OAS: HRF Launches www.Insulza.no, Urges Action

NEW YORK (March 17, 2010) – The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) launches www.Insulza.no, an interactive website that denounces the terrible role played by José Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), in the promotion and protection of democracy in the Americas.

“We hope that Insulza.no can be a place where millions of Latin Americans, tired of watching helplessly as authoritarian governments dismantle democracy in their countries, can express their frustrations about the silence – and sometimes even complicity – of the OAS secretary general,” said Thor Halvorssen, president of HRF. “We invite everyone who opposes authoritarianism and endorses accountability to visit Insulza.no and send an e-mail to the OAS representatives asking that they vote against Insulza’s reelection next week,” continued Halvorssen.

Insulza.no details how the OAS secretary general has neglected his duties by failing to act, or by acting improperly, in the face of the erosion of democracy in Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The site contains information about the OAS’s stated mission as guarantor of democracy in the Americas, and about the specific powers given to the OAS secretary general to act in accordance with this mission. Insulza.no also presents a thoroughly documented account of the abysmal role played by Insulza as head of the OAS.

In addition to highlighting Insulza’s 2009 campaign calling for the OAS to lift its 1962 suspension of the anti-democratic government of Cuba, Insulza.no features a video interview where Insulza asserts that “Fidel Castro is one of the great sources of legitimacy of the Cuban system. I say this with great respect and almost an admiration for the figure.” On the contrary, currently Cuba is the only country in the Americas that does not comply with any of the elements of a democracy, as defined by Article 3 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Cuba is ruled by a single-party totalitarian regime that neither allows for separation of powers, nor an independent judicial system, nor freedom of expression. The Cuban regime has installed a repressive system comparable to those that existed under the bloody dictatorships of Batista, Pinochet, Somoza, and Trujillo.

HRF is an international nonpartisan organization devoted to defending human rights in the Americas. It centers its work on the twin concepts of freedom of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. These ideals include the belief that all human beings have the rights to speak freely, to associate with those of like mind, and to leave and enter their countries. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the governments of their countries; HRF’s ideals likewise find expression in the conviction that all human beings have the right to be free from arbitrary detainment or exile and from interference and coercion in matters of conscience. HRF does not support nor condone violence. HRF’s International Council includes former prisoners of conscience Vladimir Bukovsky, Palden Gyatso, Václav Havel,Mutabar Tadjibaeva, Ramón J. Velásquez, Elie Wiesel, and Harry Wu.

Contact: Javier El-Hage, Human Rights Foundation, (212) 246.8486, info@thehrf.org

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