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AMERICAS: Backsliding on Summit Promises
By Daniela Estrada
SANTIAGO (IPS) - With less than a
month to go to the Fifth Summit of the
Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, social
organisations complain that governments have
not fulfilled commitments assumed at earlier
editions of the summit, on questions like
access to information, freedom of
expression, decentralisation and
participation by civil society.
"The main conclusion of the study is that
the majority of the governments have been
backsliding; that is, they have taken
concrete actions that actually run counter
to the commitments signed at previous
summits," Andrea Sanhueza, executive
director of Corporación Participa, told IPS.
The non-governmental Chilean organisation
she heads helped coordinate the first "index
of government commitment to the mandates of
the summits" (Índice de Compromiso
Gubernamental de los Mandatos de las Cumbres).
"The second finding is also very important,
and serious; it has to do with the mandate
of freedom of expression. There has been a
major setback in that area. Threats,
censorship, pressure that leads to
self-censorship and even murders of
journalists are still a reality in this
region," said Sanhueza, after presenting the
new index at a recent seminar in Santiago.
The Summits of the Americas bring together
the heads of state and government of the 34
members of the Organisation of American
States (OAS), which includes all of the
countries in the hemisphere with the
exception of Cuba.
The previous summits were hosted by the
United States (1994); Chile (1998); Canada
(2001); and Argentina (2005). Two special
summits were also held, in Bolivia in 1996
and Mexico in 2004. The fifth summit will
take place Apr. 17-19 in the capital of
Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain.
The first "index of government commitment to
the mandates of the summits" was the work of
Active Democracy: Citizen Network for
Government Compliance with the Summits ("Democracia
Activa: Red Ciudadana por el Cumplimiento
Gubernamental de las Cumbres"), which was
created by civil society organisations from
21 countries in the region in 1997.
The index evaluates the actions taken by
governments from 2006 to 2008.
The study, which was presented in early
March at the OAS assembly in Washington and
was discussed last week at a seminar in
Santiago, was coordinated by Corporación
Participa and the non-governmental
Venezuelan Institute of Social and Political
Studies (INVESP).
"Why did we want to do this? Because it is
very important for people to know that the
Summits of the Americas are important
events, that they are more than just the
photo-op that appears in the newspaper, and
that they reach political decisions
regarding our region that must not just
remain dead letter," said Sanhueza.
To draw up the index, the groups asked
governments and other official sources to
submit reports, and invited experts, opinion
leaders and representatives of NGOs to share
their views.
The highest possible grade, +3, went to
governments that took concrete, useful
actions to achieve commitments assumed at
the summits. The lowest grade, -3, was
reserved for governments that adopted
policies that ran counter to the
commitments. Zero represented a failure to
act, one way or the other.
Of the 21 countries studied, 12 were given
grades below zero.
The countries that made advances were
Uruguay (0.86), Guatemala (0.72), Chile
(0.59), Barbados (0.59), Jamaica (0.53),
Colombia (0.26), Bolivia (0.24), the
Dominican Republic (0.24) and Grenada
(0.14).
The ones that earned negative grades were
Venezuela (-0.85), Nicaragua (-0.75), Peru
(-0.70), El Salvador (-0.57), Paraguay
(-0.36), Honduras (-0.24), Canada (-0.14),
Costa Rica (-0.17), Ecuador (-0.14), Mexico
(-0.09), Argentina (-0.05) and Trinidad and
Tobago (-0.01).
Sanhueza clarified that the index is not a
ranking, given that each country has a
different starting-point. It merely measures
how much each country advanced or slid back
in the period in question, she said.
For example, of the 21 countries studied,
Canada is the most advanced in terms of
decentralisation, but between 2006 and 2008
it did not make further progress on that
front, according to the civil society
organisations consulted in that country.
Assessing the state of access to public
information, the study found that several
countries have not even discussed the need
for a transparency law that would guarantee
that right.
But Chile stood out on that point. A law
that will require the executive branch to
make available public information requested
by citizens will go into effect on Apr. 20.
In other countries, however, the study found
that web portals containing public
information are either non-existent or
out-of-date, or have actually been shut
down, said Sanhueza.
She also mentioned a lack of transparency on
government funds and election spending.
With respect to the question of
decentralisation, the civil society groups
pointed to cuts in the budgets for local
governments and the transfer of
responsibilities and powers from local to
central administrations.
In the area of freedom of expression,
reporters still face numerous hurdles, and
there is a generalised trend towards the
concentration of property ownership in the
media, says the study.
In terms of strengthening civil society
participation, Sanhueza said specific laws
are needed, and noted that non-violent
protests are still frequently repressed in
many countries.
The four areas were also analysed from a
gender perspective.
According to the activist, the overall
perception is that compliance with
agreements on the rights of women is lower
than compliance with the rest of the
commitments: -0.06 compared to 0.01.
Although the speakers and participants at
last week’s seminar in Santiago commended
the Democracia Activa initiative, they
lamented its limitations, since the index
only focuses on whether or not concrete
actions have been carried out by
governments, without measuring their impact
or effectiveness.
For example, they pointed out that while the
use of web portals to inform the public is a
necessary measure, it is not sufficient,
given the digital divide between the rich
and poor in the region.
It is also unlikely that laws on access to
public information can live up to their
objective if the use of freedom of
information requests is not encouraged among
citizens, they added.
Participants and speakers also questioned
the reach of the commitments assumed by the
heads of state and government in previous
summits, saying some were overly general and
not ambitious enough.
Given these and other limitations, there was
a feeling among some at the seminar that the
conclusions of the study were even overly
generous to the governments.
Democracia Activa will present the index at
the summit itself, in Trinidad and Tobago.
But there is not much hope that it will help
bring about better results in the future.
"This summit has been a setback from every
point of view. For example, participation by
civil society organisations, which was more
or less guaranteed at the earlier summits,
has now been limited to a great extent.
Furthermore, the draft declaration is much
weaker," said Sanhueza.
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