US Senators, right groups, make the case for American leadership in support of democracy

Top US Senators urge the Trump administration to 'put political prisoners on the table' during their negotiations with evil regimes, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"I believe it is vital for senior White House officials, including the president and the vice president, for the secretary [of State] for his deputies, to meet publicly with dissidents and human rights activists," said Republican Senator Marco Rubio, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Democracy and Human Rights, during a hearing on American leadership in support of democracy. "It is essential that the leaders of the world’s greatest democracy issue statements of support and solidarity and where appropriate condemnations when grave human rights abuses occur."

Speaking before prominent human rights activists and experts last week senator Rubio urged the administration to utilize recently passed legislation from the previous Congress which provides the State Department new tools to advance of the cause of human rights and human dignity — foremost among them the Global Magnitsky Act.

"From Russia to China, from North Korea to Venezuela, authoritarianism is on the rise, human freedom is under assault, and restrictive new NGO laws are being used to crush civil society, press freedom is being challenged, and political dissidents often feel isolated and abandoned while those who repress them do so with seeming impunity," Rubio said. "Many of our historic alliances with other leading democracies are fraying while authoritarian regimes are closely collaborating and empowering other dictators."

In hie statement, Senator Rubio also drew attention to the fact that some of the world’s most egregious human rights violators retain well-paid lobbyists and PR firms. "They engage in sophisticated expressions of soft power in the media, through so-called “think tanks”, in academia and even the entertainment industry... It feels like freedom fighters are constantly playing catch up."

Washington, added democrat Senator Robert Menendez, needs to support emerging democracies because it's the core U.S. national interest.

Mark Green, president of International Republican Institute, agrees that America should support democracy and liberty, not only because it is the right thing to do morally, but because it is "very much in America’s economic and security interests."

"Democracies tend to be more prosperous... Because they tolerate diversity of opinion and allow for dissent, they are less likely to produce terrorists, proliferate weapons of mass destruction, or engage in armed aggression. That makes them better neighbors and makes their regions more secure," he said in his testimony.

By contrast, authoritarian regimes, pose significant risks to peace and stability ove the long run, he added. "They often give rise to refugee populations, burdening and potentially destabilizing  their neighbors. In order to maintain their grip on power, such regim es repress their people and seek to isolate their citizens from outside ideas and influences."

Because authoritarians are often incapable of meeting the aspirations of their citizens, they are prone to sudden instability.

"Since tyrants tend to spend little time or capital on grooming other leaders or fostering responsive institutions, when they are removed by death or crisis, it often opens up a power vacuum that attracts dangerous elements," he said. "Such regimes are stable, but only until they are not."

Yet the battles that activists around the world are fighting will be "long and hard," says Carl Gershman, president of the the National Endowment for Democracy. "Democracy does not come swiftly or easily. We must recognize that trying to take short-cuts to democracy is as dangerous as relying on autocrats to preserve stability."  Even when democracy is eventually achieved, it must be defended with eternal vigilance.

For Gershman, those who are fighting for democracy deserve the support of the American people.

"They are defending the values we hold dear... They are the ones who will bring real  democracy and, through that, lasting stability. In striving to fulfill their aspirations, they are advancing our own fundamental national interests. They are helping us live in a safer and more peaceful world, and for that they deserve our solidarity."

A.Raufoglu

Washington, D.C.