Since its founding in 1941, Freedom House, well known for its Freedom in the World Report, has promoted the spread of political rights and civil liberties worldwide. In its 2007 Report, Freedom House expressed its concern that there has been a growing “freedom stagnation” and “pushback” against the spread of democracy. This sort of pushback has occurred in a number of countries in the Asia Pacific, Africa and the former Soviet Union and also in the fight against international terrorism.
This observation may hold true for the short term. From a long-term perspective, however, I believe that the global spread of democracy is an irreversible trend. Democracy has stood the test of time and has come to be recognized by the people around the globe as the form of governance that best fulfills human needs, regardless of regional or cultural differences,
I am not suggesting, as Francis Fukuyama did several years ago, that Western liberal democracy of today is the final form of human government. It is an on-gong process, not an end product, which requires constant adaptation to resolve new problems and meet new needs. The process also requires renewed collaboration among the emerging and traditional democracies. This is one of the most daunting challenges that humanity faces in the 21st Century. In fact, serious efforts are being made at the United Nations to meet such challenges.
It is interesting to note that the UN Charter has provisions on human rights and basic freedoms, but does not have direct reference to democracy. Even then, at the end of the Cold War, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolutions under the lengthy agenda item, “Strengthening the role of the United Nations in enhancing the effectiveness of the principle of periodic and genuine elections and the promotion of democratization” and has actively addressed the question of promoting democracy throughout the world. Now, the UN is shifting the focus of its election assistance from observation, monitoring, and dispatch of observer missions to the area of building the infrastructure for democratization.
The trend toward the consolidation of democracy around the globe is also unmistakably evident in the efforts made at the level of regional organizations such as the Organization of American States (OAS), the African Union (AU), and the Commonwealth, the organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The Charters or laws of these organizations include the so-called “democracy clause,” designed to inhibit the assumption of power through unconstitutional means. ASEAN has recently reaffirmed this trend by including provisions on basic freedoms and protection of human rights it adopted at the ASEAN Summit Meeting held this month in Singapore.
The human right situation in North Korea must be seen against such a backdrop of global move towards democratization and the expansion of freedom. The aforementioned Freedom House Report grades countries based on seven criteria, including political rights and civil liberties. Among the seven countries categorized as the worst offenders, North Korea is singled out as being the worst of the worst for the violation of civil liberties, which include freedom of expression, the right of assembly and the rule of law. The Economist magazine also rated North Korea as the least democratic country among the 167 countries it surveyed through its 2007 Democracy Index analysis.
Given such a record of North Korea, it is bewildering to learn South Korea’s voting record at the past sessions of the UN Human Rights Council (now Human Rights Council) and the recent session of the 3rd committee of the UN general assembly. South Korea voted for a resolution condemning human rights violations in Myanmar but abstained on a resolution on North Korea, a country with worse record. The confusion only deepens, when we recall that South Korea voted for the similar resolution last year. Is there any sign that the human rights record in North Korea has turned for the better in the meantime? South Korea’s inconsistent stance ignores the universality of human rights. It also ignores the global move towards democratization and the expansion of freedom.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that “it is essential that human rights should be protected by the rule of law, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression….” These human rights include the right to freely elect their own government, freedom of thought, movement, expression, and assembly. We do not want North Korea to remain as the worst violator of civil liberties and political rights, continuously subject to the condemnation of the international community. We must remember that the global spread of democracy is an irreversible trend and that North Korea cannot and must not be an isolated island from such a trend.
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Park Soo-Gil
Distinguished Professor, Korea University
Honorary President, UN Association of the Republic of Korea
<2007년11월29일자 코리아헤럴드 칼럼>
