When elections are not enough
A new model of democracy that
goes beyond "the brutal electoral force of the majority" is advanced by the
Human Development Report 2000.
In a radical analysis that
challenges many traditional assumptions, the Report, commissioned by the United Nations
Development Program, argues that many democracies fail to adopt policies that protect or
promote human rights.
It also warns that, in many
countries, economic stagnation or decline is undermining progress in civil liberties. It
emphasizes the dual importance of poverty eradication, not only for the advancements of
the economic rights but also to help sustain gains in civil rights.
One-party or military rule has
ended in more than 100 countries in the last 20 years and the Report’s Principal
Coordinator, Dr. Richard Jolly, points out that " for the first time in history, most
of the world lives under democratic regimes". This is good news, says the Report,
because democracy is the only political system compatible with respect for all the rights.
But while democracy is no longer elusive, it is not yet inclusive.
"Inclusive democracy"
embraces all minorities, explains the Report. "Violence against minorities is a
burning political issue the world over. Even with constitutional protection, minorities
can face large threats". In Western Europe, for example, immigrant minorities are
often victims of racism and violence.
The exclusion of marginalized
minorities-from Canada to India- is the "Achilles heel" of many majoritarian
democracies. Minorities can be excluded, discriminated against and marginalized. This can
lead to violence and even war, as in Sri Lanka and the former Yugoslavia.
Arbitrary use of power mars many
new democracies. Policy is often made behind closed doors, whether is on slum clearance
that deprives people of housing, dams that flood houses and farms, budget allocations that
favor water supply for middle-class suburbs rather than slums, logging that destroys the
environment, or secretive negotiations with international agencies.
Across the world, journalists
are attacked or killed, and the independent media and other elements of the civil society,
such as non-governmental organizations, NGOs, are harassed.
Intimidation and lack of
resources "strangle the rule of law in many countries"’, depriving members
of the public of legal protection from justice and abuses of their rights.
Large sections of
population-such as women and indigenous peoples-face discrimination.
Too often, the world community
has been too tolerant of human rights abuses under democracies, says the Report,
emphasizing the point that "’multiparty elections are not enough".
Inclusive democracy is based on
the dispersal and sharing of political power, as exemplified by President Nelson Mandela.
After the first elections in a free South Africa, he gave a prominent opposition leader a
Cabinet post even though the African National Congress had a comfortable majority.
Dispersing power means
broadening democracy and removing restrictions on NGOs:; "’A state may have
signed all human rights treaties,"’ it adds, "but without an open civil
society it may be under little pressure to honor its commitments".
"People do not want to be
passive participants, merely casting votes in the elections. They want to have an active
part in the political decisions that shape their lives."
Estimating that one person in
five participates in a civil society organization, the Report cites the demonstrations at
the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle earlier this year as an illustration of
people’s desire to become involved in decision-making on global issues.
Its ten point agenda for
advancing rights through strengthening democracy also calls for protection of the
independence of the judiciary and the media; the inclusion of the minorities in Cabinet,
the army and other powerful institutions; reforms to protect police from political
interference and increase their public accountability.
Democratic rights reinforce each
other and empower poor people to fight poverty. A free press helps prevent food shortages
turning into famine. Similarly, once freedom of speech, association and participation are
secured, poor people can demand accountability-as well as opportunities and a more
favorable economic environment through which to escape their poverty.
"’The choice is no
longer between democracy and dictatorship," says Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Director of the
Human Development Report office. "The dark era of the military rule is ending. The
response to fragile democracies is to improve their quality, not revert to the
illegitimacy of authoritarian rule."
Text courtesy: The Human
Development Report 2000, UNDP; Kathmandu, Nepal-chief editor.
Rights: As
global as capital trade
Globalization must be about
human rights as well as about capital and trade, says a new report commissioned by the
United Nations Development Program.
"Our view of common
humanity must evolve beyond the borders of the nation state to where the fulfillment of
human rights in any part of the world is treated with the same seriousness and given the
same support as rights in any other," says the HDR 2000.
The emphasis on global
approaches to rights issues is underlined in a message to the Report from UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan: "’Even though we are an organization of member states, the
rights and ideals the United Nations exist to protect are those of the peoples. No
government has the right to hide behind national sovereignty in order to violate the human
rights or fundamental freedoms of the people."
Global problems need a global
response, emphasizes Sakiko-Fukuda-Parr, Director of Human Development Report office:;
"’ Human rights principles and protection need to be incorporated into the rules
and institutions of globalization."
The Report argues that the
dwindling autonomy of the state in the face of increasing global economic integration puts
greater responsibility on bodies such as WTO and on global corporations to ensure their
policies reinforce human rights.
Noting that trade rules have
developed in a patchwork manner separate from human rights and environmental agreements,
the Report calls for economic governance that delivers social justice.
It says that multilateral trade
agreements have serious consequences for human well being and human rights, so their
impacts need to be assessed as part of negotiations.
For example, the international
agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights is criticized for its
potential for raising the price of medicine, making many life saving drugs out of reach of
the poor, and for failing to protect the traditional knowledge of indigenous communities.
The Report is also critical of
the secrecy of many international trades and economic negotiations, an approach it says
conflicts with a rights-oriented approach to transparency in economic policy making and
undermines accountability. This, it says, is " particularly serious since the
citizens who are barred from debating the options are frequently those who have to
shoulder the burden of paying back the debts incurred."
HDR 2000 argues that current
agreements for global governance are based on the pursuit of national interests rather
than on the collective global interest. As a result, they fail to produce policies, which
protect the poor and the disadvantaged.
The focus of a review of
decision-making should be on the participation of smaller and weaker countries in
negotiations and dispute-settlement. A review should also consider the participation of
corporations, trade unions and non-governmental organizations, rather than leaving them
restricted to behind-the-scenes lobbying and street demonstrations.
In a globalizing world,
transnational corporations, responsible for about quarter of world output, have a
responsibility to tailor their practices to help realize human rights. They can have a
major effect, both positive and negative, on the realization of rights- on employment
practices, environmental impact, and policy-making advocacy. Yet international law holds
states accountable, not corporations.
The Report suggests that the
integrated global world of the 21st century should move from a state-centered to a
multi-actor model of accountability, and that one of the calls for action by the
Millennium Assembly to be held this September, could be for the world’s top 500
companies to commit to respect, promote and fulfill human rights and core labor standards.
Text courtesy: The Human
Development Report 2000, UNDP; Kathmandu, Nepal-chief editor.
Welcome to the
European Parliament
-Anne-Sophie JARRIGE, France
With 130,000m2 of concrete,
14,000 tones of steel, 31,000m2 of glazing, 2,000 kilometers of cables, 9,000 door
cylinders, 15,000 electric sockets, 1,200 parking spaces, a semicircle with a surface area
of 45,000m2, kilometers of ink-black and blood-red walls, 1,133 offices, 29 meeting rooms,
220,000m2 spread out over 20 floors, 3 basements, an amphitheater with 750 seats and a
press room able to receive up to 250 journalists, fifty years after its creation, the
European Parliament is finally settled into its premises. The new European Parliament, on
either side of the river III in Strasbourg, inaugurated on 14th December 1999 by Nicole
Fontaine, its president, and Jacques Chirac, president of the French Republic, is the most
dazzling symbol of reconciliation that Europeans could have given themselves, almost sixty
years after the Second World War.
It will have taken more than ten
years in all to complete this building site which was no doubt the most prestigious but
also the most controversial one in the capital of Alsace, On completion of a blueprint
contract signed on 31st March 1994 with SERS, thousands of engineers, technicians, workmen
and subcontractors contributed to completing this building at a cost of more than 3
billion francs, two thirds of which was financed by the French state. The result is
<<a very splendid building and an architectural success>>, as emphasized by
Nicole Fontaine at the opening ceremony. It should be pointed out that the new building,
officially named Louise Weiss, was strongly criticized by its users in July 1999 at the
constitutive session of the European Parliament for the crowded lifts, cramped offices,
anxiety-provoking, labyrinthine corridors, breakdowns and ventilation problems and
thousands of anomalies and malfunctions. The tower of the amphitheater had been renamed
Alcatraz, after the famous prison off San Francisco.
Yet, according to its architects
and designers, the new parliament in Strasbourg is supposed to be a huge communication
machine and indeed, from the outside, the office tower block, the amphitheater and the
glass curve are immediately recognizable. Like a logo, the whole construction appears as a
symbol of the personality of the building and of its goal: to put across the idea of
democracy in movement. The glass façade plays on the need for transparency: transparency
of the material, of the building and, by extension, of the power exerted by the members of
the parliament. Inside, the airy spaces, abundant lighting and open corridors make the
movement of people more fluid and facilitate the exchange of information. Overlooking the
street, walkways criss-cross the void and link up the various entities of the building.
The vastness of the space reflects the power exerted by the European assembly.
To symbolize democracy,
Architecture Studio chose to use the fingers of a circle and an ellipse. Indeed,
Rene-Henri Arnaud, the architect who, for 5 years, was in charge of the project and then
the construction of the parliament, explains, <<The circle is a reference to the
central power. It is full, closed and autonomous and self-sufficient. The ellipse takes up
the idea of open public discussion. In classical times, architects designed places of
power as impregnable fortresses. Contemporary architecture symbolizes democracy through
exchanges between those elected and the people. The ellipse encloses the circle and the
circle closes the ellipse>>.
Hence, through a skillful
interplay of proportions, curves and counter-curves, vertical and horizontal lines, full
areas and empty ones, the European Parliament is a symbol of Europe’s desire for
coming together and uniting in peace. << France can be proud of this magnificent
building>>, Martine Roure, a French Socialist Euro-MP points out. << It will
soon be known all over the world and will contribute to the prestige of the European Union
>>.
The building will eventually
receive between 500,000 and a million visitors a year. It is a way for the capital of
Alsace to reassert its role in Europe and to reveal, behind apparent simplicity, a
skillfully staged complexity, no doubt an illustration of the very construction of Europe. |
