GA III: Democracies in Danger: Diagnosis and Prescriptions

“Democracy must not be sacrificed to combat terrorism”. The words of the former president of Ireland Mary Robinson were the succinct expression of the efforts of deliberation carried out by the participants of the III General Assembly of the Club of Madrid, which took place this weekend in the Palace of the Lower House of Parliament in the Spanish capital, under the title “Democracies in Danger”. More than twenty former heads of state and government, expert analysts and scholars, joined together to study the threats which confront democracies world wide, including even consolidated democracies, as well as recommendations to reduce their effects.

The Club of Madrid warns democracy cannot be sacrificed in order to combat terrorism

The participation of international organisations is fundamental to develop quality democracies world-wide

The III General Assembly of the Club of Madrid recommends civil control of the military, intelligence and police force, democratic control of authority, and the incorporation of different ethnic, religious and social groups in plural societies

Madrid.- November 14, 2004.- “Democracy must not be sacrificed to combat terrorism”. The words of the former president of Ireland Mary Robinson were the succinct expression of the efforts of deliberation carried out by the participants of the III General Assembly of the Club of Madrid, which took place this weekend in the Palace of the Lower House of Parliament in the Spanish capital, under the title “Democracies in Danger”. More than twenty former heads of state and government, expert analysts and scholars, joined together to study the threats which confront democracies world wide, including even consolidated democracies, as well as recommendations to reduce their effects.

With regards to new terrorist threats, the participants made note of the importance of international institutions, especially regional ones, in the consolidation of democratic regimes and acting in a timely fashion to resolve situations of crisis.

The Club of Madrid, led by Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil, proposed extending democratic policy throughout society; educating the public in civil values; establishing civic and democratic control of the police and intelligence forces; establishing rules of the game to ensure governability and to avoid authoritarianism, and; giving voice to ethnic, religious and social groups that make up a plural society.

The III General Assembly listened to high ranking officials of different international organisations - among them the UN, OAS, Arab League, OSCE and the Secretary of the Commonwealth – who insisted upon the need to coordinate efforts to improve the quality of democracies in the world, inviting the Club of Madrid to work with them in this endeavour.

Two cases studied in the final debate were the Muslim and Latin American situations. The first was presented by the ambassador of the Arab League in Spain, Mohamed El-Fatah Naciri, who highlighted to the participants “the person who commits an act of terrorism is a criminal, not a Muslim. To say that these two faces are part of the same coin only fuels the fire of the fanatics”. Naciri recalled that the Islamic civilization was very tolerant, and that there are only two ways to affront the current situations: promote a clash or a dialogue between the civilizations. “That is why – notes Naciri – we support Zapatero in his proposal to the UN to align civilizations”.

The former president of Colombia and former general secretary of the OAS, César Gaviria, commented that this regional organisation supports democracies not only in times of crisis but in their daily process of democratic consolidation. With this in mind, he analyzed the most recent interventions of the organisation, focussing on the coordination needed between international groups, making note that the Club of Madrid could offer their support and experience in the effort.

The general secretary of Political Affairs of the UN, Danilo Türk, noted that not all country members of the United Nations are ruled by democratic regimes and that the organisation could have supervised some unclear electoral processes, but asked for a vote of confidence because it “is better to support than to leave alone”.

The director of the office of Human Rights of the OSCE, Christian Strohal, offered his complementary vision on security and democracy reasoning that “the threats to both are interchangeable. The weaker democratic governments are a breeding ground of these types of threats”. The OSCE, organisation responsible for supervision of 150 electoral processes, considers that it is also necessary to reinforce parliaments, the political parties, public administrations and sustainable public participation. As an example, he noted the case of Albania, which was carried out under especially difficult circumstances.

In closing, Amitav Banerji, representative of the Commonwealth Secretariat, commented on the prestige that this organisation has obtained among its members, noting the desire to avoid violation of democratic principles, something that has happened in other countries. Nonetheless, “protection of democracy requires the political support of the governments affected”.

Mary Robinson added regarding the intercultural dialogue that the Council of Women World Leaders is currently developing a programme among Muslim and Latin Amercian women to promote security, peace and the end of violence against women in these countries.

The III General Assembly of the Club of Madrid also brought forth the conclusions of the Report on Democracy in Latin America, carried out by the UNDP, led by Dante Caputo. The former Minister of External Affairs of Argentina commented that while we have reached a high point in electoral democracies, the distribution of wealth has not been carried out in equal measure. Poverty and misery continues to affect the region. The democracy of the voters has not resulted in a democracy of the citizens. One out of three citizens in a total of 18 countries surveyed would accept corruption and authoritarian leadership, if the system worked. Caputo, nonetheless, showed optimism because “societies that have learned how to leave dictatorships behind are capable of extending democracy to civil society”.



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