The 2006 OAS General Assembly in the Dominican Republic

The 2006 OAS General Assembly convened June 4-6 in the Dominican Republic, with the Dominican-proposed theme “Good governance and Development in the Knowledge-Based Society.”  The 34 Western Hemisphere member states defined a “knowledge-based society” as key to strengthening democratic governance and development, and to delivering the benefits of democracy (the theme of the 2005 OAS General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale) to the peoples of the Americas.

The Declaration of Santo Domingo is a forward-leaning and groundbreaking multilateral commitment calling for expansion of information and communications technologies, citizen education, access to and exchange of information, and freedom of expression, opinion, investigation and dissemination of ideas without political censorship, including on the Internet, for “all the peoples of the Americas.” The OAS language may serve as both a precedent and model for widely shared efforts to promote global Internet Freedom.  

Democracy promotion remained a core OAS activity at the General Assembly.  Secretary General Insulza, building upon prior mandates to strengthen implementation of the Inter-American Democratic Charter (IADC), unveiled plans to establish an “early warning system” to monitor, assess, and address nascent threats to democratic stability.  Chilean-sponsored resolution 2251, co-sponsored by more than 25 member states including the U.S., renewed the Secretary General’s mandates to strengthen implementation of the IADC, which this year celebrates the 5-year anniversary of its adoption on September 11, 2001.

Human Rights ¯ Launching a new process, Secretary General Insulza joined Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) President Fernández Arévalos to present the 2005 IACHR Annual Report.  The report covers racism and discrimination, rule of law, treatment of internally displaced persons, protection of human rights defenders, extrajudicial killings, freedom of the media, and freedom of expression, and includes a special chapter that candidly expressed key human rights concerns in Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, and Venezuela.     

Private Sector Forum — The OAS forum with the newly established “Private Sector of the Americas” discussed and submitted recommendations on the hemisphere’s investment climate, competitiveness, and information and communication technologies.  Dominican President Leonel Fernández, Google, Inc. Vice President Vinton Cerf, and Gustavo Cisneros were among participants who stressed that public-private partnerships promote transparency, education, greater investment, corporate social responsibility, and technological innovation.  The U.S. announced it will host a ministerial-level Forum on Competitiveness in February 2007, to follow-up President Bush’s call at the 2005 Summit of the Americas.

Civil Society Dialogue ¯ The OAS dialogue with civil society heard participants’ proposals for strengthening democratic governance and development in the hemisphere.  The well-attended dialogue, with organizations from throughout the hemisphere, stressed the role technological innovation should play in strengthening governance and rule of law, fighting corruption, and empowering citizens economically. 

Resolutions — OAS member states negotiated over 100 resolutions on topics including hemispheric security, renewable energy, and representative democracy, countering terrorism, human trafficking, and state-sponsored censorship.  The OAS rejected radical and undemocratic language, and instead supported resolutions that instruct the OAS in the coming year to continue to advance peace, security, democracy, and open markets in the hemisphere.  The debate and the resolutions showed that the historic divide between leftist and rightist governments in the hemisphere is gone, but that today’s challenge is for governments elected democratically to govern democratically.