Freedom at Issue:

Insights on the global struggle for democracy

Foreign Policy Questions for the Candidates

October 16, 2012

The spirited exchange at last Thursday's vice presidential debate elevated attention to foreign policy, which will be a dominant theme of the next two debates. President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney have begun to flesh out their views on the challenges America faces abroad, but they have said little about a range of pressing international issues and skirted critical aspects of stories that currently grab the news headlines. In an effort to stimulate deeper debate on U.S. foreign policy, particularly on the future of democracy and human rights around the world, Freedom House has submitted a series of questions to the presidential candidates.

Issues: 
Civil Society, Democratic Governance, Elections, Freedom of Expression, Human Rights Defense, Media Freedom, Rule of Law, U.S. Foreign Policy
Regions: 
Americas, Asia-Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa

Combating Gender-Based Violence as a U.S. Policy Priority

Mark P. Lagon
Andrea Gittleman
October 12, 2012

Women and men in Tunisia and around the world were appalled earlier this month when it came to light that a woman who filed charges of rape against two police officers was herself charged with "public indecency." After a week of protests and embarrassing press, the Tunisian president issued a formal apology to the woman, though it remains to be seen what will become of the charges against her and the police officers. This is just one recent example of a much wider affliction that plagues countries around the world: sexual harassment, violence, and intimidation directed at women.

Issues: 
Civil Society, Rule of Law, Women's Rights
Regions: 
Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa

Maintaining US Leadership in the United Nations

Nancy E. Soderberg
October 11, 2012

While both President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, have their sights set on November 6, there is another important election around the corner. On November 12, the United States will compete to retain its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Issues: 
Human Rights Defense, U.S. Foreign Policy, United Nations
Regions: 
Americas

Rethinking U.S. Relations With Dictators

Daniel Calingaert
October 10, 2012

This article originally appeared on the Huffington Post's website. To read the original, click here.

The current strain in U.S. relations with Russia sums up the challenges of dealing with authoritarian rulers. They vigorously object to any criticism of their human rights record, yet even when such criticism is muted, they may still resist cooperation with the United States on major security issues. The Obama administration has resisted moves by Congress to sanction human rights abusers in Russia, but President Vladimir Putin continues to intensify his crackdown on civil society and block international efforts to stop mass atrocities in Syria. The time has come for the United States to take a fresh look at its relations with Russia and with other dictatorships around the world.

Issues: 
Civil Society, Democratic Governance, Human Rights Defense, U.S. Foreign Policy
Regions: 
Americas, Asia-Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa

Hungary: Jobbik and the ‘Enemy Within’

Zselyke Csaky
October 9, 2012

It can be a devastating experience for a truly extremist party to realize that the “enemy” is within their own ranks. This is what happened to Hungary’s Jobbik two months ago, when Csanád Szegedi, a leading figure in the party and a founding member of the vigilante group Magyar Gárda, discovered that he is Jewish. Although it could have been a rare opportunity for the party to dispel claims of anti-Semitism, it remained true to its convictions, and Szegedi was forced to resign from his various positions (the official reason being that he lied about his origins). Jobbik thus reaffirmed its unconcealed anti-Semitic nature, which differentiates it from other European populist parties.

Issues: 
Civil Society, Democratic Governance, Freedom of Association, Religious Freedom
Regions: 
Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia

Internet Freedom Policies Outpaced by Technology and Repression

Daniel Calingaert
October 4, 2012

Photo Credit | Al Jazeera English

Freedom House’s recently released Freedom on the Net report found that more countries have suffered declines in internet freedom than improvements since the last edition, providing a powerful reminder of the challenges for international policies to promote freedom online. These policies are struggling to keep up with rapid changes in information and communication technologies, and with the increasingly sophisticated restrictions on internet freedom around the world.

Issues: 
Freedom of Expression, Internet Freedom
Regions: 
Americas, Asia-Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia, Western Europe

Human Rights Priorities for the Next U.S. President

David J. Kramer
Elisa Massimino
Nancy E. Soderberg
October 3, 2012

It may be largely absent from the presidential campaign, but the promotion of human rights is central to American foreign policy -- and has been for decades in both Democratic and Republican administrations. The next president, whether a second-term Barack Obama or Mitt Romney, will face critical human rights challenges and must be ready to address them from day one.

Issues: 
Civil Society, Democratic Governance, Human Rights Defense, U.S. Foreign Policy, United Nations
Regions: 
Americas, Asia-Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa

Debating Immigration Detention Reform

Eleanor Acer
October 2, 2012

During Wednesday night's presidential debate in Denver, candidates will undoubtedly face a number of questions about immigration. It will be no surprise if these questions concern comprehensive immigration reform, local law enforcement of federal immigration laws or the Obama Administration's decision to defer the deportation of some undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children. But the candidates should face questioning about detention practices nearby at the Denver Contract Detention Facility and at other jails and jail-like facilities across the nation that are used for immigration detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Issues: 
Civil Society, U.S. Foreign Policy, United Nations
Regions: 
Americas

Are Romney and Obama Ready for a Chinese Collapse?

Tyler Roylance
October 1, 2012

China is a nuclear power with the world’s largest army and a population of over 1.3 billion. It boasts the world’s second-largest economy, and is the largest single foreign owner of U.S. public debt. Its Communist Party regime, in place since 1949, now serves as a model for authoritarian states around the globe. And it may well be heading toward a major economic and political crisis. Yet for some reason, the U.S. presidential candidates have barely mentioned China in nearly a year of campaigning. When they do, the discussion tends to focus on pressing matters such as the price of imported tires.

Issues: 
Civil Society, Democratic Governance, Elections, U.S. Foreign Policy
Regions: 
Americas, Asia-Pacific

Hypocrisy Goes Global in the Blasphemy Law Campaign

Arch Puddington
September 28, 2012

In 2006, in the midst of the furor over the publication of Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, Freedom House issued a statement that declared:

At the heart of the cartoon controversy is the right, now and in the future, of an independent and uncensored press—and artists and writers in other venues—to comment on the issues of the day without interference from the state or threat from discomfited or aggrieved groups.

We now find ourselves embroiled in yet another uproar over freedom of expression and the sensitivities of the Muslim world. While the level of violence provoked by the Innocence of Muslims thus far has been notably lower than was the case with the Danish cartoons or, especially, the publication of Salman Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, the response of the world’s political leadership has often been more disturbing than in the previous episodes.

Issues: 
Freedom of Expression, Religious Freedom
Regions: 
Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia, Middle East and North Africa

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