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FACT SHEET: U.S. EFFORTS TO PROMOTE



Subject: FACT SHEET: U.S. EFFORTS TO PROMOTE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY 


11 December 1998 

FACT SHEET: U.S. EFFORTS TO PROMOTE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY 

(White House says they are integral to American values) (960)

(The following Fact Sheet on U.S. Efforts to Promote Human Rights and
Democracy was issued by the White House on December 10, 1998)

(begin White House Fact Sheet)

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

December 10, 1998

FACT SHEET

U.S. Efforts to Promote Human Rights and Democracy

The Clinton Administration works to promote human rights and democracy
because they are integral to American values and because a world in
which governments respect the rule of law will be freer, safer and
more prosperous. On the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, our challenge is to promote the universality of human
rights and to ensure their implementation around the globe.

>From Haiti to the Balkans, Northern Ireland to the Middle East, the
U.S. has led international efforts to resolve conflicts which give
rise to human rights abuses, and we continue to provide vital support
to build democratic institutions to ensure human rights abuses are not
repeated. In Africa we have supported the successful end to conflicts
from Mozambique to Mali, provided assistance to South Africa's efforts
to build an equitable, multi-cultural democracy, and are supporting
the development and consolidation of democracy in Nigeria and across
the continent. In China, we continue to press vigorously for progress
on prisoner releases, political rights, religious freedom and the rule
of law. And throughout central Europe and the former Soviet Union we
are contributing substantial resources to build democratic
institutions and strengthen political participation.

Bilateral U.S. Government Efforts

Funding and Programs: In addition to our diplomatic advocacy, we
devote some $400 million per year to democracy assistance and human
rights programs implemented by the Agency for International
Development (AID), as well as more than $40 million for the National
Endowment for Democracy and other publicly supported efforts to
promote human rights and democracy activities overseas. The United
States Information Agency (USIA) also works to strengthen the culture
of democracy worldwide, both as a contributor to the free flow of
information and ideas and by activities designed to sustain the
democratic dialogue across national boundaries. USIA spends more than
$300 million per year on democracy and human rights promotion
programs.

Increased reporting and advocacy: We have expanded our annual Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices, and have substantially increased
our reporting and advocacy on religious freedom issues. On October 27,
the President signed into law the International Religious Freedom Act
and, prior to that, announced the appointment of the Special
Representative of the Secretary of State for International Religious
Freedom. In addition, the Administration, in 1996, created an Advisory
Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad, which has helped to raise the
prominence and the profile of this critical issue.

Support for Democratic Transitions: Through a wide range of programs,
AID has promoted peaceful democratic transitions. For example, AID has
supported democracy through development of independent judiciary
systems, and support to elections and conflict prevention and
mediation mechanisms in South Africa and Nigeria; information
dissemination programs for the Cuban people; and a free media in
Bosnia. Many of these projects are funded through the AID Office of
Transition Initiatives (OTI), established by the Clinton
Administration in 1993. To help the Cuban people prepare for
democracy, AID administers grants to non-governmental organizations
that undertake programs to broaden information dissemination and
support the emergence of civil society in Cuba. Separately, President
Clinton and President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea recently announced
the creation of a joint Institute on Democracy and Free Markets in
Asia, to be located in Seoul. The counterpart organizations are the
Saejoong Institute in Seoul Korea and the National Endowment for
Democracy in the United States.

Support for Local NGOs: From assistance to women's literacy and
democracy groups in Senegal to the Kiev Press Club in Ukraine, the
Administration has kept faith with those who share a commitment to
human rights and are working to promote those values within their own
societies.

Supporting Accountability: Through our support for truth commissions
in Guatemala, El Salvador and South Africa, we promote the
accountability and justice that is a key to political reconciliation
in post-conflict societies.

Supporting the rights of the disenfranchised: Through our "No Sweat"
initiative, the Administration, corporations and non-governmental
organizations are developing voluntary ethical codes of conduct to
prevent the importation of products made by child labor, to end
sweatshop conditions both in the U.S. and abroad, and to ensure that
women and children share equally the basic rights they have been
denied in so many parts of the world.

Practicing domestically what we preach abroad: We recognize that human
rights issues do not begin at the water's edge. For example, as we
have urged other governments to provide assistance and protection to
refugees, we have maintained our commitment as the world's leader in
refugee resettlement.

Support for International Human Rights Institutions:

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR): We led the effort to
create the Office of the UNHCHR, and have provided critical support,
such as for human rights monitoring programs in Rwanda, Burundi and
Cambodia, and for assistance to victims of torture around the world.

UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture: We continue to be the
world's largest contributor to this fund and will be increasing our
contribution from $1.8 million in FY 1998 to $3.0 million in FY 1999.

International Tribunals: We are the leading supporter of the
International Criminal Tribunals relating to the former Yugoslavia and
Rwanda, providing approximately $33.5 million in financial support
during 1998.

(end White House Fact Sheet)