Global democratization has seen a declining trend in the last few years, sparked by the crackdown on democracy and civil society groups from Russia to Venezuela, says an international forum chief.
Art Kaufman, director for Washington-based World Movement for Democracy (WMD), said in a press briefing in Jakarta on Thursday that democratization was experiencing challenges, with many democracies now turning in a different direction.
“Most evidence lately has shown democracies going the other way. There was significant progress toward democratization around the world until the late 1990s and then when, for instance, 9/11 happened, many governments began using the war on terrorism as an excuse to crack down on legitimate democracy and human rights activists, calling them terrorists,” he said.
“This continues... This is a big challenge that must be addressed.”
He said the economic crisis had also challenged the democratization transition process around the world because people became “concerned only about economic issues”.
“On top of that there has been the phenomenon that authoritarian governments have created new NGO laws and other measures to suppress civil society.”
Kaufman pointed at Russia, Venezuela, Ethiopia and Egypt as examples of countries that had been adopting new measures to clamp down on civil society groups in 2006 and 2007.
“What we are doing is sharing with civil society groups and governments how the new laws have violated international principles.”
The WMD will begin its 6th symposium in Jakarta from April 11-14, with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono scheduled to address the forum Monday.
The forum is aimed at allowing around 600 participants from 110 countries, including Myanmar and Cuba, to share their experience and knowledge in democratization efforts.
The symposium will feature Malaysia’s opposition party leader Anwar Ibrahim, former prime minister of Canada Kim Campbell and prominent activists from Egypt, Zimbabwe, Myanmar and several other countries.
Bambang Harymurti, member of Indonesia’s steering committee for the forum and corporate chief editor of Tempo International Media, said Indonesia had been leading in Asian regions in democracy and press freedom, as seen through the ranking by US-based Freedom House, amid the decline in democratization in the region.
Thailand, previously considered a leading democracy, is now ravaged by prolonged protests and political deadlock with the opposition group.
Another point of concern is Myanmar, which will have its first election in two decades, but the poll regulations have been skewed to exclude the opposition party, the winner of the country’s 1990 election.
The forum is aimed at allowing around 600 participants from 110 countries to share their experience.
