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Powell Addresses the Creation of a Caucus of Democracies
Excerpted from Powellâs address to the Staff of Freedom House an NGO founded by Elanor Roosevelt.... Itâs fitting, therefore, that we gather here, today, after a Freedom House discussion about the worldâs worst human rights abusers, because George Bush is concerned about them, concerned about the problem they create for their people and for the world. And itâs fitting that we do so as we look ahead, as was noted earlier, in just four days to this yearâs UN Commission on Human Rights meeting in Geneva. Itâs no secret that weâve been disappointed with the CHR in recent years. As the country, the United States, that originally championed the UN system, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Commission on Human Rights, we Americans have been saddened by the fact that the commission has sometimes been used to shield human rights abusers from the condemnation they richly deserve. The credibility of the CHR has been damaged. In the face of what has happened, some people say, well letâs just forget about it, forget about the CHR, forget about the United Nations, and throw up our hands and walk away. But not us. Weâre not quitters.The world would not understand if we walked away from these international institutions. So with our democratic partners we seek to restore the integrity of the Commission on Human Rights, re-energize its capacities, and rebuild its credibility. And once weâve done that weâre going to turn up the volume. Weâre going to make life more uncomfortable for regimes like those in Belarus, Burma, Cuba, North Korea and Zimbabwe, which violate, repeatedly and systematically, the inalienable human rights of their peoples. Weâre going to continue to support even more persecuted human rights activists like Aung San Suu Kyi and Oswaldo Paya. The United States will support resolutions on these and other countriesâ human rights records this year at the meetings, and we will call on all democratic states to join us in defending human rights, consistent with the mandate of the Commission on Human Rights. And thatâs not all weâve got in mind for the UN system and for its associated agencies. As you know, the United States has strongly supported the Community of Democracies, which brings together over 100 democratic nations to strengthen democratic principles around the world. And now weâre building on the Community of Democracies to form a democracy caucus within the United Nations system. Such a grouping, united by its membersâ shared ideals and democratic practices, will help the entire UN system live up to its founding principles. We envision a coalition of democratic countries consulting and cooperating in how they will vote in the UN, and uniting our voices to promote democratic ideals worldwide. We want to provide an alternative network to existing blocs, not a replacement for them. We want all countries to be able to freely associate themselves with the ideals of freedom that will carry their peoples to security, prosperity and peace in the 21st century. Posted by: Super Hose 2004-04-23 |
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