Event in DC: Spying on Democracy- Colombia's Intelligence Scandal

From the Washington Office on Latin America:

Spying on Democracy: Colombia's Intelligence Scandal

Featuring:

Rafael Barrios, José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Association
Iván Cepeda Castro, National Movement for Victims of State Crimes
Conor Carrigan, Colombian Commission of Jurists
Hollman Morris, Journalist
Danilo Rueda, Intereclesial Commission for Justice and Peace

In May 2009, Colombian media revealed that the Colombian security agency that answers to the Colombian President, the DAS, conducted systematic surveillance against hundreds of persons belonging to human rights organizations, the political opposition, trade unions and judges, journalists and clergy. This illegal operation, which began in 2004, included routine surveillance of victims and their families by DAS agents, warrantless wiretapping, email interceptions, examination of bank and tax records, and break ins into homes and offices. Victims of this intelligence operation apparently were targeted because they were perceived to present a challenge to the Colombian government. Supreme Court judges, for example, were spied upon after they opened investigations into allegations of links between legislators and paramilitary groups. The DAS went beyond surveillance to carrying out acts of intimidation and death threats against those targeted by this operation. This event brings together various prominent Colombian jurists, journalists and others targeted by the DAS operation to discuss this scandal's influence on Colombian politics, the security of the victims and U.S. policy and programs towards Colombia.

English translation will be provided

Thursday, July 30, 2009
10:30am-12pm
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
1666 Connecticut Ave, 4^th Floor conference room
Washington, DC

Please RSVP to Rachel Robb, (202) 797-2171 or rrobb@wola.org by July, 28, 2009.

Human Rights Lawyer Detained In Iran

According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, human rights lawyer Shadi Sadr has been detained.

Amnesty International said arrests in Iran of civil society activists like Shadi Sadr appear to be intensifying.

"This was an illegal, arbitrary and violent arrest in which no attempt was made by the authorities to show identification or provide any explanation for their action," said Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme.

Aung San Suu Kyi Portrait by Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey, the artist best known for the President Obama "Hope" poster, created this terrific portrait of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

“This Human Rights cause is something I believe in strongly,” said Fairey. “I created this portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi to raise awareness of her on-going house arrest and the oppressive nature of the military regime ruling Burma.”

“Aung San Suu Kyi is the Nelson Mandela of Asia,” said Jack Healey, the head of the Human Rights Action Center. “Shepard’s tribute to her will remind the world she is the rightful leader of Burma in a powerful way. I always felt it was his image that galvanized the Obama movement, God willing, it will do the same for Aung San Suu Kyi and those fighting for human rights in her name.”

“Anyone could be Deng Yujiao”

Chinese citizens have been expressing their anger with official conduct through online campaigns. Deng Yujiao is a 21-year-old who fatally stabbed a Communist Party official when he tried to rape her. Her arrest on suspicion of voluntary manslaughter created an online furor when it was publicized by a blogger. This week, the court ruled that she had acted in self-defense and released her from criminal liability.

“It’s about raising the public awareness of democratic ideas — accountability, transparency, citizens’ rights to participate, that the government should serve the people,” said Xiao Qiang, a journalism professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who tracks China’s Internet activity. “Netizens who are now sharing those more democratic values are using these cases, each time making inch-by-inch progress.”

China still exerts sweeping and sophisticated control over the Internet, employing thousands of people to monitor Internet traffic for forbidden material and using software to spot key words that hint at subversion. But the system is not infallible, and Internet users frequently find ways to skirt the censors.

Iran Election Fallout, Ctd.

Andrew Sullivan's blog continues to be an indispensable source of information on what's happening in Iran. He has a massive number of readers, some of whom are sending eyewitness accounts or translating Farsi sources.

On the theory that the regime has "imported" cops:

If true, another sign of how desperate the regime is. A reader writes:

Just got off the phone with my dad. He leaves in northern Tehran, off Afrika Blvd.

He said that most iranians believe that a lot of the "commandos" on the bikes are Hezbollah arabs brought in to do to the citizens what a Persian cop would refuse to do. Accordingly when the protesters knock one of the biker thugs off they are being particularly brutal, believing that the rider is Arab.

Bank storefronts have been smashed all over northern Tehran. Mousavi, Khatami and Rafsanjani are allegedly meeting at Mousavi's house (who is under house arrest) and are planning their next move. People there are waiting for further instructions from Mousavi. In my dad's neighborhood BBC Persia and Voice of America have been knocked off the satellite but not in all parts. Sorry this is rambling I'm getting constant calls from Tehran. Will speak to my father again in two hours and will let you know anything new.

On students risking their lives.

In this country, we merely have to risk our apathy to vote. These students are risking their lives. They are the heroes of our time [...]

He also linked to this site, which links to English-language Twitter feeds. Some examples:

My Father has a truck load of ballot boxes that were to be burned in the back of his truck.

i eats some pills and wanna sleep and i scared that if they can find me ...i going...thx for your supports....

typing as fastest as I can in bth English&Farsi,Still we need outside help,I really don't want to be captured by Ansar

Once again I thank everyone in the world. No matter if Ahmadi stays or not, I'm proud to have clasped such supportive hands.

URGENT JUST IN, there r TANKS in front of the interior ministry of tehran in valiasr st. & fatemi CAREFUL

I can't find my friends on streets.

Rasht, glass splinters on the streets, riot police not hesitating to beat men, women and even kids

From Enghelab Sq friend just call me, Police & unknown forces beating everybody for no apparent reason!

Correction, no bus burned, but three cars.

dawn is breaking. can hear prayers from mosques.

cousin in tehran is traumatized by the club and baton beatings on tehran streets. eyewitness report of a girl beaten to death.

IRG's helicopter flying low on yousefabadad Amirabad Gisha right now creating a devastating sound and making windows shake

sources from Tehran: ppl are killed, ppl are in blood, tehran is hell.

We witnessed police spraying pepper gas into the eyes of peaceful female protesters

We are here in the dark, all kinds of rumors fly by; nothing is sure.

IRIB TV warned people seriously about going to tomorrow's rally, mobile network might be down for tomorrow's rally.

While there has been a lot of (legitimate) criticism on the failure of cable news networks to cover these events, Fareed Zakaria covered a lot of ground today, interviewing Christiane Amanpour and hosting a panel of experts.

Iran Election Fallout

Andrew Sullivan has been posting all day on reactions and updates. On the count:

Confirmation from al Jazeera:

And with each updated count, Ahmadinjad's lead did not waver from a very stable range of 66-69 per cent, irrespective of which districts were reporting.

This looks like such a crude rigging of the vote that it is either a sign of utter incompetence or profound panic, and probably both. One assumes that the Khameini forces have total confidence that they can suppress any resistance after such a provocation. But what if they are as capable of misjudging that as they were the electorate?

The Tank Man

Unfortunately, studying for the bar got in the way of blogging today. I did manage to catch Frontline's program on "The Tank Man." The documentary was first aired a few years ago but they showed it again in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. The Tank Man was an anonymous protester who became internationally known when he was photographed standing in front of tanks in Tiananmen Square. The version here is from Jeff Widener of AP.

The whole program is available online.

On a related note, check out this post from Matthew Yglesias on China's new requirement that all PCs include internet-censoring software.

This also highlights why political developments in China are so crucial for the entire world. If, say, Iran tried to do this it almost certainly wouldn’t fly. But companies will fall all over each other to cater to the Chinese market. Then, once the technology is in place other autocracies can try to piggyback on work that’s been done in and for China. But absent China, almost all of world output would be happening in democratic nations, and it would be easy to structure the global economy in the kind of way optimists were hoping it would work for China.

June 4th: "Just Another Day"

James Fallows is blogging about the anniversary of Tiananmen Square massacre as it's being experienced in China.

In his first post, he discusses walking by the square on the eve of the anniversary:

There are more representatives in all categories -- soldiers, police, obvious plainclothesmen -- than I recall seeing even during the Tibet violence in early 2008 or through the Olympic games. Also many people whom you would normally classify as fruit vendors, tourists from the Chinese provinces, youngish white collar workers male and female, and skateboarder-looking characters wearing cargo shorts and with fauxhawk haircuts, were last night walking up and down the sidewalks with their eyes constantly on visitors and drifting up next to people who were holding conversations.

The way to avoid their attention is keep moving briskly along the sidewalk rather than stopping as if you think there is something particular to look at in the square today. The way to draw it is to stop and look around, to pay attention to the security forces themselves, or to have a camera in your hand. If the camera comes out, it may be pointed at one of the scenic highlights in the center of the square.

In his second post, he gives updates from various sources, including his wife (below). Fallows also notes that in other parts of Beijing and China, everything was "perfectly normal" and it was "just another day."

Lots of groups were obviously deputized young men who stood around watching, staring, following people like me at least 3 on 1 at any given moment. There were no women in this capacity. There was a clear absence of the usual "oblivious" quality of Chinese crowd movement, where people bump into you, brush against you, or cut in front of you if you happen to be in the path of where they're going. Everyone milling about was acutely aware of everyone else in his space. They seemed to have assigned space. Some deputies also wore group-colored shirts, all wore "badges" with the Chinese flag surrounded in gold, Many looked like the kids who volunteered at the Olympics. Clearly nationalistic. All young. I wondered if they were paid for the day.

I would guess about 85% of people on the square were there officially. You could tell that because the security lines were basically unpopulated, while all the "deputies" just walked around the screeners without being checked. There were very few tourists, foreign or otherwise. There were mostly uniformed and non-uniformed police. Some foreigners were taking pictures, seemingly unmolested. Any footage and photos will be dull-looking; the shots would look "normal". It was just the feeling of intense orchestration and deliberate crowd-building that gave it away. And also a distinct sense of high-tension, which carried around the front of the Forbidden City, but evaporated just around the corners.

I found her comment about the young, nationalistic volunteers pretty interesting in light of some statistics I read in the paper today. In today's Express (the Washington Post's free paper) that because discussion of the 1989 events is "virtually off-limits" in China, the 200 million "post-1980" kids are most apolitical. Apparently 75% of Chinese college students hope to join the Communist Party. Of those, 56% think it would "boost their chances of finding a good job." In any case, it turns out that many young Chinese no idea what happened 20 years ago.

Slate's "Explainer" is about what the official government line is on Tiananmen Square.

This week marks the 20^th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Western media characterize the incident as a brutal government crackdown on peaceful protesters. What does the Chinese government say about it?

Very little. Neither the 1989 protests nor the ensuing massacre is included in Chinese textbooks, and many students today have never heard of these events. For the most part, the government avoids discussing the issue at all. The government does acknowledge that the People's Liberation Army intervened after seven weeks of demonstrations and that people were killed. But the official line is that, rather than crushing a peaceful protest, the military simply defended itself—and the country—against violent counterrevolutionary elements. ("Counterrevolutionary" is used in China in much the same way as "anti-American" in the United States.)

"The Democratic Spirit" in Iran

Andrew Sullivan has a great post on the election campaign in Iran.

I don't know whether you have been reading the various press accounts of the election campaign in Iran. I know that the candidates' list is fixed, but I can also see democratic spirit when it is bang in front of me. There appears to be a genuine fight for votes; and the images from the Mousavi rallies look more like Obama rallies than assemblies in a totalitarian state. Notice how young these people look, and how unafraid.

Does anyone doubt that if this kid of peaceful campaigning were happening in Iraq, it would be regarded as a sign of a nascent democracy?

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But we should not be blind to change when it emerges. Ahmadinejad has discredited himself in the eyes of many Iranians. They are looking for change they can believe in. This is the target audience for Obama this Thursday. He needs to reach out to the democratic forces in that country and remind them that America is their ally.

(Image from a pro-Mousavi rally from the Charlotte Observer.)

China Censors Tiananmen Information

On the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square revolt, China is censoring information about the event.

Reporters Without Borders said this week that Chinese media cannot refer to the incident, which took place June 4, 1989, and information has been suppressed so effectively that most young Chinese are unaware of the event, which led to the deaths of hundreds of demonstrators.

When Internet users look for information on "4 June," Baidu, China's most popular search engine, displays a message saying: "The search does not comply with laws, regulations, and policies," Reporters Without Borders found in recent tests. Video search for the date leads to a message that says, "Sorry, no video corresponds to your search."

An earlier post about Human Rights Watch's video, "The Tiananmen Legacy," is here. Another post, on the memoirs of a Chinese official who was involved in discussions about the crackdown on demonstrators, is here.

OAS Lifts Ban on Cuba

The Organization of American States (OAS) has lifted its 47-year ban on Cuba, inviting Cuba to return if it meets certain conditions. Nevertheless, Cuba has said it will not return.

The Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas Baca read the resolution to delegates in San Pedro Sula.

She said Cuba can rejoin after initiating a dialogue with the group and conforming to its practices and principles.

The document says those principles include democracy, self-determination and human rights.

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Venezuela's Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Cuba and other Latin American nations have suffered a long history of injuries at the hands of so-called imperialism. He told delegates that the United States could do even more to reconcile the past.

Maduro said it should not be too much to ask for an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba. He said Venezuela welcomed the OAS decision but it was not enough.

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In Washington, a group of U.S. congressmen condemned the OAS decision and proposed a bill that would withhold U.S. funding for the group, which is based in the U.S. capital. In a statement, Florida Representative Connie Mack said hundreds of Cubans live as political prisoners and many suffer constant fear and repression.

Facebook Blocked in Iran

In the weeks leading up to the election in Iran, Facebook has been banned. President Ahmadinejad denies calling for the ban.

Asked whether he would order that access to Facebook be reinstated, Ahmadinejad responded that he would "see if there is a complaint" that may be presented to the judiciary.

The semi-official Iranian Labor News Agency reported over the weekend that the Iranian government had blocked Facebook amid political jockeying for the June 12 presidential election.

Reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi -- a former prime minister considered a threat to Ahmadinejad -- has created a Facebook page for his campaign and has more than 5,000 supporters on the site.

Those attempting to visit Facebook were receiving a message in Farsi saying, "Access to this site is not possible," according to CNN personnel in Tehran.

The news agency reported the Masadiq Committee, made up of representatives from Iran's intelligence ministry, judiciary and others, had ordered the action. After a few hours, the block was lifted, but then reinstated later, the agency said. No reason was given.

"We are disappointed to learn of reports that users in Iran may not have access to Facebook, especially at a time when voters are turning to the Internet as a source of information about election candidates and their positions," a Facebook spokesperson said in a written statement. "We are investigating these reports.

"We believe that people around the world should be able to use Facebook to communicate and share information with their friends, family and co-workers. It is always a shame when a countries' cultural and political concerns lead to limits being placed on the opportunity for sharing and expression that the Internet provides."

UPDATE, 5/26: Iran has reportedly restored access.

VP Biden in Lebanon

US Vice President Joe Biden supports Lebanese democracy.

"I urge those who think about standing with the spoilers of peace not to miss this opportunity to walk away," he said.

The White House said the visit by the vice-president was meant to reinforce US support for "an independent and sovereign Lebanon".

Predicting Democracy

Richard Florida, guest blogging for Andrew Sullivan, comments on a study that examines 59 factors and whether they predict emergence and success of democracy. The study found that just five factors predict that democracy will emerge and only four predict that it will survive.

According to the study, the strongest predictors of a transition to democracy are past transitions, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) membership and GDP growth; the study found a negative correlation between the latter and the emergence of democracy. As Florida puts it, "contrary to 'modernization theory', the study finds that richer countries are not more likely to become democracies. Richer countries are more likely to remain democracies once they become one." While there was also evidence that fuel exporters and Muslim countries are less likely to see a transition to democracy, the finding with respect to Muslim countries was entirely driven by oil producing Muslim countries.

The strongest predictors of the survival of democracy are GDP per capita, which has a positive effect, and past transitions, which has a negative effect. There was also evidence that having a former military leader as the chief executive has a negative effect and that having other democracies as neighbors has a positive effect.

UPDATE: There is a new post, indicating that Florida may have made a mistake in his initial analysis.

News Roundup

Graduation was this past weekend so blogging has been slow! Here are some quick updates:

Tamil Tigers Admit Defeat

1.4 Million People Displaced in Swat Valley, according to the UN

Burmese Democracy Leader Aung San Suu Kyi goes to trial

Darfur Rebel Commander Faces International Criminal Court

Nigerian Civilians Trapped as Army Takes on Rebels

A roundup on the Indian elections

I'll be back to the regular blogging schedule soon!

Freedom House 2009 Report

Freedom House released its 2009 Freedom of Press Report, which shows a global decline in freedom of press. Apparently Israel, Italy and Hong Kong have all slipped from "Free" to "Partly Free." The post on the Foreign Policy blog gives a partial explanation:

The worst offenders are all usual suspects, but I suspect the most attention will be garnered by the three countries that slipped from "free" to "partly free": Israel, Italy, and Hong Kong. Here's the explanation on Israel from the report's overview essay:

Israel, the only country in the [Middle East] to be consistently rated Free, moved into the Partly Free range due to the heightened conflict in Gaza, which triggered increased travel restrictions on both Israeli and foreign reporters; official attempts to influence media coverage of the conflict within Israel; and greater self- censorship and biased reporting, particularly during the outbreak of open war in late December.

Also, Sunday, May 3 is World Freedom of Press Day!

Update:

The report says Israel fell due to restrictions on journalists and official attempts to influence coverage during the conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The study says Italy slipped because the country is limiting free speech with libel laws and the intimidation of journalists by organized crime.

Freedom House says it downgraded Hong Kong because Beijing is exerting growing influence over the media there.

The executive director of Freedom House, Jennifer Windsor, says the journalism profession is fighting to stay alive, which she warns has enormous implications for democracy. "Declines have been registered in established democracies, as well as partly free countries, and the most repressive regimes have continued to tighten their grip in order to control the information flows that have become increasingly globalized and out of their control," she said.

No Elections in Fiji

In spite of international pressure, Fiji's military ruler, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, said there will be no elections in Fiji until 2014. Bainmarama seized power in a 2006 coup and has been criticized for being unwilling to give up power.

The statement was prompted by a decision by the Pacific Islands Forum, a 16-nation bloc, to suspend Fiji if it did nout announce 2009 elections.

The Latest on the Elections in India

The third phase of the month-long elections took place on Thursday. This phase included Kashmir and Mumbai so security concerns were high. There were also higher tensions in Gujarat; the Indian Supreme Court just ordered a new investigation into the 2002 communal riots. The Court specifically ordered the investigation of Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi. Modi is a member of the Hindu-nationalist BJP and has been accused in a petition filed by the widow of a murdered Muslim politician. (The Atlantic recently did a feature on Modi.)

From AFP's story:

In Kashmir, all eyes were on the number of voters. A strong turnout would deal a blow to separatist groups who have called for a poll boycott to reinforce opposition to Indian rule in the Muslim-majority region.

"Security is the only issue. It's the only reason people are stepping out to vote, especially in this area. We have seen it, we have felt it and we know all about it," Chintan Sakariya told AFP after voting in south Mumbai.

But national security is not a priority issue everywhere, with the bulk of India's 714 million voters likely to cast their ballots on local issues or according to their caste and religion.

Among other states voting Thursday were parts of impoverished Bihar and populous Uttar Pradesh in the north, Gujarat in the west, the southern rural state of Karnataka, and leftist-dominated West Bengal in the east.

(Photo from BBC News. More pictures from the third phase of the Indian election are available here.)

The Middle Class War on Democracy

From the Foreign Policy website:
The Bourgeois Revolution By Joshua Kurlantzick

"For years, political theorists have argued that developing a healthy middle class is the key to any country's democratization. To paraphrase the late political scientist Samuel Huntington: Economic growth and industrialization usually lead to the creation of a middle class. As its members become wealthier and more educated, the middle class turns increasingly vocal, demanding more rights to protect its economic gains.

But over the past decade, the antidemocratic behavior of the middle class in many countries has threatened to undermine this conventional wisdom. Although many developing countries have created trappings of democracy, such as regular elections, they often failed to build strong institutions, including independent courts, impartial election monitoring, and a truly free press and civil society.

The middle class's newfound disdain for democracy is counterintuitive. After all, as political and economic freedoms increase, its members often prosper because they are allowed more freedom to do business. But, paradoxically, as democracy gets stronger and the middle class grows richer, it can realize it has more to lose than gain from a real enfranchisement of society.

Soon after acquiring democracy, urban middle classes often grasp the frustrating reality that political change costs them power. Outnumbered at the ballot box, the middle class cannot stop populists such as Thaksin or Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Once the middle class realizes it cannot stop the elected tyrants, it also comes to another, shattering realization: If urban elites can no longer control elections, all of their privileges -- social, economic, cultural -- could be threatened."