Europe
Documents & Texts from the Washington File
28 October 2009
U.S. Foreign Policy and the OSCE: Shared Core Values
Philip H. Gordon
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
Statement before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
As Prepared
Introduction
Chairman Cardin, Co-Chairman Hastings, Members of the Commission: Thank you
very much for inviting me here today to discuss U.S. policy and the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The OSCE remains one of the top three
key European institutions with which the United States engages, alongside
the EU and NATO. While NATO and EU enlargement have perhaps enjoyed more
prominence in recent years, the OSCE nonetheless remains an essential venue
for dialogue, cooperation and democracy promotion precisely with those countries
that are not yet members of, or do not intend to become, members of these
two other organizations. The OSCE’s comprehensive approach to security
offers a vehicle for engagement across the political-military, economic,
and human rights dimensions. That it is a process, and that such a process
takes time, does not lessen its important or the necessity for sustained
U.S. engagement.
The Helsinki Final Act says that promoting democracy and respect for human
rights is fundamental to achieving sustainable security in Europe and Eurasia.
It links security amongstates to respect for human rights withinstates.
OSCE’s core values are among the reasons this organization has a central
role to play in advancing President Obama’s and Secretary Clinton’s
foreign policy strategy.
Indeed, the remarkable success of the Organization during many of the past
35 years is proof of what the participating States can achieve when we implement
commitments based on shared values and objectives. Improvements in the lives
of our citizens in the OSCE area are the result of hard work, conviction
and persistence, and I would like to thank the Helsinki Commission members
and staff for partnering with us in this endeavor. Our cooperation is only
increasing. I especially appreciate the institutional knowledge and abiding
dedication to human rights that the Helsinki Commission team brings to our
joint efforts.
The Helsinki Final Act has long stood as a beacon for the silenced, the
trafficked, the disenfranchised and the displaced. The OSCE is among
the most effective –and cost effective – international organizations
working on human dimension issues today. The OSCE’s eighteen
field missions in the Balkans, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus,
and the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) are the
front line of this work. They continue to be instrumental not only
in helping new democracies build sustainable political institutions and vibrant
civil societies, but also in addressing a myriad of critical needs when they
arise, from border monitoring to crisis prevention to combating human trafficking
and corruption. More widely known, of course, is OSCE’s election
monitoring expertise, its historic efforts to promote basic freedoms and
human rights, including religious freedom and freedom of the media, association,
and assembly and its groundbreaking work in combating anti-Semitism and other
forms of intolerance.
We look forward to Secretary Clinton’s participation in the Athens
Ministerial in December, which would be the first time since 2004 that the
Secretary of State has participated in such a meeting. In Athens, we
will highlight the accomplishments of the OSCE, and work to rejuvenate the
OSCE itself through revitalizing its contributions in each of its three dimensions
of security – the human dimension; political-military aspects of security;
and economic and environmental issues. The “Corfu Process,” inaugurated
by the Greek OSCE chairmanship to take a fresh look at the OSCE itself and
European security more generally, is at the center of that revitalization
effort.
We will continue to press for the re-establishment of an OSCE field presence
in Georgia, the mandate for which does not prejudice Georgia’s territorial
integrity. We will also continue our efforts to advance the OSCE-Afghanistan
border security initiative by gaining agreement to pursue technical assistance
in northern Afghanistan. We expect the Ministerial to endorse future
OSCE work on media freedom, rule of law, gender equality, energy security,
counterterrorism and police reform consistent with respect for human rights,
as well as on combating trafficking and hate crimes. It is our hope
that the Euro-Atlantic family will not only renew its commitment to OSCE’s
core values at Athens, but also begin to chart its future in engaging on
new and old security challenges and putting at its helm in 2010 the organization’s
first-ever Central Asian Chair-in Office (CiO).
European Security Proposals and the Corfu Process
In June, the Greek CiO launched the “Corfu Process” as a structured
dialogue among all participating States. The process offers an opportunity
to review the state of play in European security, including the implementation
of existing commitments, as well as a chance to identify new challenges and
discuss ideas for reinvigorating or re-inventing the mechanisms we have available
for dealing with traditional and new challenges. In 2008 Russian President
Medvedev called for a fresh look at European security institutions. We strongly
believe that any dialogue must take place primarily within the OSCE and build
upon existing institutions. Most importantly, such a dialogue should be based
on the OSCE’s comprehensive concept of security, which encompasses
all three dimensions of security: human, economic/environmental, and political-military.
There have been six Corfu sessions in Vienna so far, with several more to
follow before the Athens Ministerial.
The United States participates actively in this broad dialogue and we are
open to ideas for improving European security. We hope that a substantive
agenda can be agreed in Athens that will enable us to take further, more
detailed and concrete work in the following year. If the Corfu dialogue identifies
a worthwhile substantive agenda at the Athens ministerial, we would expect
even more fruitful discussions next year under Kazakhstan’s chairmanship.
This is an open-ended dialogue at the moment, the outcome of which is not
pre-ordained.
As for ongoing work in each of OSCE’s three dimensions, allow me to
say the following.
Human Dimension
The OSCE’s democracy promotion efforts are one of its true success
stories. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
is engaged in promoting democracy and human rights in many contexts. Although
ODIHR has been under attack from some, its election observation methodology
remains the “gold standard” in the field, with OSCE election
observation missions generally enjoying worldwide respect for their objectivity
and credibility. The means by which ODIHR carries out its democratization
mandate is fully transparent: procedures are spelled out in online handbooks,
reports are publicly available, and procedures are linked to core OSCE consensus
commitments. We support the practice that election monitors from any single
country should not exceed ten percent of an election mission’s staff
and will press back against any attempt to undermine ODIHR election observation.
The promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms is
central to the OSCE’s mission and is critical to promoting the rule
of law, democratization and conflict prevention. One of the most important,
and most moving, activities ODIHR coordinates is the annual OSCE Human Dimension
Implementation Meeting (HDIM) in Warsaw. We value the HDIM as an opportunity
to focus on human rights issues exclusively, and as an important occasion
on which NGOs, speaking outside of the confines of governmental control,
can directly express their concerns and criticisms to participating States. In
some cases human rights defenders risk their lives, the safety of their families,
and their own personal freedom to call authoritarian regimes to account. A
record number of over 300 NGOs also participated in this year’s HDIM,
showcasing the OSCE’s special ability to promote civil society through
active cooperation. We are grateful for the participation of the Helsinki
Commission staff as part of the United States delegation.
Russia and a number of participating States that host OSCE field missions
have continued to criticize the work of ODIHR. They assert that there are “double
standards” on human rights and complain about ODIHR’s alleged “interference” in
domestic issues, or that there is a “lack of balance” in the
OSCE’s activities. They have singled out for special mention the OSCE’s
election-related activities, specifically its election observation procedures,
and asserted that a lack of standardized election criteria (i.e., uniform
one-size-fits-all criteria that would not take into account the size of a
country or the complexity of monitoring a particular election) have led to
politicized election assessments. Some OSCE states have increased their efforts
to try to prevent access by NGOs to OSCE review meetings.
The United States strongly disagrees with these criticisms and works actively
to counter any efforts to undermine the objectivity and independence of ODIHR
and its election observation mission. Supported by the vast majority of participating
States, we have stressed continuously that there are no OSCE double standards
on human rights. All OSCE participating States signed on to the same commitments
to respect fundamental freedoms and human rights and to hold free and fair
elections. We all need to stand by them.
The OSCE is actively engaged in combating intolerance and discrimination.
The United States has provided significant financial and political support
for that work. The Chairman-in-Office has three personal tolerance representatives
who work to raise governments’ awareness of the need to combat intolerance
and discrimination. ODIHR has also organized and supported tolerance-related
programs and projects in the fields of legislative reform, law enforcement
training, capacity-building for NGOs, education on the Holocaust and anti-Semitism,
and all forms of anti-ethnic, racial or religious prejudice, including intolerance
against Muslims.
The OSCE continues to be the pre-eminent Europe-wide institution for confronting
the trafficking-in-persons. The OSCE’s geographic breadth helps to
address the transnational nature of the problem, with much front-line work
taking place in OSCE’s field operations. The Chairman-in-Office’s
Special Representative and the OSCE Anti-Trafficking Assistance Unit (ATAU),
as well as ODIHR, all work to combat trafficking through specialized police
training, legislative advice, and other assistance. Secretary Clinton, Under
Secretary Otero, Ambassador CdeBaca and I remain resolute in confronting
the problem of trafficking in persons through multilateral fora such as the
OSCE, as well as through bilateral engagement.
Political-Military Dimension
OSCE’s work in the political-military dimension has for decades been
another of the organization’s hallmarks. The pol-mil side of OSCE is
diverse, encompassing complex agreements on arms control and confidence building,
such as the CFE Treaty and the Vienna Document, and issues of shattering
immediacy, such as the protracted conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, Moldova,
and, of course, Georgia.
Traditional arms control and confidence building measures remain a foundation
of the long-term security of the OSCE region. OSCE’s Vienna Document
promotes military transparency and openness through a rich catalog of measures,
ranging from on-site inspections to sharing of defense budgets. Arms control
is one area where significant differences have emerged among OSCE member
states. Russia’s decision to “suspend” its implementation
of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) on December 12,
2007, has raised serious concerns among its CFE partners and within the OSCE
as a whole. It is fair to say that virtually all the members of the OSCE
regard CFE’s system of equipment limitations, data exchange, and verification
as a cornerstone of European security, whether or not they are parties to
the Treaty. Many OSCE participating States have said they would like to join
the CFE regime when that becomes possible. The United States will continue
to try to find a way forward, working with our NATO Allies, Russia and other
Treaty partners, that addresses the concerns of all, and preserves the important
benefits of this Treaty.
OSCE plays a central role in our efforts to find peaceful solutions to the
protracted conflicts within the OSCE region. The United States is a Minsk
Group co-chair, working to make progress in Nagorno-Karabakh; we are an observer
in the 5+2 mechanism set up to address the Transnistrian conflict; and we
are engaged on a constant basis in efforts to build a stable and secure future
for Georgia.
The OSCE Mission to Georgia was closed in June of this year. It was the
first OSCE field operation to be closed without host country consent. There
is no glossing over this: Russia’s unwillingness to agree to a status-neutral
mandate for continuing the mission in Georgia led to its withdrawal. The
United States believes that was a serious mistake, which heightens tensions
and the potential for further conflict. Over and over again, members of the
OSCE Mission provided timely and impartial reporting on incidents in the
South Ossetian region. That type of reporting is now impossible: members
of the European Union observer mission in Georgia are not allowed into the
areas of conflict in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Despite this, the OSCE has
continued efforts to reduce tensions in the region, and furthered international
efforts through the Geneva process to develop incident prevention and response
mechanisms and facilitate the safe, voluntary return of internally displaced
persons. The Greek Chair-in-Office is looking into possibilities for returning
an OSCE presence to the region. But it is our firm view that a robust OSCE
presence throughout Georgia, including South Ossetia and Abkhazia, active
in all three dimensions of security, would be a source of transparency, stability,
and conciliation throughout the region. We continue to urge the Russian Federation
to meet its 2008 cease-fire commitments, and to join other OSCE participating
States in supporting a Mission in Georgia.
The OSCE’s work on counterterrorism is too little recognized. OSCE
works with other international organizations to help train regional authorities
to implement tougher security and counterterrorism practices in areas such
as law enforcement, shipping, and document issuance. The United States and
Russia have cooperated closely on two high-level Public-Private Partnership
(PPP) conferences in a continued effort to explore ways for governments to
cooperate closely with the private sector and civil society to combat terrorism.
The main focus of OSCE’s counterterrorism efforts has been to promote
norms and standards in four important areas: protecting critical infrastructure,
partnering with civil society in countering violent extremism and radicalization,
addressing conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, and combating
terrorist financing. In February next year, the State Department will sponsor
a conference in Vienna that will bring together energy security experts from
OSCE capitals to discuss new ways of combating multi-faceted terrorist threats
to critical energy infrastructure.
On border security, the OSCE developed a set of sixteen projects related
to Afghanistan and its Central Asian neighbors and worked in 2008 to find
new ways to facilitate capacity-building for border services and to reinforce
cross-border cooperation in the OSCE region. We have yet to reach consensus
on two border security projects within Afghanistan and hope that Kazakhstan
will renew efforts for the OSCE to work inside Afghanistan’s northern
border to strengthen border controls and reduce trafficking in drugs, weapons,
and other illicit goods.
The OSCE’s Forum for Security Cooperation (FSC) is developing a set
of best practices guides for national implementation of the provisions of
UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540, which is aimed at preventing
the spread of weapons of mass destruction and related materials. To better
monitor the weapons trade in recent years, the FSC actively reviews implementation
of the documents it has adopted which are aimed at controlling stockpiles
of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and conventional ammunition, including
export controls for man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) and exchanges
of national practices on arms brokering and end-use certificates and related
mechanisms.
Economic and Environment Dimension
The OSCE has been a catalyst for regional cooperation on a broad array of
economic and environmental activities, including good governance, water resource
management, migration assistance, and disposal of hazardous waste. The United
States supports the OSCE’s efforts to play a complementary role – through
its field missions and along with other international organizations – in
confronting emerging trans-boundary challenges, such as energy security and
environmental protection. The 2008 Ukrainian-Russian gas crisis highlighted
the need for continued OSCE involvement in energy security issues. In July
2009, the United States co-sponsored, in collaboration with Russia and the
European Union, a two-day OSCE conference in Bratislava to help fulfill a
mandate on promoting an energy security dialogue within the OSCE region.
The Athens Ministerial will provide an opportunity to advance this work,
and we will advocate incorporating transparency and energy infrastructure
protection initiatives into the discussion.
Efforts Beyond the OSCE Region
We greatly appreciate the OSCE’s recent efforts outside the region
itself, with and within Afghanistan, such as the recent ODIHR Election Support
Team (EST) mission deployed for Afghanistan’s August Presidential and
Provincial Council elections. The EST will re-deploy for the November 7 Presidential
run-off and will produce a report that outlines a set of recommendations
for future elections in Afghanistan several weeks after the second round.
There is scope for additional cooperation in other areas outside the OSCE
region. For example, in late 2004, the Palestinian Authority requested the
OSCE to provide assistance for its January 2005 elections, and the OSCE responded
by sending a Training Needs Assessment Team, resulting in a number of recommendations
to the Palestinian Authority on how to improve the conduct of elections.
We believe ODIHR’s encouragement of democratization in areas of instability
is money very well spent.
Kazakhstan as OSCE Chair-in-Office
The United States stands ready to assist Kazakhstan in its goal of a successful
term as Chair-in-Office. There are frankly many challenges, but also promising
opportunities. It is critical that the Chair of the OSCE meet the high standards
of democracy and fundamental human rights upon which the OSCE is based. Only
if this occurs will Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the OSCE – the
first from Central Asia – be beneficial both for the OSCE and for the
countries in the region. The United States generally supports Kazakhstan’s
goals for its Chairmanship, that include a focus on Afghanistan (an OSCE
Partner State), protracted conflicts, border management, transportation,
tolerance, and human trafficking. At the same time, we are urging Kazakhstan – in
line with the commitments it made in Madrid in 2007 – to be proactive
in its approach in protecting the organization’s human rights and democratic
commitments, and to demonstrate its willingness to protect those commitments
at home.
Unfortunately, there remain key areas in which Kazakhstan’s domestic
legislation and practices on democracy and human rights fall short of OSCE
standards, notably with respect to key portions of its media law, election
law, and the law on political parties. Kazakhstan has not held an election
that the OSCE has deemed fully to have met OSCE commitments and international
standards. Kazakhstan also has not taken action to reduce criminal liability
for defamation. We have deep concerns about the fairness of the judicial
proceeding in the recent conviction, upheld on appeal, of prominent human
rights activist Yevgheniy Zhovtis on charges of vehicular manslaughter. We
continue to have, intensive discussions with the Government of Kazakhstan
to encourage authorities to implement democratic reforms in line with their
Madrid commitments.
Conclusion
The OSCE’s record on the promotion of democracy, human rights, fundamental
freedoms, together with its efforts in building civil society is second to
none. The OSCE’s multidimensional approach to security is directly
relevant to the transnational issues we face as we work together to build
a democratic, prosperous, and secure Trans-Atlantic community. Decades ago
the CSCE spoke up for the rights of Soviet dissidents who could not find
a voice for themselves. Today ODIHR supports those in OSCE participating
States who wish to promote democracy and entrench human rights and the rule
of law. Much remains to be done.
I would like to thank the Commission for inviting me here today to discuss
the United States’ continued support for the OSCE’s vitally important
work. Thank you, Chairman Cardin, Co-Chairman Hastings, Members of the Commission,
and your outstanding staffs for your stalwart support of the OSCE’s
multidimensional approach to security and your continued dedication to the
ideals and values of the OSCE – a crown jewel of multilateral diplomacy.
|
Documents & Texts