2008 Press Releases
EMBASSY TEAM JOINS TAJIK CITIZENS IN CELEBRATING HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Embassy officers were out on Human Rights Day December 10 to congratulate Tajik civil society leaders on the 60th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
At Dushanbe’s American Corner, Charge d'Affaires Necia Quast screened a documentary film and led a discussion about how American women led a decades-long struggle to finally win the right to vote in 1920. Introducing the film, she quoted Secretary of State Designate Hillary Clinton saying “Women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights.”
At the Tajik-Russian Slavonic University, Matt Purl, the head of the embassy's Political and Economic Section, engaged students in a discussion of how the concept of human rights has evolved throughout history. Bringing the topic up to the present, he explained the importance of human rights in U.S. foreign policy, the relationship between respect for individual liberty and economic development, and the necessity of continuing to protect human rights in every country. Human rights officer Greg Naarden attended a human rights roundtable discussion organized by the Tajikistan branch of the International Research and Exchanges Board on December 9. The Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, a local NGO, provided a thoroughly researched assessment of human rights in Tajikistan. Naarden urged participants to share information to stimulate debate in the defense of human rights.
At the American Corner in Khujand, Public Affairs Officer Jackie McKennan provided a brief history lesson in human rights for high school students. At a second event, the concluding ceremony of the “Decade of Human Rights” action for college students, she praised the efforts of Tajik citizens to improve conditions in their communities. The embassy provided a grant to the Tajik NGO "Youth and Civilization," which organized the series of events over the course of 10 days for youth to reach out to their communities. The “decade” included roundtables on social issues, debates and contests, volunteer activities at orphanages and homes for the disabled, and a meeting with Tajik government representatives.
U.S. Embassy staff members also participated in OSCE-organized events to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Human Rights Declaration.
The embassy's outreach efforts complemented State Department commemorations. On December 8 Secretary Condoleezza Rice announced the recipients of three special awards for human rights activism. Russian journalist and radio host Yulia Latynina received the 2008 Freedom Defenders Award for her courage as a journalist in tirelessly challenging Russian authorities during a time of increased authoritarianism in the country. James D. McGee, the U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe, received the 2008 Diplomacy for Freedom Award for developing and implementing a Mission strategy to publicize the Zimbabweans' demand for democratic change, to highlight human rights abuses, pressure a despotic regime, and support free and fair elections. Michael DeTar, the head of the political section at the U.S. Embassy in Colombo won the 2008 Human Rights and Democracy Achievement Award for his advocacy in raising human rights in discussions with the government of Sri Lanka.
In Washington, President Bush commemorated Human Rights Day and the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration by meeting with activists who use Internet blogs and new-media technologies to promote freedom in countries with restricted media environments. Eight participants from Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, and Venezuela discussed with the President the challenges they confront in overcoming censorship.
The United States Government is committed to promoting human rights and democratic freedoms around the world. The U.S. Department of State publishes annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices that cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.