit — a move that will let the council more closely scrutinize the regime. Activists have launched a petition demanding their release: sign here.

The former student leaders were arrested on September 27, coinciding with the 18th anniversary of the National League for Democracy of detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. All those detained have previously served prison sentences, some for over 10 years, for their part in a 1988 pro-democracy uprising. The arrests also coincide with a period of uncertainty and tension within the ruling junta as an older generation of generals attempts a transition to nominally civilian rule – under a younger generation of generals who leave their uniforms in the closet.

Don't Force Democracy in Burma, Thant Myint-U, grandson of former UN secretary general U Thant, recently argued. Democracy activists "incorrectly see Myanmar as a 'democracy transition' problem, sort of a Velvet Revolution gone wrong," he argued. "But it actually represents a post-conflict challenge, more like Afghanistan or the war-torn societies of sub-Saharan Africa -- and therefore incredibly complex."

Sadly, there is little sign of any "forcing" going on. Burmese democrats have been patient, flexible and inventive, not least in their creative use of the Internet. But Burma's AEAN partners have been loathe to offend the junta's Chinese backers and have consistently refused – along with much of the West, with half an eye on the country's rich natural resources – to impose meaningful sanctions. Thant Myint-U's argument appears to give credence to the junta's commitment to gradual democratization while criticizing the opposition for inflexibility. However, "the Burmese people have tried everything possible and have been flatly refused help," Archbishop Desmond Tutu recently observed. "The regime is only getting stronger. There comes a point where it is better to die on your feet than live on your knees."


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IN BRIEF

Palestinians Want Unity Government, Would Recognize Israel
Some 54% of the Palestinians stated they weren't satisfied with the performance of the Hamas government, according to reports in Al Quds Al Arabi, a Palestinian-owned daily of a recent survey by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. Most Palestinians would rather have a national unity government in which Hamas and Fatah enjoyed equal weight.

Two-thirds of Palestinians support Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel in advance of negotiations, says Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. But in the event of a peace agreement producing a two-state solution, 75% of Palestinians would support recognition of Israel and reconciliation, while two-thirds would even recognize the Jewish nature of the state of Israel as part of a peace agreement.


Transatlantic Democrats Win UN Grants
Several cooperating organizations of the Transatlantic Democracy Network were among the first recipients of grants under the new UN Democracy Fund. Italian NGO No Peace Without Justice won an award for a project on strengthening BMENA civil Society in Yemen, Jordan and Morocco. Prague-based People in Need project, Empowering Democratic Dialogue in Iraq, will use Central European experience with democratic transformation to empower 20 civil society groups to become community facilitators and partners of local government in developing democratic dialogue. The Club of Madrid's "Dialogue on Democratic Values in the Arab World", one of 124 projects selected from a total of 1,300 submissions, will see Club of Madrid members leading dialogue with government and civil society decision-makers on democratic reforms in Jordan and Morocco.

A further UN award goes to the Council for a Community of Democracies to develop regional networks to propose actions for the Community of Democracies' Convening Group and 2007 Bamako Ministerial Conference. The UN also agreed to fund the National Democratic Institute's International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics) which offers women activists an interactive web-based platform featuring access to experts, practitioners and research on women in politics; mediated discussion forums and information exchanges to facilitate new knowledge networks; and opportunities and tools to share experiences and best practices.

Democracy and Human Rights in Iran
Gozaar is a new on-line journal devoted to democracy and human rights in Iran. An initiative of Freedom House, Gozaar - Farsi for 'transition' - aims to help Iranian democrats by creating an inclusive space for debate and discussion.

Political Analysis and Capacity Building
The Center for Peace, Democracy, and Development in Tblisi, Georgia, is launching a new initiative aimed at enhancing political analyses and capacity building among political parties and civil society activists. The center wants to learn more about best practices, new methods and approaches, and training models in this field, and invites anyone with expertise in this area to contact Tina Tkeshelashvili at tinatkeshelashvili@yahoo.com.

Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program
Downloadable flyers are now available online here in the following languages: English; Arabic; Farsi; French; Russian; and Spanish.

Pontis Reports - Belarus, Serbia, Cuba and Iraq
The Pontis Foundation has published several recent reports covering its target countries - Belarus, Serbia, Cuba and Iraq. A survey based on in-depth interviews with dozens of Belarusian analysts and experts throughout the summer 2006, addresses the consequences of the leadership crisis within the United Democratic Forces (UDF) and preparation for the forthcoming local government elections in January 2007. For details, please go here.

Vietnam Democracy Advocate Awarded 2006 Rafto Human Rights Prize
Thich Quang Do, a leader of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), will receive the 2006 Rafto Memorial Prize for his commitment to the cause of religious freedom, human rights and democracy in Vietnam. This prestigious human rights award, established in 1986 on the death of Professor Thorolf Rafto, is awarded annually to outstanding human rights defenders and came shortly after the release of the US State Department's Report on International Religious Freedom, which described Vietnam's intensified repression. Four Rafto Prize laureates, Aung San Suu Kyi, Jos่ Ramos-Horta, Kim Dae-jung and Shirin Ebadi, have subsequently won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Thich Quang Do also joins exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer among the leading candidates for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. The Rafto foundation cited Thich Quang Do's "personal courage and perseverance through three decades of peaceful opposition against the communist regime in Vietnam", describing him as a "unifying force" and a "symbol for the growing democracy movement" in Vietnam. The foundation called on the Vietnamese authorities to "stop their attacks on dissidents and enter into a dialogue with the democratic opposition on reforms opening for participation and respect for human rights, freedom of belief and political liberty in Vietnam".

Singapore Democracy Campaigner Takes a Stand
Pro-democracy activist Chee Soon Juan endured a three-day standoff with police after the authorities prevented him from marching to International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in the city-state earlier this month. "The world now knows the extent of the repression in Singapore and hopefully this will translate into pressure on the Singapore government to reform the system," said Chee, secretary-general of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party and one of the few voices to speak out against the People's Action Party which has ruled Singapore since 1959. Under the noses of international journalists, police blocked Chee and a small group of supporters when they tried to leave a government-designated free speech area. They were eventually allowed to march after three days.


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OPPORTUNITIES

Program Assistant, Center on International Media Assistance
National Endowment for Democracy
Responsibilities, under the supervision of the Director, include assisting with the overall administrative operation of the Center; assisting administration of Advisory Commission on International Media Assistance; responding to email inquiries about the Center; scheduling meetings, tracking grant expenditures and helping draft quarterly reports in cooperation with NED's Internal Audit; assisting in the organization, research, writing and editing of Center reports and budgets; attending conferences, meetings and other relevant events in Washington, D.C.; organizing meetings and events of the Advisory Commission on International Media Assistance; organizing in-house meetings for visitors interested in the Center; performing other duties as assigned.

Applicants should have interest in and knowledge of the communications field; Bachelor's degree in relevant field (journalism, communications) or area studies relevant to the assigned portfolio; administrative support experience; strong organizational skills; familiarity with federal grant regulations, international activities/issues relevant to NED's operation environment a plus; attention to detail and ability to multi-task; ability to work with minimal supervision; strong team player, preferably in a multicultural environment; strong oral and written communication skills; proficiency in Microsoft Office, especially Word and Excel; qualified to work in the U.S. Full details and application instructions here.

Senior Advisor: Citizen Participation- Washington DC
The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) seeks a Senior Advisor to facilitate the development, delivery and evaluation of programs that increase the political participation of citizens. Working across NDI's regional teams, the Senior Advisor will help enhance program quality and organizational learning and will report to the director of citizen participation programs. Application Instructions Interested applicants can apply now using our on-line resume tool at http://www.ndi.org No phone calls please. Apply by: October 15, 2006

Resident Director - Russia
The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) seeks a senior political professional to serve as Director of NDI's office in Moscow. The Resident Director would advise leaders of political parties and manage a large NDI's office. Responsibilities would include representing NDI to the U.S. Embassy and other American and international organization, supervising Russian office staff and consulting with senior Russian political leaders. Interested applicants can apply now using our on-line resume tool at http://www.ndi.org. Please cite the exact position title in the cover letter. No phone calls please. Apply by: October 15, 2006

Resident Director - Algeria
The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) seeks to hire a Resident Director with strong management and inter-cultural relations skills to oversee programs in its Algeria office. This position is based in Algiers, Algeria but will require travel throughout the country. The position will be available in the Fall 2006. Interested applicants can apply now using the on-line resume tool at http://www.ndi.org. Apply by: October 15, 2006

Resident Director - Ukraine
The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) seeks a senior political professional to serve as Director of NDI's office in Ukraine. This position is based in Kyiv, Ukraine. The Resident Director would advise leaders of political parties and manage a large NDI's office in the former Soviet Union. Interested applicants can apply now using our on-line resume tool at http://www.ndi.org Apply by: October 15, 2006

Resident Program Officer, Afghanistan
The International Republican Institute seeks a Resident Program Officer (RPO) to be responsible for designing and implementing a strategy for IRI's post-elections parliamentary and civil society assistance program in Afghanistan. S/he develops long range and annual plans for the country program, identifies key players and partners in IRI programs, develops strategies for political party capacity-building, coalition-building, election-monitoring and voter education activities and oversees individual project implementation. Full details here. Please send resume and cover letter to IRI, Attn: Human Resources/RPO Afghanistan, 1225 Eye Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20005 or e-mail to: personnel@iri.org or Fax to Human Resources at 202-408-9462.

Resident Program Officer, Levant and Persian Gulf, Amman, Jordan
The Resident Program Officer (RPO) is responsible for designing and implementing IRI programs in Levant and Persian Gulf countries. S/he develops long and annual plans for country programs, and is primarily responsible for managing relationships and daily operations on the ground. S/he serves as liaison between IRI Washington headquarters, USG and local government officials, and program grantees. Full details here. Please send resume and cover letter to IRI, Attn: Human Resources/RPO Levant and Persian Gulf, 1225 Eye Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20005 or e-mail to: personnel@iri.org or Fax to Human Resources at 202-408-9462; No phone calls please.

Club of Madrid - Assistant to Development Director
Reporting to the Director of Development, the Assistant to the Director of Development assists in the administration of the Club of Madrid's fundraising efforts by organizing informational materials, handling logistics of travel arrangements, meetings and conferences, monitoring donor communications, expense reports, budgets and grant information, researching and compiling information for reports and presentations, processing gift agreements, and managing the gift acknowledgment process. The Assistant to the Director of Development will also maintain open communication with the Club of Madrid Foundation offices in the US, and have (future) responsibility for learning and using a dedicated fundraising software program. Further details here.

The John Smith Fellowship Programme 2007 - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine
The John Smith Memorial Trust is currently seeking applications from potential candidates for its 2007 Fellowship Programme, to take place in June/July next year. The Programme aims to strengthen and deepen democratic awareness and good governance through a study programme in the UK and placements that show the workings of democratic organisations and their role within a democratic society. Applications for Fellowships are invited from: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. The Trust can only accept applications from the seven countries listed above. Further information about recruitment criteria, application details and deadlines can be obtained here.

Gleitsman Foundation International Activist Award
Deadline: November 3, 2006. The Gleitsman Foundation invites nominations for the 2007 International Activist Award, which honors exceptional individuals whose vision and courage inspire others to join with them in confronting and challenging injustice. The award is open to anyone residing outside of the United States. The 2007 Award will honor those who have struggled to correct social injustice. Award winners will share US$100,000. Previous winners of the Award include Nelson Mandela, East Timorese leader Jose Ramos-Horta and Chinese pro-democracy dissident Wei Jingsheng. For more information and to complete a nomination form, go here.

Program Director - Former Soviet Union
Freedom House is seeking applications for Program Director positions for projects currently funded and/or anticipated in the Former Soviet Union (FSU). Full details here.

Senior Director of Business Development and Innovation - Washington, DC
IFES Democracy at Large seeks a Senior Director of Business Development and Innovation for building future business and strengthening alliances and partnerships that advance the IFES mission. While the position is primarily based in Washington, D.C., some international travel may be required. Full details here.

Deputy Director, Middle East - Washington, D.C.
The American Bar Association, Rule of Law Initiative / CEELI seeks a Deputy Director Middle East Program to oversee the development and management of the ABA's rule of law programs in the Middle East and North Africa, which include bilateral programs in 7 countries and regional programs encompassing 15 countries in the region. To apply, send cover letter, resume and 3 references to jobs@abaceeli.org. More information here.

Program Director, Women and the Law Program - Jordan
The American Bar Association, Rule of Law Initiative / CEELI seeks a Program Director to guide the development of a professional association for women legal professionals in MENA nations. In coordination with leading reformers from throughout the region, this project aims to create an active network that supports the exchange of experience, encourages professional development, advocates for the inclusion of gender issues in legal reform, and promotes women's equal rights. This position is based in the ABA country office in Amman, Jordan. To apply, send cover letter, resume and 3 references to jobs@abaceeli.org. More information here.

Country Director - Syria (likely to be based out of Jordan)
The American Bar Association, Rule of Law Initiative / CEELI seeks a Country Director to implement a legal education and curriculum reform project in Syria, likely to be based out of Jordan. This is a consultant position, beginning November 2006. To apply, send cover letter, resume and 3 references to jobs@abaceeli.org. More information here.

Programme Coordinator for Sub-Saharan Africa - Berlin, Germany
Transparency International, the civil society organisation leading the global fight against corruption, is recruiting for the position of Programme Coordinator, Sub-Saharan Africa. Starting date: 1 January 2007 (negotiable) Duration: Two years, with possibility for extension. Email: subsaharanafricajob@transparency.org Apply by: October 15, 2006

International Fellowship Opportunities, Washington, DC
IREX, the international NGO striving to improve the quality of education, strengthen independent media, and foster pluralistic civil society development, offers International Fellowship Opportunities for Masters Students, Predoc, Postdoc and Professionals in Washington, DC. Application deadline November 15, 2006. The countries eligible for research are Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Full details available here.

Research Intern - NGO Law - Washington, DC
The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law assists governments, legislatures, civil society organizations, lawyers, and scholars around the world in developing and improving the legal and fiscal framework governing the not-for-profit sector and civil society in general. Under the supervision of and with training by ICNL's senior staff lawyers, interns are fully engaged in a variety of hands-on legal tasks, as members of ICNL's project teams. Please submit cover letter, resume and writing sample (no longer than five pages) to hr@icnl.org. Reference "Fall Intern 2006" in subject line. Only finalists will be contacted. Visit us at www.icnl.org. Deadline: October 17, 2006


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EVENTS

Yoduk Story The U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, the National Endowment for Democracy and Freedom House are among the sponsors of Yoduk Story, a musical about life in a North Korean prison camp, in the Washington, D.C., area at the music center at Strathmore (tel: (301) 581 – 5100). Directed by Jung Sung San, survivor of a North Korean gulag, Yoduk Story is based on real events that took place at the Yoduk prison camp in North Korea. The musical captures graphically the arbitrariness and cruelty of mankind, yet also speaks of universal hope, love and redemption, and tells the world that North Korean citizens--like the rest of humanity--yearn for freedom. Yoduk Story also plays at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Los Angeles on October 19-22, 2006. More information about the musical is available here.

The Mighty and the Almighty: Religion's Role in International Affairs, October 5, 2006, 2 p.m. Former Secretary of State and NDI chair Madeleine Albright; Susan Thistlewaite, president of the Chicago Theological Seminary; and David Smock of USIP.USIP, 1200 17th Street NW, Second Floor Conference Room, Washington, D.C. Tel: 202-429-3828, info@usip.org [RSVP required.]

Women in the Middle East: The Beacon of Change: Tuesday, October 10, 2006, 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m., Wohlstetter Conference Center, Twelfth Floor, AEI, 1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. Please register here. The advancement of women's rights in the Middle East is an important gauge for the progress of reform. Under the Middle East's repressive regimes, women's liberation will be a sure sign of the advance of universal freedoms. But what political reforms are underway for women's legal rights across the region? Have pro-reform religious leaders succeeded in promoting new interpretations of Islamic texts regarding women? What roles do women have in the broader movement for political and economic reforms? What are the next steps in the battle for women's rights? The conference will bring together women of different nationalities, ethnic backgrounds, and religious and secular convictions to discuss the prospects for reform or radical change across the region. Participants will represent Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Libya, Tunisia, Israel, and Iraq.

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