Meeting Report for July 27, 2001

Inter-American Democratic Charter:
Consultations with Canadian Civil Society 27th July 2001 Report

In the context of the follow-up to the Summit of the Americas and to the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) held in San José, Costa Rica, on June 3-5 2001, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade held consultations with Canadian civil society groups on the proposed Inter-American Democratic Charter. At the General Assembly, Foreign Ministers adopted a resolution which outlines a precise timetable for the strengthening and expansion of the proposed Charter and formal negotiations among member States will begin on August 15th at the OAS, culminating in a Special Session of the General Assembly in Lima, Peru, on September 10, 2001. The consultation served to maintain the high level of engagement of Canadian civil society in inter-American affairs and to substantially improve the Canadian position in relation to the proposed Charter.

This meeting was also the occasion for Canadian organizations to meet Ambassador Paul Durand, who has recently taken over from Peter Boehm as Canada's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the OAS. Participants also had the opportunity to exchange with Marc Lortie, Sherpa for the Summit and newly appointed Assistant Deputy Minister for the Americas and to meet Etienne Savoie, expert from the Canadian Mission to the OAS, as well as a number of experts from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Canadian International Development Agency. The Department invited 85 Canadian organizations to this consultation and 20 representatives from 14 organizations attended (list attached). Participation from outside the Ottawa-Hull region was made possible by way of conference call.

In order to facilitate the discussion, copies of the draft Democratic Charter, the OAS resolutions 1080, 1753 and the Washington Protocol were distributed to civil society prior to the session as well as a paper outlining the preliminary views of Canada on the proposed Charter.

Report:

The session openned with introductory remarks by Marc Lortie, who gave an overview on the major developments in the three months since the Quebec City Summit and on what was envisaged in terms of follow-up and implementation of the Plan of Action, a top priority for Canada over the short to medium term. Mr. Lortie emphasized that the spirit of cooperation and mutual understanding that characterised the Quebec City Summit had already been translated into subregional initiatives. For example, he highlighted the Plan Puebla-Panama (which includes nine Mexican States plus Central American countries and Panama) launched a month earlier in Nicaragua, that incorporates the principles of the Democratic Clause agreed by Leaders in Quebec City. It states that any "alteration or interruption of the democratic order in a Meso-American State constitutes an obstacle to the participation of that state in the Tuxtla Dialogue and Consultation Mechanism."

Mr. Lortie stressed the importance of building on the momentum gained from the Summit to follow-up on and implement the mandates agreed by Leaders of the hemisphere. He invited civil society to remain involved and interested in this key part of the Summit process. He underlined that, only three months after the Summit, implementation of key Summit initiatives was already taking place. For instance, he emphasized the development of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, intended to complement the Democracy Clause in the Declaration of Quebec City and to reinforce OAS instruments for the active defence of representative democracy. He informed that a first meeting of the Executive Council (EC) of the Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG) was held in Washington D.C. on June 21, 2001 and stressed the particular importance of that meeting as it was the region's first opportunity since the Summit to review the mandates of the Council and to discuss with key representatives of the main sub-regions and partner institutions how to better support, assess and strengthen the current Summit follow-up and implementation process. The new EC is a critical component of the Summit management process, he underlined, as it facilitates greater engagement, communication and involvement of all countries in the broader planning and implementation of mandates and ensures that a wide range of Summit issues are incorporated into discussions and planning procedures at sub-regional levels and summits. In complement to that process, Mr. Lortie underlined that partner institutions had been particularly active in implementing Summit initiatives and ensuring greater coordination among each other.

Following Mr. Lortie, Ambassador Durand welcomed the participants, expressing how pleased he was to meet Canadian civil society experts. He explained that this session was part of his education as he is about to assume his functions at the Canadian Permanent Mission to the OAS. With regard to the Charter, he is confident that it will be adopted by Foreign Ministers at the upcoming Special Session of the OAS General Assembly on September 10, 2001. He informed participants that the OAS is currently collecting civil society's views on the Charter via the internet and he invited participants to make use of this portal. He pointed out that in looking at how to strengthen the proposed Charter, experts should take into account the trade-off to be made between the strong political statement that it is intended to support the Democracy Clause agreed by the Leaders and the legal implications that the Charter itself will have.

Comments made by civil society representatives:

Link Democracy Clause - Inter-American Democratic Charter (Art. 12):

In response to questions on the link between the Democracy Clause and the Charter, Marc Lortie explained that the Clause agreed by the Leaders at the Quebec City Summit was firm and would not be undermined but rather, strengthened by the Charter. John Foster, from the North-South Institute, was concerned that Art. 12 of the Charter does not include a reference to trade negotiations and wondered whether the Charter applied to these or not. Mr. Lortie explained that the Clause covers the entire Summit process, which includes the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations and the activities of the regional and international institutions in the region. As for the Charter, Etienne Savoie explained that some countries have indeed pointed out that it could not apply to the "Summit process" as a whole since it would then go beyond the mandate of the OAS. In view of that, the proposed Charter refers to the institutions of the OAS and to the "Inter-American system". On that last point, FOCAL suggested inclusion in the Charter of a definition of those institutions that comprise the "Inter-American System".

Article 1: "Right to Democracy":

Dorval Brunelle, of UQAM, questionned whether there are collective rights and who is the holder of a "right to democracy". On the contrary, Errol Mendes, of the University of Ottawa, said that he preferred the current text in the draft Art. 1 on the "right to democracy", rather than the alternative text proposed by Canada: "democracy is essential for the social, political and economic development of the peoples of the Americas". He argued that the term "right" is stronger since it implies "duty". In his view, a de facto "right to democracy" does exist in customary international law with the "right to participation" stated in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Warren Allmand, of Rights and Democracy, supported this opinion and responded to the current Canadian preoccupation saying that the Canadian Constitution does recognize collective rights such as the "right to democracy" and hence, this statement would not be strange to our system.

The Assembly of First Nations took that opportunity to inform us that they were currently preparing written comments on that article as well.

Articles 2 - 7 on Defining Democracy:

Though most participants recognized the political significance that the Charter must bear and agreed that a document that attempts to define all constituent elements of democracy could result in restricting the actions of the OAS in responding to the greater variety and more insidious types of democratic alterations, there was a consensus around the table that there was a need to expand the definition of democracy.

Ed Dosman of York University pointed out that the OAS does have certain limitations that might eventually need to be addressed (the OAS Charter might eventually need to be modified, for example). He added that, in view of the current economic situation of some countries of the region, a building block, rather than a legalistic, approach on the Charter, as suggested by Amb. Durand, is probably the best strategy. That said, Errol Mendes of the University of Ottawa underlined the legal importance that international documents do gain even though they are primarily politically motivated. An example of this is the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, he said. In view of that, he highlighted the importance of strengthening the reference to the Rule of Law in article 2, and of adding a reference to the fundamental importance of the Independance of the Judiciary. Dorval Brunelle of UQAM added that a reference to the importance of the Autonomy of the Legislature must be spelled out in the Charter. He highlighted the current political and social context where some social actors perceive a growing democratic deficit in the context of globalization and underlined that the Charter must be credible and take into account these preoccupations.

Warren Allmand, of Rights and Democracy, proposed that, to expand what he considered as a restrictive list of elements that are integral parts of democracy, while at the same time, to avoid sending countries back to the complete redrafting of the text, articles 3, 4, 5, 6 and even art. 7, he said, should be grouped together.

Max Cameron, of the University of British Columbia, expressed concern on the way in which article 2 is formulated, because it suggests that "constitutional regimes and the rule of law" are "based" on the political system of representative democracy, which, he said, should be the opposite, as stated in the Charter of Paris to which Canada is a signatory. With other participants, he underlined that it was important to state that constitutionalism involves, at the minimum, the autonomy of the legislature and the independance of the judiciary.

John Graham, of FOCAL, proposed to reinforce art. 7 by adding "democracy is a NECESSARY condition for the full and effective...".

Existing Instruments/Practices of the OAS:

John Graham, from FOCAL, expressed concern that the Charter did not list current OAS instruments that respond to democratic interruptions (for e.g: Washington Protocol, Resolution 1080). He suggested that this reference could be made in a preamble to the Charter and that this would reinforce the existing instruments. This was supported by Edgar Dosman of York University and Max Cameron of the University of British Columbia. The latter added that the Charter should reflect the existing practices of the OAS as, for example, its successful and precedent-setting missions to Peru, Guatemala and Paraguay.

Corruption:

Bronwyn Best, of Transparency International, suggested that it was important to include some mentions of corruption in the Charter because of the fact that it is framed as a strong political statement. She proposed, specifically, to add to art. 17: "...conditions of security AND FREEDOM FROM CORRUPTION.."; to art. 20: "... to promote GOOD governance..."; as well as a reference to freedom from corruption in art. 22.

Idea of a Permanent Commission on Democracy:

Max Cameron, from the University of British Columbia, said that the inter-American system needs an Inter-American Commission on Democracy, an independant body that would provide early warining and action whenever a situation develops in a member State that threatens democracy, broadly defined. Denise Brown, from the University of Calgary, suggested that the establishment of such a Commission would be important to ensure the follow-up to the Charter and address specific issues not covered in it or that might arise at a later stage, such as the issue of large donors' influence mentioned in Art. 22. Rights and Democracy was also interested in the thinking at the OAS on this proposal, as well as for the eventual role to be played by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission in the context of the Charter. Etienne Savoie, from the Canadian Permanent Mission to the OAS, responded that many member States were evaluating whether a Commission on Democracy would actually contribute to greater efficiency or to paralysing the system. At the moment, the OAS actions on democracy are discussed at the highest political level in the institution and that link should be maintained. This factor, as well as the role of the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy, must be carefully assessed in the discussion of this proposal. As for the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, E. Savoie indicated that it would not have a specific role nor a privileged authority in relation to the Charter, but would have an indirect link through its role on the protection and promotion of human rights.

Individual Rights:

John Foster, of the North-South Institute, enquired whether art. 9 was the only one in the proposed Charter refering to individual rights and Etienne Savoie, of the Canadian Permanent Mission to the OAS explained that no other articles of the Charter were devoted to individual rights since it is a Charter among States and there are other legal instruments within the OAS that address individual rights.

_{Report prepared by the Inter-American Affairs Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade}