Institute for New Democracies
Encyclopedia
The Institute for New Democracies is a United States
-based nonprofit organization
established to promote good governance, human rights
and the rule of law
in countries undergoing political transformation.
The organization's founders included former U.S. Ambassador Victor Jackovich
, historian Walter Laqueur
, U.S. foreign policy expert Martha Brill Olcott
, philosopher/journalist/diplomat Michael Novak
, Margarita Assenova, Mjusa Sever, journalist Mike Stone, Ilona Teleki of the Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS), Aimee Breslow, Marek Michalewski, Ruth Greenspan Bell, and Polish
politician and journalist Radosław Sikorski. Lawrence DeNardis, a former U.S. Congressman and university president, is currently chairman of its governing board; Margarita Assenova is its executive director.
in efforts related to its one-year chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) in 2010. The project is funded by the government of Kazakhstan.
The Institute has worked in Uzbekistan
since 2005 and was officially registered in the country in 2008. Currently, the Institute is engaged in a project to strengthen human rights protection in the country
. With funding support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
, the Institute is working on implementation of Uzbekistan's new habeas corpus
law (which requires that a judge review nearly all arrests within 72 hours), consulting on prison reform
and supporting local human rights activists engaged in independent prison monitoring, and organizing roundtable discussions to promote religious freedom. A report released by the Institute in 2009 noted that since 2000 Uzbekistan had reduced its rate of incarceration
to less than half of its previous level and had eliminated the death penalty.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-based nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
established to promote good governance, human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and the rule of law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
in countries undergoing political transformation.
The organization's founders included former U.S. Ambassador Victor Jackovich
Victor Jackovich
Victor Jackovich is an American diplomat and former ambassador who was the first United States Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina. He later became Ambassador to Slovenia.-Early life and education:...
, historian Walter Laqueur
Walter Laqueur
Walter Zeev Laqueur is an American historian and political commentator. He was born in Breslau, Germany , to a Jewish family. In 1938, Laqueur left Germany for the British Mandate of Palestine. His parents, who were unable to leave, became victims of the Holocaust...
, U.S. foreign policy expert Martha Brill Olcott
Martha Brill Olcott
Martha Brill Olcott is a leading U.S. expert on Central Asia and the Caspian. She is a senior associate with the Russian and Eurasian Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, co-directing the Carnegie Moscow Center's Project on Ethnicity and Politics in the former Soviet Union....
, philosopher/journalist/diplomat Michael Novak
Michael Novak
Michael Novak is an American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. The author of more than twenty-five books on the philosophy and theology of culture, Novak is most widely known for his book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism...
, Margarita Assenova, Mjusa Sever, journalist Mike Stone, Ilona Teleki of the Center for Strategic and International Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Center for Strategic and International Studies is a bipartisan Washington, D.C., foreign policy think tank. The center was founded in 1962 by Admiral Arleigh Burke and Ambassador David Manker Abshire, originally as part of Georgetown University...
(CSIS), Aimee Breslow, Marek Michalewski, Ruth Greenspan Bell, and Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
politician and journalist Radosław Sikorski. Lawrence DeNardis, a former U.S. Congressman and university president, is currently chairman of its governing board; Margarita Assenova is its executive director.
Projects
The Institute is partnered with the CSIS New European Democracies Project in the "U.S.-Kazakhstan Task Force: Shaping and Supporting Kazakhstan’s OSCE Chairmanship Agenda," an initiative aimed at strengthening U.S.-Kazakh relations and assisting KazakhstanKazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
in efforts related to its one-year chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections...
(OSCE) in 2010. The project is funded by the government of Kazakhstan.
The Institute has worked in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
since 2005 and was officially registered in the country in 2008. Currently, the Institute is engaged in a project to strengthen human rights protection in the country
Human rights in Uzbekistan
The state of human rights in Uzbekistan has faced heavy criticism for the arbitrary arrests, religious persecution, and torture employed by the government on a regional and national level.-Overview:The U.S...
. With funding support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
United States Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 by executive order to implement development assistance programs in the areas...
, the Institute is working on implementation of Uzbekistan's new habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
law (which requires that a judge review nearly all arrests within 72 hours), consulting on prison reform
Prison reform
Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, aiming at a more effective penal system.-History:Prisons have only been used as the primary punishment for criminal acts in the last couple of centuries...
and supporting local human rights activists engaged in independent prison monitoring, and organizing roundtable discussions to promote religious freedom. A report released by the Institute in 2009 noted that since 2000 Uzbekistan had reduced its rate of incarceration
Incarceration
Incarceration is the detention of a person in prison, typically as punishment for a crime .People are most commonly incarcerated upon suspicion or conviction of committing a crime, and different jurisdictions have differing laws governing the function of incarceration within a larger system of...
to less than half of its previous level and had eliminated the death penalty.