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By B.Raman
This paper may kindly be
read in continuation of our earlier one dated, April 13,2000, on the
same subject ( National Endowment for Democracy of US )
Attached are the details
of the grants distributed by the NED during 1999—either directly or
through its associate organisations such as the International Republican
Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute for International
Affairs (NDI), the Centre For International Private Enterprise (CIPE)
and the Free Trade Union Institute (FTUI)—ostensibly for the promotion
of democracy and trade union and other human rights in Asia.
The following conclusions
emerge from a study of the grants and the statements/Congressional
testimonies of the office-bearers of the NED and its associate
organisations:
- While their
activities now have a much wider geographical spread in Asia, covering
even Sri Lanka and Nepal, the main focus continues to be against the
military regime in Myanmar and the Chinese administration in Tibet and
on Cambodia. Another developing target of the NED seems to be
Dr.Mahathir Mohammed, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
- Their activities are
so designed and implemented as to be in consonance with the foreign
policy and strategic objectives of the US Government in this region.
It has been mainly active against those countries/areas and regimes
which are perceived as unfavourable or detrimental to US interests and
not against those considered essential to US interests. For example,
while they have been active against the military regime in Myanmar,
they were not equally active against the former Suharto regime in
Indonesia or against the damage caused to democracy in Pakistan by the
military-intelligence establishment.
- After the reversion
of Hong Kong to China in June, 1997, they have been looking for
surrogates in India who could help them in their activities against
the present regime in Myanmar and against the Chinese Administration
in Tibet.
The following grants of
1999 were distributed through India-based organisations:
Democratic Voice of
Burma (DVB)
$150,000
Special funds for Burma
To support the short-wave radio programs of the DVB, the voice of the
Burmese pro-democracy movement, and to further professionalize DVB's
Oslo studio and its field offices in Thailand and India.
National Coalition for
Democracy
$55,000
To enable the exiled National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
(NCGUB) to operate two communications centers, in New Delhi and Bangkok,
allowing them to communicate more effectively the NCGUB's message to an
international audience.
Nonviolence
International (NI)
$50,000
To support the work of the India-based Committee for Nonviolent Action
in Burma (CNAB) to foster coalition building and promote democracy at
the grassroots level in Burma.
Tibet Times Newspaper
$20,000
To provide in-depth coverage of news about Tibet, the exiled Tibetan
community, and Chinese and international affairs through a
Tibetan-language newspaper published three times a month in Dharamsala,
India.
Tibet Multimedia
Center
$30,000
To support a four-part program of democratic civic education and
information dissemination that addresses the struggle for human rights
and democracy in Tibet. Based in Dharamsala, India, the Center produces
print, audio, and video materials for distribution to Tibetans in India,
Nepal, and Tibet.
Tibetan Center for
Human Rights and Democracy
$15,000
To translate into Tibetan, publish, and distribute 10,000 copies each of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. The
program is based in Dharamsala, India.
Tibetan Review
$25,000
To continue publishing Tibetan Review, an English-language monthly news
and opinion journal based in New Delhi, India. The Review, known for its
editorial independence and its commitment to promoting democratic
pluralism in Tibetan society, provides a unique forum for the free and
robust exchange of views. ( Writer's Comment: The descriptions are as
given by the NED and not the writer's).
Thus, a total sum of US $
2,55,000 for Myanmar-related and US $ 90,000 for Tibet-related
activities was distributed through India-based organisations in 1999.
The following was the
only grant relating to India:
Center for
International Private Enterprise
$52,635
To work with the Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs to bring
together business leaders and successful women entrepreneurs from
throughout the South Asian region to share their ideas and expertise on
policy advocacy and economic development.
The modus operandi used
by the NED, the IRI and other associate organisations for destabilising
regimes detrimental to US interests in the name of promotion of
democracy was clearly evident in the so-called mass uprising in
Yugoslavia in October last which led to the downfall of Mr.Slobodan
Milosevic, the former Yugoslav President, who had become anathema to the
US Government.
A detailed investigative
report on how the Milosevic regime was brought down through a
carefully-orchestrated campaign under the guidance of US-based
"pro-democracy" organisations using Mahatma Gandhi's
techniques of massive non-violent civil disobedience was carried by the
"Washington Post" on December 11,2000.
About 70,000 Yugoslav
students, intellectuals, miners and other workers were secretly taken to
Budapest in Hungary and trained in special camps set up there on mass
demonstration techniques.
The Washington
Post wrote:
- U.S.-funded
consultants played a crucial role behind the scenes in virtually every
facet of the anti-Milosevic drive, running tracking polls, training
thousands of opposition activists and helping to organize a vitally
important parallel vote count. U.S. taxpayers paid for 5,000 cans of
spray paint used by student activists to scrawl anti-Milosevic
graffiti on walls across Serbia, and 2.5 million stickers with the
slogan "He's Finished," which became the revolution's
catchphrase.
- The U.S.
democracy-building effort in Serbia was a curious mixture of secrecy
and openness. In principle, it was an overt operation, funded by
congressional appropriations of around $10 million for fiscal 1999 and
$31 million for 2000.
- Some Americans
involved in the anti-Milosevic effort said they were aware of CIA
activity at the fringes of the campaign, but had trouble finding out
what the agency was up to. Whatever it was, they concluded it was not
particularly effective. The lead role was taken by the State
Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, the
government's foreign assistance agency, which channeled the funds
through commercial contractors and nonprofit groups such as NDI and
its Republican counterpart, the International Republican Institute
(IRI). While NDI worked closely with Serbian opposition parties,
IRI focused its attention on Otpor, which served as the revolution's
ideological and organizational backbone. In March, IRI paid for two
dozen Otpor leaders to attend a seminar on nonviolent resistance at
the Hilton Hotel in Budapest, a few hundreds yards along the Danube
from the NDI-favored Marriott.
- During the
seminar, the Serbian students received training in such matters as how
to organize a strike, how to communicate with symbols, how to overcome
fear and how to undermine the authority of a dictatorial regime.
The principal lecturer was retired U.S. Army Col. Robert Helvey, who has
made a study of nonviolent resistance methods around the world,
including those used in modern-day Burma and the civil rights struggle
in the American South.
In its issue of December
2000, the Peace Watch, the monthly journal of the US
Institute of Peace in Washington, has corroborated the "Washington
Post's" report and admitted that the services of Col. Helvey in the
anti-Milosevic campaign were paid for by the IRI.
Who is Col. Robert
Helvey? He was an officer of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) of
the Pentagon, who had served in Vietnam and, subsequently, as the US
Defence Attache in Yangon, Myanmar, (1983 to 85) during which he
clandestinely organised the Myanmarese students to work behind Aung San
Suu Kyi and in collaboration with Bo Mya's Karen insurgent group. He was
subsequently based in Thailand where he organised the training of the
student and Karen supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi. In 1988-89, he also
trained in Hong Kong the student leaders from Beijing in mass
demonstration techniques which they were to subsequently use in the
Tiananmen Square incident of June,1989. He is now believed to be acting
as an adviser to the Falun Gong, the religious sect of China, in similar
civil disobedience techniques, which the sect is using with increasing
effectiveness against the Chinese authorities. He has ostensibly retired
from the DIA in 1991.
It may be recalled that
the covert political action set-up consisting of the NED, the IRI, the
NDI, the CIPE and the FTUI was set up during the Ronald Reagan
Administration on the recommendation of Mr.Bob Casey, who subsequently
became the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The late
Casey saw this as a way of the US developing an effective political
action capability against unfriendly regimes without circumventing the
post-Watergate Congressional curbs on CIA covert actions against foreign
political leaders.
The Clinton
Administration made full use of this set-up and this is likely to
further increase under the present Bush administration.
12. 02. 2001
(The writer is Additional Secretary
(retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, and, presently, Director,
Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: corde@vsnl.com
)
Annexure: Grants
Made by NED in 1999
Bangladesh
Center for International Private Enterprise
$90,811
To promote a nonpartisan approach to the economic policy-making process.
CIPE will work with the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry to
strengthen the voice of the private sector by establishing a research
and advocacy capability and producing economic policy papers on issues
related to privatization and economic liberalization.
Burma
All Burma Young Monks' Union (ABYMU)
$15,000
Special funds for Burma
To support the democracy movement inside Burma. The Thailand-based ABYMU
will distribute human rights and democracy materials, collect
information about conditions in Burma, and educate monks and Buddhist
lay people about democracy, human rights, and nonviolent struggle.
American Center for
International Labor Solidarity
$49,920
Special funds for Burma
To support the activities of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions
(ABFSU) in Bangkok and along the Thai-Burma border, including the
coordination of pro-democracy activities and human rights education
programs.
American Center for
International Labor Solidarity
$400,080
Special funds for Burma
To strengthen and improve the trade union work of the independent
Federation of Trade Unions-Burma (FTUB) and to improve coordination and
communications among labor and student organizations inside Burma.
The
Bangkok-based FTUB will work to increase the involvement of the
international labor movement in the Burmese struggle through education
and coalition building with labor organizations in Asia, Europe, and
North America.
Asian Forum for Human
Rights and Development
$28,000
Special funds for Burma
To encourage Thai support for the Burmese pro-democracy movement and
build the capacity of Burmese exile groups in Thailand to be effective
advocates for change in Burma.
The Burma Fund
$185,000
Special funds for Burma
To conduct research on and advocate for a transition to democracy in
Burma. Funding supports the Burma Fund's four core programs - research,
policy and transition planning, national and ethnic reconciliation, and
private sector outreach. Support will also enable the National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma to present its case at the U.N.
Commission on Human Rights and the U.N. General Assembly, and sponsor
research and presentations at U.N. fora on women's rights.
Irriwaddy Publishing
Group (IPG)
$30,000
Special funds for Burma
To break the state monopoly on information in Burma. IPG, an independent
news service based in Thailand, will continue to operate its
documentation and information center and provide coverage of regional
issues in its English-language monthly news magazine, The Irrawaddy.
Burma Lawyers' Council (BLC)
$45,000
Special funds for Burma
To promote the rule of law in Burma. The Bangkok-based BLC will document
civil rights violations, publish quarterly Burmese- and English-language
journals, and conduct seminars and trainings for pro-democracy
organizations, ethnic leaders, and grassroots Burmese groups.
Burma Relief Center
$25,000
Special funds for Burma
To train youth from the Shan and Karenni states in the skills necessary
to play an active and effective role in a future democratic and peaceful
Burma.
Burmese Women's Union
$40,000
Special funds for Burma
To provide training to women leaders on the Thai-Burma border in
grassroots leadership, women's empowerment, and office management.
The
Union will also involve women in discussions on future democratic
constitution, publish materials on women's rights, and send members to
international meetings.
Chin Human Rights
Organization (CHRO)
$9,700
To publish CHRO's English-language monthly newsletter, Rhododendron.
CHRO conducts human rights investigations and disseminates its findings
to members of the Chin ethnic group, other pro-democracy and ethnic
groups in exile, and the international community.
Committee for
Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP)
$29,000
Special funds for Burma
To provide humanitarian assistance for internally displaced persons in
Karen State. CIDKP, based on the Thai-Burma border, will improve the
distribution of aid by supporting training, capacity building, project
monitoring, and documentation and research.
Democratic Party for a
New Society (DPNS)
$60,000
Special funds for Burma
To support the democracy movement inside Burma. The Thailand-based DPNS
will distribute Burmese-language human rights and democracy materials,
collect information about conditions in Burma, and organize a program
that trains grassroots activists on effective techniques of nonviolent
political action.
Democratic Voice of
Burma (DVB)
$150,000
Special funds for Burma
To support the short-wave radio programs of the DVB, the voice of the
Burmese pro-democracy movement, and to further professionalize DVB's
Oslo studio and its field offices in Thailand and India.
Human Rights
Documentation Unit (HRDU)
$18,000
To promote human rights by disseminating a variety of publications. The
Bangkok-based HRDU, a program of the National Coalition Government of
the Union of Burma, will distribute Burmese-language translations of key
international human rights treaties and a Burmese-language Dictionary of
Politics.
Human Rights
Foundation of Monland
$35,000
Special funds for Burma
To produce English-language human rights reports on conditions in Mon
State and southern Burma, distribute Mon-language books and magazines
inside Mon State, and produce the bimonthly Mon-language newsletter,
Khit Poey (Our Era), for citizens of Mon State and refugees along the
Thai-Burma border.
Images Asia
$15,000
Special funds for Burma
To produce an up-to-date report on the human rights situation in Arakan
state in western Burma. The project will also help improve the skills of
local activists and build a local monitoring capacity.
Kachin-Americans and
Friends, Inc. for Human Rights and Democracy in Burma
$25,000
To educate the public in Kachin state about Kachin political history,
democracy, and federalism through the translation and publication of
three books on democracy and federalism.
Karen Information Center
$11,000
To support KIC News, a 28-page monthly newsletter published in Thailand
in English, Karen, and Burmese that provides human rights organizations
and other groups with accurate information on human rights violations
and other developments occurring both in the Karen and Thai-Burma border
regions.
Lahu National
Development Organization
$20,000
To provide materials about democracy, human rights, and the social and
economic consequences of Burma's illegal drug trade for grassroots
audiences among the Lahu, Pa-O, and Palaung ethnic groups living in Shan
State. Activities include publishing educational materials, conducting
grassroots training courses on human rights and democracy, and
investigating the human rights situation in Shan State.
National Coalition for
Democracy
$55,000
To enable the exiled National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
(NCGUB) to operate two communications centers, in New Delhi and Bangkok,
allowing them to communicate more effectively the NCGUB's message to an
international audience.
National Council of
the Union of Burma (NCUB)
$75,000
Special funds for Burma
To promote coalition building efforts among pro-democracy forces in
exile in Thailand and in the ethnic areas along Burma's borders. Through
the NCUB's "National Reconciliation and Political Solidarity
Program," the NCUB Secretariat will work to solidify cooperation
with and encourage commitment to common goals among the groups that are
important to Burma's democratization.
National Council of
the Union of Burma - Foreign Affairs Committee (NCUB-FAC)
$50,000
Special funds for Burma
To conduct a diplomatic campaign in Asia that will build support for the
Burmese democracy movement. NCUB-FAC will establish a research center in
Bangkok dedicated to international affairs; organize meetings; maintain
a database of foreign policy experts, journalists, and diplomats
concerned with Burma; and establish and maintain a network of Asian
NGOs, political parties, student groups, and regional associations that
are interested in Burma.
National Health and
Education Committee (NHEC)
$40,000
Special funds for Burma
To support the NHEC's coordination and management of a broad-based
multi-ethnic program in support of grassroots projects designed to meet
the health and education needs of refugee populations in Thailand and
ethnic populations inside Burma.
New Era Journal
$160,000
Special funds for Burma
To continue publishing and increase the circulation of the
Thailand-based monthly Burmese-language newspaper, the New Era Journal.
The journal includes in-depth news about Burma's pro-democracy movement
and opinion and commentary from democracy activists living inside Burma
and in exile.
Nonviolence
International (NI)
$50,000
To support the work of the India-based Committee for Nonviolent Action
in Burma (CNAB) to foster coalition building and promote democracy at
the grassroots level in Burma.
Shan Herald Agency for
News (S.H.A.N.)
$20,000
Special funds for Burma
To promote democracy and human rights in Shan State by providing
materials in the Shan language. S.H.A.N. will continue to produce its
trilingual monthly newspaper, The Independence, and distribute it in
Shan State, along the Thai-Burma border, and internationally.
United Nationalities
Democratic Congress
$7,500
To educate the people of Burma on ethnic rights, human rights,
federalism, and democracy through a program of publications, workshops,
and roundtables.
Cambodia
American Assistance for Cambodia
$20,000
To continue teaching desktop publishing and the fundamentals of
journalism to students, NGO staff, and working journalists in Phnom
Penh.
Cambodian Human Rights
Task Force
$50,000
To improve human rights education training techniques and the advocacy
capacity of NGOs and local activists at the community level. Projects
include a training manual on human rights education, five booklets on
specific human rights and development issues for use by NGOs, advocacy
trainings for local NGOs, and a quarterly newsletter.
Documentation Center
of Cambodia (DC-Cam)
$25,000
To improve the Center's institutional capabilities by acquiring new
computer equipment and improving its library facilities. The Center will
continue to collect, preserve, and archive information and materials on
the Khmer Rouge-orchestrated "Killing Fields" (1975-79).
Human Rights Vigilance
of Cambodia
$44,000
To support Vigilance's human rights monitoring and education project.
Vigilance will continue to investigate, monitor, and report human rights
abuses; educate Cambodian citizens, civic leaders, and police about
human rights, democracy, the rule of law, and local and international
laws; highlight human rights problems through the media; and provide
direct assistance to victims of abuse.
International
Republican Institute
$235,257
To strengthen democratic political parties and civic participation in
Cambodia. Training topics include the legislative process, communication
and message development, and grassroots political party organization.
A
separate program will train several Cambodian NGOs, civic activists, and
student leaders on how to become more effective advocates for
constitutional democratic political processes in.
Khmer Students
Association (KSA)
$18,000
To support KSA's student-led activities and provide a wide range of
student services. KSA will publish and distribute 1,000 copies of its
monthly newsletter, and continue to host its monthly public affairs
lecture series, which serves as a forum for young people to participate
in question-and-answer sessions with prominent citizens and government
officials.
National Democratic
Institute for International Affairs
$21,642
To support the organizational development of three civic groups whose election-monitoring efforts helped expose flaws during parliamentary
polls in 1998. Before the local elections, scheduled in 2000, NDI will
assist the civic groups to advocate citizen input into the creation of
new laws on local elections and local administrative structures.
China
American Center for International Labor Solidarity
$202,399
To support the work of the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin to
investigate and document labor conditions and worker activism in China.
The program also includes support for labor and human rights education
efforts to inform workers about their rights under national and local
laws.
American Center for
International Labor Solidarity
$170,997
To provide support to the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions to
improve its membership outreach and coalition-building activities.
ACILS
will also support the research and documentation activities of a labor
rights NGO concentrating on conditions in southern China.
Center for
International Private Enterprise
$84,700
To encourage public participation in the economic reform process. CIPE
will support a program to conduct research, organize conferences, and
publish articles on policy reform issues.
Center for
International Private Enterprise
$76,727
To enable the Unirule Institute of Economics to organize biweekly
symposia that bring together private entrepreneurs, academics,
government officials, and journalists to discuss China's transition to a
market economy. Symposium papers will be distributed to a wide audience
throughout China.
Center for
International Private Enterprise
$64,130
To enable the National Economic Reform Institute - China Reform
Foundation to conduct the first systematic study of economic freedom
within China. Results will be published in Chinese and English, and a
workshop will be held to promote understanding of the concept of
economic freedom in China.
Center for Modern
China (CMC)
$55,000
To print 3,000 copies each of Modern China Studies, CMC's quarterly
Chinese-language journal. The Princeton-based publication features
research findings and policy analyses about democratization in
contemporary China; it is distributed to libraries, research centers,
and individual subscribers in China and abroad.
China Strategic
Institute (CSI)
$10,000
To assess the current state of grassroots elections in China and the
prospects for expanding direct, competitive balloting to township and
county levels.
Democratic China
Magazine
$75,000
To publish a Chinese-language monthly Internet magazine on politics,
society, and culture to provide a forum for discussion of the prospects
for democracy and pluralism in China.
Foundation for China
in the 21st Century
$100,000
To increase understanding of democratization, constitutionalism,
federalism, and related issues among policy-making and intellectual
communities in China. The program includes publications on comparative
democratization issues and grassroots elections in China, a new program
to lay the foundation for inter-ethnic communication through a series of
retreats, and humanitarian and programmatic support for Chinese human
rights and democracy activists.
Human Rights in China,
Inc. (HRIC)
$200,000
To continue HRIC's extensive support for the human rights movement
inside China, its credible reporting of breaking news, and its
international advocacy program. HRIC educates ordinary Chinese people
about human rights principles, helps those who have been persecuted and
imprisoned in China for the nonviolent exercise of their rights, and
monitors China's overall human rights situation.
International
Republican Institute
$489,716
To support further progress and consolidation of electoral reform at the
village level, and to conduct programs on legislative reform at the
national and provincial levels.
Laogai Research Foundation
$85,000
To conduct a research and publications program on the laogai, China's
prison camp system, investigate and expose other human rights violations
in China, and support a three-day conference in September 1999,
"Voices from the Laogai," featuring testimonies from dozens of
former laogai prisoners.
Press Freedom Guardian
$48,000
To continue production of the Press Freedom Guardian, a
Chinese-language, bimonthly newspaper that covers democratic ideas,
human rights cases, the treatment of political prisoners, and political
and social developments in China that relate to the country's prospects
for democratization.
China (Hong Kong)
Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor
$48,000
To campaign for improvements in legal and institutional human rights
safeguards in Hong Kong. The Monitor will continue its program of human
rights reporting, case work, campaigning, and public education, and will
also participate in the U.N. human rights fora.
National Democratic
Institute for International Affairs
$67,164
To support democracy activists as they define their role in the new
political system in Hong Kong that limits opportunities for public input
into the policy-making process. The program will offer consultations to
political parties competing for seats on directly elected local
governments, and conduct a training program on grassroots organizing and
volunteer recruitment.
China (Tibet)
Tibet Information Network
$20,000
To provide comprehensive, accurate information about political, social,
and economic developments in Tibet to Tibetan audiences, the
international community, human rights groups, and the media.
Tibet Times Newspaper
$20,000
To provide in-depth coverage of news about Tibet, the exiled Tibetan
community, and Chinese and international affairs through a
Tibetan-language newspaper published three times a month in Dharamsala,
India.
Tibet Multimedia
Center
$30,000
To support a four-part program of democratic civic education and
information dissemination that addresses the struggle for human rights
and democracy in Tibet. Based in Dharamsala, India, the Center produces
print, audio, and video materials for distribution to Tibetans in India,
Nepal, and Tibet.
Tibetan Center for
Human Rights and Democracy
$15,000
To translate into Tibetan, publish, and distribute 10,000 copies each of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. The
program is based in Dharamsala, India.
Tibetan Review
$25,000
To continue publishing Tibetan Review, an English-language monthly news
and opinion journal based in New Delhi, India. The Review, known for its
editorial independence and its commitment to promoting democratic
pluralism in Tibetan society, provides a unique forum for the free and
robust exchange of views.
Indonesia
Center for International Private Enterprise
$73,120
To enable the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
to organize consultations and a workshop that will initiate a discussion
among Indonesian media, business, and government executives on how to
provide for the free flow of economic information to the public and
among private-sector and governmental institutions.
Suara Timor Timur
(Voice of East Timor)
$60,000
To support East Timor's only locally based newspaper by providing funds
to replace equipment that was destroyed when its office was ransacked in
April 1999, and to provide an emergency supply of newsprint.
Malaysia
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
$143,388
To assist a civic group with monitoring November 1999 parliamentary
elections in Malaysia, where flawed electoral laws and procedures have
prevented genuine, competitive polls. NDI will help the civic group
mount a neutral observation effort to monitor the election and
pre-election environment and report objectively on the election process.
Southeast Asian Press
Alliance
$60,000
To foster the emergence of independent media and promote press freedom
in Malaysia. The grant also provides support for online media.
Mongolia
LEOS
$48,545
To continue support for the programs of Mongolia's largest pro-democracy
women's organization. LEOS will provide skills training workshops for
members of urban and rural branches; organize a nonpartisan program that
encourages women to participate in the 2000 parliamentary elections; and
expand a program that helps women launch new businesses.
Nepal
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
$100,000
To strengthen government oversight and accountability in a country where
corruption at all levels of government hinders the development of
democratic practices and the public's faith in democracy. The program
will assist civic groups with strengthening the legislature's oversight
of Nepal's seven independent constitutional bodies and developing a more
transparent process of appointing members to those bodies, which are
currently appointed in secret.
North Korea
Citizens' Alliance to Help Political Prisoners in North Korea
$62,000
To investigate and report on human rights abuses and prison camp
operations in North Korea. The Seoul-based group will produce
English-language materials for international dissemination and publish
Korean, Japanese, and English-language editions of its bimonthly
journal, Life and Human Rights. The Alliance will also convene the first
international conference on human rights abuses in North Korea to assess
the current state of knowledge and exchange of information on North
Korea's human rights situation, and explore strategies to improve the
human rights situation there.
Pakistan
American Center for International Labor Solidarity
$137,615
To support a counseling center run by Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal
Aid that addresses the sexual harassment of women workers and promotes
coalition-building between unions and NGOs that focus on women workers'
rights. ACILS will also continue to support the legal work of the
Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, the All Pakistan
Federation of Labor effort to enhance membership recruitment, workshops
on child labor conducted by the Pakistan National Textile, Leather, and
Garment Workers Federation, and an organizing workshop conducted by the
All Pakistan Federation of Free Trade Unions.
Sri Lanka
People's Action for Free and Fair Elections
$15,000
To continue a grassroots civic education and participation project to
foster a peaceful and responsive civil society.
Thailand
International Republican Institute
$100,000
To continue working with the Thai Women in Politics Institute (WIP) to
provide women with the skills necessary to participate fully in
Thailand's political arena. Activities include campaign training for
provincial and municipal candidates and a women and government training
conference.
National Democratic
Institute for International Affairs
$122,749
To strengthen local efforts to combat corruption in Thailand's political
system. Work with civic groups in four provinces will use village forums
and educational presentations to help citizens develop solutions to
local problems of corruption, advocate change to their elected
officials, and build public pressure for reform.
Vietnam
Boat People S.O.S. (BPSOS)
$10,000
To encourage greater transparency and accountability in Vietnam. BPSOS
will organize a session during an international conference,
"Building a Democratic Framework for Development in Southeast
Asia," that will provide a forum for Vietnamese citizens to become
informed about and advocate for the principles of transparency in
government.
Center for
International Private Enterprise
$60,703
To enable the Georgetown University Center for Intercultural
Education and Development to work with the Economics University of Ho
Chi Minh City to conduct a program of weekly radio and television
broadcasts that promote public discussion of economic reform and
Vietnam's transition to a market economy.
Association for
Vietnamese Overseas: Culture & Liaison
$70,000
To continue distributing the bimonthly magazine, Que Me (Homeland),
which brings uncensored news and a discussion of democratic ideas into
Vietnam. The Association also will distribute in Vietnam 50,000 copies
of its monthly mini-bulletins on human and workers' rights in Vietnam,
and a variety of thematic reports in English, French, and Vietnamese.
South Asia Regional
Center for International Private Enterprise
$52,635
To work with the Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs to bring
together business leaders and successful women entrepreneurs from
throughout the South Asian region to share their ideas and expertise on
policy advocacy and economic development.
Asia Regional
American Center for International Labor Solidarity
$551,232
To support the protection of workers' rights and the institutional
development of trade unions in Thailand and Malaysia. ACILS programs
will broaden workers' civic awareness and help train workers and unions
to undertake effective research, analysis, and advocacy on economic
policy issues in the wake of the financial crisis. A regional program
will promote transparency in international financial institutions.
American Center for
International Labor Solidarity
$289,756
To strengthen the rule of law in Southeast Asia in the area of workers'
rights. The Bangkok-based program will provide technical support to
legal aid societies, legal activists, scholars, unions, community
groups, NGOs, and other appropriate partners. ACILS will help local
organizations explore the use of local administrative and constitutional
law to enforce standards and support technical and professional
exchanges.
Asian Cultural Forum
on Development (ACFOD)
$20,000
To enable ACFOD to serve as the secretariat of the Asia-Pacific Human
Rights NGO Network. ACFOD will publish a bimonthly newsletter for the
NGO Network, maintain a database of Asia-related human rights materials,
and use new information technology to encourage communication and
coordination among members.
Center for
International Private Enterprise
$73,636
To cosponsor with the Institute of Management Education for Thailand
Foundation a two-day regional workshop that will identify best practices
in corporate governance and recommendations for reform, and promote a
more transparent relationship between the public and private sectors.
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