Egypt on the line

A quick update on the situation of americans under travel ban in Egypt, subject of a recent post: at least two of them are being sheltered at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo for fear of being arrested. The current interpretation is that this is a new low in Egyptian-American relations, and even the annual US$ 1.3 billion in aid to the country is on the line. Would it go that far? Things are definitely worse this time, but it is certainly not the first case of American pro-democracy groups being investigated and threatened. I wonder if these events will have long lasting impacts in the work of such groups, and what they could be.

“Principled and Purposeful Engagement:” US Policy on Supporting Human Rights and Rule of Law in Russia

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Melia, co-chair of the Civil Society Working Group of the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, today argued for “principled and purposeful engagement” with Russia in a Senate hearing on “The State of Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Russia: U.S. Policy Options.” DAS Melia and Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon outlined the Obama Administration’s position in regard to Russia. Their testimony can be downloaded and watched here. From a civil society perspective, Freedom House Executive David Kramer, Human Rights Watch Washington Director Tom Malinowski, and President and CEO of the US-Russia Business Council, Edward Verona, testified as well; while their testimony is not yet uploaded on the Foreign Relations website, it should be up within 24 hours of this posting.

Recognizing the backdrop of the Duma elections and dramatic citizen protests that have swept Russia, four US policy-specific issues emerged in the hearing:

The Obama Administration’s Policy of Dual-track Engagement: Bi-lateral Relations and Civil Society Support. ”We firmly believe that a credible dialogue about democracy and human rights should involve not only contacts between the American and Russian governments, but also direct communication and linkages between American and Russian non-governmental organizations, independent policy experts, and regular citizens to confront common challenges,” Melia’s written testimony stated. Further, in addition to the $160 million provided in civil society strengthening and civil society assistance since 2009, “the Obama Administration submitted Congressional Notification for the creation of a new $50 million fund to support Russian civil society” in October 2011. “The new fund would not require additional appropriations because the $50 million would come from liquidated proceeds of the U.S. Russia Investment Fund.” (also from Melia’s written testimony). Both Gordon and Melia provided statements that reflect the Administration’s new-found voice in support of democracy and human rights; while the voice had existed previously, it was arguably muffled to a whisper under the “reset” policy.

Trade: Terminate Jackson Vanik. Both Republican and Democratic Senators expressed support for the repeal, as did the Administration through Assistant Secretary Gordon and DAS Melia. The Jackson Vanik legislation, passed in 1974, has been a barrier to Russian membership in the World Trade Organization; Senator Corker provided a moment of levity by asking Gordon whether he agreed that Jackson Vanik is now causing us to “shoot ourselves in the foot” by restricting US trade with Russia with little to no benefit or human rights leverage in return. Gordon diplomatically repeated the Administration’s support for its termination. Kramer advocated for parallel legislation in support of human rights (in the form of the Sergei Magnitsky legislation or comparable legislation) to be passed if Jackson Vanik is terminated.

S. 1039: The Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law and Accountability Act. A bi-partisan cadre of senators has supported this legislation, which would impose US visa bans on individual human rights abusers, most notably those involved in Sergei Magnitsky’s tragic death.  Melia noted that the Obama administration has and is “taking action to deny human rights abusers entry into the United States…Consistent with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and President Obama’s “Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Non-immigrants of Persons Who Participate in Serious Human Rights Abuses and Humanitarian Law Violations and Other Abuses.” Essentially, the position taken by the Administration is that this is already underway. The concern is perhaps that passing the legislation can open a Pandora’s Box of difficult questions: who in the US government maintains the list? What if a name is added by mistake? Is this duplicating the already successful Human Rights Reports produced by DRL? Is it going to bureaucratize issues that are too important to bureaucratize? Further, it has also been reported that the Russian government, in particular the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with orders from the top, may respond with its own list of Americans blacklisted from Russia should that legislation pass. Sponsors of the legislation, its supporters (including Kramer), and those debating whether to support it must be wary of paving the foreign relations road with good intentions. That said, this policy difference between the congress, which is seeking to institutionalize support for human rights (as Senator Cardin articulated), and the executive branch, which is seeking to proceed with dual-track diplomacy to include human rights, should not be taken as a reflection of wavering US support for justice for the 37 year old lawyer –  Sergei Magnitsky - who died because he dared to investigate state corruption and because of acts of commission and omission perpetrated by the Russian authorities. Gordon, Melia, and Senators Cardin and Shaheen recognized this terrible truth, though they may differ on how the US should respond.

Appointment of Michael McFaul. McFaul was nominated to be US Ambassador to Russia and a confirmation hearing was held in the senate on October 12^th. Gordon, Melia, and Kramer agreed that the US needs a permanent Ambassador – our man in Moscow – now more than ever, and asked the Senate to confirm McFaul as soon as possible. The conservative right mobilized against McFaul after his hearing, mobilization that is arguably dangerous to foreign policy goals in the region at such a critical time.

Woman beheaded for practicing witchcraft

Seriously

Clinton: All people deserve to be treated with dignity

“No practice or tradition trumps the human rights that belong to all of us,” asserted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a historic address delivered in recognition of Human Rights Day. Clinton strategically affirmed the rights of all peoples, calling on civil society to advocate on behalf of the LGBT community and urging governments to support the human rights of all people to equality under the law.  “All people deserve to be treated with dignity, no matter who they are or whom they love,” she said.

The United States has taken a series of direct steps to translate her eloquent words into action. Today, the Obama Administration issued a directive in the form of a Presidential Memorandum calling on “all agencies engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons.” The President’s memo calls on agencies to integrate into their work the following:

1. combating criminalization of LGBT status or conduct abroad;

2. protecting vulnerable LGBT refugees and asylum seekers

3. foreign assistance to protect human rights and advance nondiscrimination

4. swift and meaningful US responses to human rights abuses of LGBT persons abroad

5. engaging international organizations in the fight against LGBT discrimination.

Section 6 stipulates: “All agencies engaged abroad shall prepare a report within 180 days of the date of this memorandum, and annually thereafter, on their progress toward advancing these initiatives,” while section 7 enumerates the agencies (including State, Homeland Security, DOD, and USAID).

From the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Assistant Secretary Michael Posner tweeted that “we have committed more than $3 million to start the fund, and we have hope that others will join us in supporting it.” Clinton also announced the creation of a guide that will be sent to all US Embassies to provide them with tools to support civil society actors advocate for LGBT rights.

The Secretary’s speech comes at a critical time. As global economies falter, and governments continue to cut funding for education, tolerance, and human rights programming in the name of austerity, she reminded us that “those who advocate for expanding the circle of human rights were and are on the right side of history.” She provided a rebuttal to those who say we cannot afford to do so: in fact, we can no longer afford to give governments a pass when they do not protect fundamental human rights (including the US local, state, and national governments) and our foreign policy cannot ignore governments that systemically violate the rights of their people.

To follow the ongoing conversation online, visit twitter and #Dignity4All

Fascists also care a lot about health and safety

Watching the police break up protests throughout the US due to concerns about health and safety is making my blood boil. The First Amendment doesn’t contain provisions that limit freedom of speech on the basis these concerns (except when people use freedom of speech to deliberately call for harming others or to put others in harm’s way). It reminds me of the South African Government under Apartheid. They often cited concerns for health and safety when they wanted to bulldoze the neighborhoods of Africans who didn’t sufficiently appreciate the benefits of the Apartheid system.