Thailand Joins Congo As "not-free" Countries

[andy1308]

Just wondering, but has anyone else noticed the lack of coverage of this story in either today's Nation or Bangkok Post? Am I reading too much into this ? (Or have I totally missed the story and am not reading enough! <smiles>)

[hammered]

Just wondering, but has anyone else noticed the lack of coverage of this story in either today's Nation or Bangkok Post? Am I reading too much into this ? (Or have I totally missed the story and am not reading enough! <smiles>)

If one wanted to , one could argue that this report is being suppressd. On th other hand there reports like this generally get little coverage. This kind of news is not sexy as it doesnt involve death, carnage, mayhem, crime or big name players.

[Plus]

I've read that report in paper edition.

[usatrader]

Just to add a little clarity as to who and what Freedom house is and is not, given some grumblings here from the small blame someone else crowd.

Here is link to board of directors from all over the world. A Crowd afar from the lable of neocons or right wing neonuts as they are labled sometimes.

http://freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=10

As to their methology, its accuaracy and objective, well I would let the reader inform theirselves on that if they seek an answer to its creditability or lack thereof.

http://freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=35&year=2005

Freedom House: A History

Freedom House was established in 1941 in New York City. It emerged from an amalgamation of two groups that had been formed, with the quiet encouragement of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, to encourage popular support for American involvement in World War II at a time when isolationist sentiments were running high in the United States.

From the outset, Freedom House was notable for its bipartisan character. In its early years, its board of trustees was drawn from a broad and eclectic group of prominent Americans: leaders from business and labor, journalists, academics, former government officials. A key figure among its early leaders was Wendell Willkie, the Republican presidential nominee in 1940. Eleanor Roosevelt was also a strong supporter and served as honorary chairman in the organization's early years.

Having been launched in response to the threat posed by one great totalitarian evil, Nazism, Freedom House took up the struggle against the other twentieth century totalitarian threat, Communism, after the conclusion of World War II. The organization's leadership was convinced that the spread of democracy would be the best weapon against totalitarian ideologies. Freedom House thus embraced a mission to work to expand freedom around the world and to strengthen human rights and civil liberties in the United States. Freedom House thus strongly endorsed the post-war Atlantic Alliance, as well as such key policies and institutions as the Marshall Plan and NATO.

During the 1950s, Freedom House was an aggressive foe of McCarthyism. It was also an early supporter of the movement for racial equality. Through the years, Freedom House has included among its leadership prominent civil rights leaders, most notably Roy Wilkins, the director of the NAACP, and Bayard Rustin, a leading adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

During the 1970s, Freedom House became concerned about the erosion of freedom in many parts of the developing world. With Marxist regimes, juntas, and military strongmen holding sway over swathes of Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, Freedom House responded with a program that combined research and analysis, advocacy, and on-the-ground involvement in crisis areas.

In 1973, Freedom House launched its annual survey of global political rights and civil liberties, Freedom in the World. Employing a methodology that had been devised by leading social scientists, the survey rated every country in the world on a series of indicators basic to freedom. Published annually, it provided policymakers, journalists, and the public a comparative view of the global state of freedom, in which countries were measures across regional boundaries and from year to year.

Also in that time period, Freedom House took the leading role in a campaign to defeat a proposal, under debate in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to establish a New World Information and Communications Order, a measure that many saw as an opening wedge towards global censorship. The organization was involved in the defense of Andrei Sakharov and other Soviet dissidents. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Freedom House established the Afghanistan Information Center, a clearinghouse for information on the conflict. It was among the earliest supporters of Poland's Solidarity trade union. Responding to growing strife in Africa, Freedom House sent study missions to Zimbabwe and South Africa led by Bayard Rustin. It also sent missions to assess conditions in Central America during the 1980s, as part of an ongoing project to support centrist democratic forces, under siege from the Marxist left and the death squad right.

With the end of the Cold War, the Freedom House mission evolved to meet the new challenge of expanding freedom to societies under dictatorship and helping to stabilize free institutions in new, fragile democracies. Freedom House became more active on the issue of religious freedom. In 1995, the Puebla Institute was merged into Freedom House as the Center for Religious Freedom, and led advocacy efforts to bring issues of religious freedom into the mainstream of human rights work. The 1997 merger with the National Forum Foundation substantially enhanced Freedom House's capacity to conduct on-the-ground projects in fledgling democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union. Through subgrants and targeted fellowships, Freedom House assisted these post-Communist societies in the establishment of independent media, non-governmental think tanks, and the core institutions of electoral politics. Although the Center for Religious Freedom Separated from Freedom House in 2006, Freedom House continues to ensure that religious freedom remains a core part of its analysis, advocacy, and action portfolio.

In the post 9/11 period, Freedom House expanded its on-the-ground presence to more difficult environments, such as in Central Asia and the Middle East. Since 2001, Freedom House has established an increasingly global presence through offices in Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Bosnia, Serbia, Jordan, Mexico, and a number of countries in Central Asia. In both Ukraine and Serbia, Freedom House worked closely with local groups that were responsible for peaceful democratic revolutions. In Jordan, Freedom House worked to stem violence against women; in Algeria, it sought justice for victims of torture; in Uzbekistan, a brutal dictatorship, it sought to defend human rights advocates; in Venezuela, it worked with those seeking to protect and promote human rights in a difficult political environment.

Freedom House has also substantially expanded its research on various aspects of freedom. Its flagship survey, Freedom in the World, was chosen as a formal source for the determination of country eligibility for the Millennium Challenge Account, a new foreign assistance program designed to provide additional aid to poor countries that achieve certain democratic standards and adopt free market economic reforms. In addition, Freedom House publishes annually Freedom of the Press (established in 1980); Nations in Transit (since 1995), which assesses conditions in the post Communist world; and Countries at the Crossroads, a survey of governance, corruption, and transparency in sixty important countries. In 2005, Freedom House published two path-breaking studies. The first, Survey of Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa, identified and analyzed the institutions that contribute to gender inequality in the region. The second, How Freedom Is Won, identifies the tactics and forces which have most significantly contributed to democratic transitions over the past three decades. Through the Center for Religious Freedom, Freedom House produced a report on the presence of Saudi-government sponsored hate literature in some American mosques, and examined the impact of the imposition of extreme sharia law on religious freedom, women's rights and other human rights in a major new study, Radical Islam's Rules.

Freedom House continues to serve as a leading advocate for policies to advance the democratic idea. It was a founder of the Community of Democracies, an alliance of global democracies that seeks a greater voice for democracy at the United Nations and other international forums. It supports critical reforms of the United Nations to make its work in human rights and democracy more effective. Freedom House speaks out for religious freedom for practitioners of all faiths, and the Center for Religious Freedom played a leadership role in creating the Coalition for Southern Sudan, whose advocacy efforts helped to lead to a peace agreement in that region, ending the longest running war in Africa.

Freedom House is a strong voice for a U.S. foreign policy that places the promotion of democracy at the forefront. Freedom House representatives regularly testify before Congress, provide briefings to Congress, the State Department, and other agencies, and argue the case for freedom at conferences, in op-eds and through media appearances.

How is Freedom House funded?

Freedom House's activities are funded through a mix of private individual contributions, foundation awards, and grants from the United States government, other governments and the European Union.

What is Freedom House's relationship to the US government and other governments?

Freedom House is an independent, non-governmental organization that was initially created in 1941 to urge the U.S. government to adopt policies supporting democracy and human rights at home and abroad. Its reports and analyses are independent of any governmental influence and are enriched by an intellectual atmosphere of scholarly inquiry. In recent years, Freedom House has received grants from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department for various projects, usually as a result of public competition. Freedom House has also applied for and received funds from other democratic governments and international bodies that promote democracy, including the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Norway and the European Union. Freedom House chooses to respond to specific funding opportunities, but never accepts funds from government institutions, including U.S. government agencies, in the form of contracts, and never functions as an extension of any government.

What is Freedom House's definition of "freedom"?

Freedom is the opportunity to act spontaneously in a variety of fields outside the control of the government and/or other centers of potential domination. Freedom House measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. Political rights enable people to participate freely in the political process through the right to vote, compete for public office and elect representatives who have a decisive impact on public policies and are accountable to the electorate. Civil liberties allow for the freedoms of expression and belief, associational and organizational rights, rule of law, and personal autonomy without interference from the state.

The organization's definition of freedom is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. The rights enumerated in the Universal Declaration include freedom of religion, expression, and assembly; freedom from torture; and the right to take part in the government of his or her country. These standards apply to all countries and territories, irrespective of geographical location, ethnic or religious composition, or level of economic development.

Where does Freedom House work around the globe?

Freedom House is engaged in supporting democratic reform in parts of the world where freedom is under duress or is not yet consolidated. Currently, Freedom House has programs in Central Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Freedom House's programs are managed from offices based in many regions of the world.

Does Freedom House address political rights and civil liberties in the United States?

Yes. The United States is one of the 192 countries and 14 territories whose levels of political rights and civil liberties are covered by the current edition of Freedom in the World. The state of media freedom in the United States is addressed in Freedom of the Press. Freedom House also comments, via press releases and letters to U.S. policymakers, and in testimony to Congressional committees, on American policies that affect political rights and civil liberties.

Map of freedom:

http://freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=15&year=2006

Sources:

http://freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=249

http://freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=265#3

Freedom House is 75% funded by the US government and has received money from theBush administration for clandestine opperations in Iran even against the wishes of Iranian human rights organizations. see:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/48d26298-c052-11da...00779e2340.html

Peter Ackerman the director who sems to support such neo-conservative based operations is strongly defended by Michael Ledeen who by anyones description is a neo-conservative.

Sure when Eleanor Roosevelt et al set up Freedom House it was aimed against the Nazis, but things have changed since then. And sure as with many such organizations in the US some minority funding from the other side makes it appear non-partisan or independent. However, a cursory examination of its current role and where most of its money comes from exposes the real organzation in the modern world.

It is enough to raise suspicions when in the original article US competitors Russia and China and US enemies Iran and Venezuela are listed as regressing without mentioning the US which unlike Venezuela has elections that cannot reach international standards and has introduced laws restricting freedom? If an organization like this cannot be evenhanded it simply becomes a propoganda tool, and in the case of Freedom House and the FT Iran report it seems the orgnization has gone a lot further than just propoganda.

We should always be wary that many of the neo-con theorists originally came from a liberal or left stance before moving to the right. There is no reason to think that some organizations on that side of politics would also not drift into the neo-con corner.

Oops! Obviously, no doubt then, yet, another yank septic neo-con propaganda conspiracy stratagem to take over the world, blaming the good, while supporting the bad. My bad...

TUM DII DAI DII, TUM CHUA DAI CHUA! ฝรง

[JimsKnight]

Rough Translation: Do good get good, do bad die sure.

Edited January 19, 2007 by JimsKnight