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Freedom House
Testifies Before U.S. House of Representatives |
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Jennifer L. Windsor, Executive
Director
Freedom House The text is in PDF format. To read them you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader.
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 July
9, 2003 - Freedom House provides testimony on the State Department's
new report, "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy."
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, Freedom House is pleased to testify
today on the new report issued by the State Department on “Supporting Human
Rights and Democracy.”
The release of this report is an important new initiative. Freedom House has
often expressed its concern that in many cases the annual human rights report
issued by the State Department does not have a significant impact on U.S.
diplomatic and programmatic actions. This report is a critical first step
towards addressing that concern.
There is much to commend in the new report. The countries chosen include some of
the worst performers in Freedom House’s annual survey of Freedom in the World
see:
www.freedomhouse.org/research/mrr2003.pdf It is an impressive
compilation of a portion of the work the U.S. government is doing to promote
democracy and human rights. The report does not even represent the totality of
U.S. efforts, as the U.S. also works to strengthen democracy in many countries
that are not being discussed here today.
The range and depth of current U.S. government democracy promotion work is the
culmination of efforts by Congress, non-governmental groups and individuals
within the State Department and USAID to integrate democracy and human rights
concerns into U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance. I would like to recognize
the important contributions of two of the leaders within the State Department
who are here today, Harold Koh and Lorne Craner, as well as the tireless work of
Jerry Hyman, now Director of USAID’s Democracy and Governance Center, who has
worked for over a decade on these issues.
Freedom House applauds the Bush Administration for the high priority it has
given to the promotion of democracy and human rights in its National Security
Strategy, as well as in new initiatives such as the Millennium Challenge
Account, and the Middle East Partnership Initiative...
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July 27, 2003
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