Briefing on the UN Democracy Caucus
16 December 2004
United Nations, New York

Summary of Discussion

Richard C. Rowson, President of the Council for a Community of Democracies, opened the meeting by noting that the idea of a United Nations Democracy Caucus originated through the work of UNA-USA several years ago. The first briefing was held in 2001, when the idea was considered to be a brazen one among the UN Missions in attendance.

Mr. Rowson noted that, at this briefing, eleven different UN missions were in attendance to hear a report on the Caucus in operation. He indicated that the purpose of the session was to assess the progress of the UN Democracy Caucus and to discuss where it might go in the future. The Community of Democracies was founded in Warsaw in 2000, when 106 states agreed to promote democracy at home and abroad. Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke at the Warsaw meeting, noting that formation of the Community of Democracies underscored the original vision of the UN as a democratic body and strengthened the UN’s mission.

In his introductory remarks, Ambassador Luers observed that the Democracy Caucus is an idea whose time has come. He stressed two points. First, the Democracy Caucus should be an effort to strengthen the UN, not divide it. Second, it should be about promoting causes that democracies value, not an American subterfuge. No one state owns the Democracy Caucus, but rather it should be seen as an authentic coalition.

Ambassador Muñoz began his presentation by commenting that the Democracy Caucus is not theoretical, but practical, involving the human rights of people worldwide. The Community of Democracies, which was founded in Warsaw in 2000, called for the creation of a Democracy Caucus to support resolutions in the UN reflecting the common values shared by democracies. The Community of Democracies and civil society groups promoting democracy are doing precisely the type of work that is needed.

In October 2004, there was a series of meetings to launch the UN Democracy Caucus. On September 22,2004, the entire Community of Democracies met at the Ministeral level as a UN Democracy Caucus. More than 80 Foreign Ministers and UN permanent representatives attended. Later, the Democracy Caucus met at the expert level on General Assembly resolutions. At that meeting specific resolutions on four topics were discussed: torture, the promotion of and cooperation among religions, enhancing the role of regional organizations in promoting democracy, and the improvement of the status of women in the UN system. Initially, the idea was for members of the Democracy Caucus to lend its support to these resolutions.. There was no debate on the substantive language of the resolutions. And, if one member did not support a particular resolution, it would withhold its opinion. Some thought this went too far. Ambassador Muñoz observed that sometimes the Caucus has had to go at the speed of the slowest member. Therefore, it was decided that the group would act by consensus and that each member should review resolutions in good faith and consider them positively. When a resolution has the stamp of approval of the Democracy Caucus, it makes a difference, he added.

Ambassador Muñoz noted that the Democracy Caucus is an instrument to promote key initiatives. It needs flexibility to allow it to adapt and, as such, it will have to meet at different levels. How far it will go depends on its members. It could become an emerging forum for sharing information, a mechanism to battle procedural efforts to block human rights actions, or it could directly support the consolidation of democracy within the UN system.

The UN Democracy Fund proposed by President Bush is welcome and there is interest on the part of the Community of Democracies in working with this initiative. It could be discussed at the May 2005 ministerial meeting in Santiago. The ministerial meeting will address five issues: civil society, poverty and governance, the experience of diverse regions, strengthening political parties and the rule of law, and supporting democracy in the UN. Kofi Annan has accepted an invitation to join the Santiago meeting. The Democracy Caucus is also working with UNDP to convene a high level seminar in May on the state of democracy in the world.

After the Santiago meeting, the chairmanship will be transferred to Mali. Ambassador Muñoz explained that Chile will continue to be active in the Democracy Caucus because democracy promotion has become part of its identity in the world. He added that governments will count on civil society to push them to be better and bolder.

Ambassador Simonyi spoke about the proposed Democracy Transition Center, an intergovernmental initiative envisaged as an independent, nonprofit organization located in Budapest offering practical assistance in democracy building, worldwide. He said democracy should not be taken for granted, but must be nurtured and fed. Hungary has initiated the Center because, looking back fifteen years after its own changes, it has been able to draw some conclusions but is still close enough to offer first hand experience. In Hungary’s case, those who held power in the last days of the dictatorship sat down to discuss how to make the transition to democracy—a very unusual occurrence.

Ambassador Simonyi observed that in the next 10-15 years, the number of democracies will increase. The new Center aims to present the experience of Hungary and others from other parts of the world in a useful format. Hungary seeks to establish the Center as point of access for information on transitioning from dictatorship to democracy and from command to market economies. When Hungary was transitioning, the democracies failed to tell us that democracy is difficult, Simonyi said. Yet, even the worst kind of democracy is better than the best dictatorship. Hungary wants to give practical advice on how to usher in democratic transitions.

Hungary does not want to build a bureaucracy that has its own life, but rather a smaller, virtual organization. We will not tell others what to do, but instead we and our partners worldwide will describe how we did it, Ambassador Simonyi said. The Center will provide information, assistance from other institutions and experts from governments and NGOs in the democracy transition process. The Community of Democracies should be a close partner, not a competitor.

In comments following the presentation, John Danforth, the Permanent Representative of the US to the UN, remarked that it was not very long ago when the world was defined by major blocs of countries, the balance of power and threats with immense military force. Today’s world is different—threats are found in belief systems, airplanes and even subways. Security cannot be provided today by oceans, mountain ranges or even by amassing large amounts of weaponry. Increasingly values define politics wherever they are located. For example, he said, the shared the belief, which is spreading globally that governments should be elected. In the Middle East, elections will be held by Palestinians and in Iraq in January. Afghanistan had successful elections last fall. In Ukraine, in the face of election fraud people took to the streets. Romania had an election recently and renewed its commitment to democracy.

If shared values define the world today, Ambassador Danforth asserted, no one need wait for someone else to lead. Small states do not need to wait for a great power to lead and do not have to wait for a seat on the UN Security Council. Some of the most important countries providing leadership are not great powers at all.

Democracies share a dedication to the principles of elections, that governments should serve the people and leaders should be accountable to the rule of law. Maybe the UN is more important than ever, Ambassador Danforth suggested. If many of the critical issues are matters of values, what better forum is there than the UN? What better instrument than the Democracy Caucus?

Theodore Piccone of the Democracy Coalition Project discussed recommendations for the UN Democracy Caucus from a group of NGOs (see attached “An Appeal to the United Nations Democracy Caucus”). He said taking additional steps toward implementing commitments of the Community of Democracies is crucial because the credibility of the UN is at stake. He urged the Democracy Caucus to:

1. Cooperate to pass country-specific resolutions highlighting human rights abuses (e.g., Burma);
2. Work toward reforming the UN Commission on Human Rights based on limiting membership to states that demonstrate a genuine commitment to the UN human rights system;
3. Uphold the Community of Democracies’ criteria for membership in the Democracy Caucus.

Lastly, he noted the creation of a web site (http://www.democracycaucus.net/) on the campaign for a UN Democracy Caucus.

The discussion continued with a question regarding how the UN Democracy Caucus could respond to issues raised in recent UN reports on threats to democracy in Latin America and the lack of democracy in Arab states. Ambassador Muñoz acknowledged that there are major challenges ahead, though he suggested the report on Latin America may have been interpreted too negatively by some. For example, he pointed out that since 1980 Latin American states had initiated mechanisms to reverse collapses or breakdowns in democracy. With respect to other regions, he said it is important not to impose democracy from the outside; the Community of Democracies could play a useful role since it reflects a broad group of states.

Cheick Sidi Diarra, Mali’s Permanent Representative to the UN, said that the Community of Democracies provokes suspicion among developing countries. To avoid difficulties, he suggested that help should be offered to consolidate democracy in countries in transition (such as supporting the AU’s (African Union) pledge to reject coups against democratically elected leaders). He also advocated for a more conciliatory tone and to avoid the imposition of values. Furthermore, the Community of Democracies should recognize the positive elements of different regions, address developing countries’ concern for economic and social development, and promote human development generally.

When asked about the support structure for the UN Democracy Caucus, Ambassador Muñoz noted that the Caucus is characterized by flexibility. To date, it has been supported by the Chilean Mission to the UN and has no institutional foundation itself. NGOs also contribute to supporting the Caucus. He commented that it may not be necessary to create a new structure for the UN Democracy Caucus in the future.