STATEMENT OF THE FIRST WORLD FORUM ON DEMOCRACY TO THE WARSAW MEETING OF FOREIGN MINISTERS
June 27, 2000
Warsaw, Poland

We, the participants in the First World Forum on Democracy, celebrate the unprecedented expansion of democracy over the last quarter century. But we are also cognizant of the many challenges that confront the world's democracies.

These challenges suggest an urgent need for a cohesive alliance of democratic andsocieties rooted in freedom. Such an alliance should unite the democracies, transcending cultural, economic, and historical differences.

This alliance should establish rigorous minimal standards for membership based on the criteria of free and fair elections, freedom of expression, and freedom of association. It should have a dual purpose: to foster improved conditions for freedom and democracy within individual countries, and to promote ansociety based on the rule of law. Such an alliance could also work to ensure more effective cooperative development efforts focused on democratic change.

The World Forum on Democracy believes that the Community of Democracies should ensure that its members abide by basic international norms guaranteeing human and democratic rights, including the Geneva conventions, and other norms governing the use of force against civilians.

Further, we call for the establishment within international institutions of effective mechanisms to promote democracy and freedom. As a concrete step in this process, we call on the ministerial meeting to endorse and establish a caucus of democracies at the United Nations.

The World Forum on Democracy welcomes the spirit of dialogue between democratic governments and authoritative voices outside government that was manifested in Warsaw. In order to deepen our exchanges, we call on democratic governments to establish a permanent working group that will meet regularly with a working group from the World Forum on Democracy and other international civil society structures.

The momentum generated by the Warsaw process must be sustained so that we can look forward to an more prosperous, and more peaceful world.

Let us work together for a world in which all states are democratic.

SIGNATORIES

Moncef Achour, Vice President, Organisation Tunisienne de l'education, Tunisia

Kenneth Adelman, Secretary of the Board of Trustees, Freedom House, USA

Egidijus Aleksandravicius, Chairman,Society Institute-Lithuania, Lithuania

Raul Alfonsin, Former President of Argentina and President de la Union Civica Radical, Comite Nacional de la Union Civica Radical, Argentina

Jugnee Amarsanaa, Member, Constitutional Court, Mongolia

Nwe Aung, European Representative, National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, Germany

Linas Balsys, Senior Editor, Lithuanian National Radio and Television, Lithuania

Ned Bandler, Vice Chairman of the Board, Freedom House, USA

Jean Bandler, Professor of Social Work, New York University, USA

Benjamin Barber, Director, The Walt Whitman Center, Rutgers University, USA

Judith Bingham, President, Association Tocqueville, France

Oinihol Bobonazarova, Chief, Tajik Center of Human Rights, Tajikistan

Simone Bodemo, Secretary General, Women's Network for Peace and Democracy, Central African Republic

Nathalie Bolgert, Director, PAFPIO, Poland

Dmitriy Bondarenko, Coordinator, Civil Initiative Charter 97, Belarus

Jakub Boratynski, European Program Director, Stefan Batory Foundation, Poland

Robert Borden, Chairman, Bumper Development Corporation, Ltd., Canada

Alexandru Cantir, President, Committee for Freedom of the Press, Moldova

Mikhail Chachkhunashvili, Executive Director,Society Georgia Foundation, Georgia

Sean Cleary, Managing Director, Think Tools A.G., Switzerland

Corina Cretu, Member, Scientific Council, Romanian Institute for Social Democratic Studies, Romania

Troy Davis, President, World Citizen Foundation, USA

James Denton, Executive Director, Freedom House, USA

Antonio Di Pietro, Member, Italian Senate, Italy

Larry Diamond, Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, and Co-editor, Journal of Democracy, USA

Nadia Diuk, Senior Program Officer for Europe and New Independent States, National Endowment for Democracy, USA

Zlatko Dizdarevic, Former Editor, Svijet, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Ivan Doherty, Director of Political Party Programs, National Democratic Institute, USA

Jovan Donev, Director, Euro-Balkan Institute, Macedonia

Benjamin Fernandez, President, Funadion Libre, Paraguay

John Fox, Director, Washington Office,Society Institute, USA

Paul Freston, Lecturer in Sociology, Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos, Brazil

Chhiv Kek Galabru, President, Cambodian League for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights LICADHO, Cambodia

Mridula Ghosh, Adviser, United Nations Development Program, Ukraine

Carolyn Gomes, Chairperson, Jamaicans for Justice, Jamaica

Zdravko Grebo, Law Center, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Vesna Grubic, President, Croatian Law Center, Croatia

Ludmila Gryaznova, Member of the Organizing Committee, Civil Initiative Charter 97, Belarus

Habib Guiza, President, Association Club Mohamed Ali de la Culture Ouvriere, Tunisia

Nasser Hadian, Professor of Political Science, Tehran University, Iran

Istvan Haller, Program Coordinator, Pro Europe League, Romania

Istvan Hegedus, Member of the Board, Hungarian News Agency, Hungary

Mara Hernandez Estrada, Coordinator of Mexicans Abroad for the Campaign Committee of Vicente Fox, Partido Accion Nacional, Mexico

Serhiy Holovaty, President, Ukrainian Legal Foundation, Ukraine

Bi-Khim Hsiao, Director, Department of International Affairs, Democratic Progressive Party, Taiwan

Tom Hudgens, President & CEO, Association to Unite the Democracies, USA

Nouri Hussein, Secretary General, Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization, Egypt

Tolekan Ismailova, Executive Director, Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, Kyrgyzstan

Anees Jillani, National Coordinator, SPARC, Pakistan

Marat Kaiypov, President, Association of Lawyers of Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan

Adrian Karatnycky, President, Freedom House, USA

Nuriddin Karshiboev, President, Tajik National Association of Independent Mass Media, Tajikistan

Hyekyung Kim, Executive Secretary, Global Civic Sharing, Republic of Korea

Janos Kis, Professor of Philosophy and Political Science, Central European University, Hungary

Mykola Knyazhytsky, Director, Society Center, Ukraine

Vladimir Kocerha

Lena Kolarska-Bobinska, Professor, Institute of Public Affairs, Poland

Sergei Kovalyov, Deputy, State Duma of the Russian Federation, Russia

Joanna Kurczewska, Professor, Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Poland

Jacek Kurczewski, Professor, Warsaw University, Poland

Annette Laborey, Executive Director,Society Institute-Paris, France

Yolanda Laitano de Suazo, Executive Director, Fundacion Democracia y Desarrollo de Honduras, Honduras

Agu Laius, Executive Director, Jaan Tonisson Institute, Estonia

Pande Lazarevski, Director, Institute for Sociological, Political, and Juridical Research, Macedonia

Anatoliy Lebedko, President, Euro-Atlantic Association, Belarus

Dimon Liu, Executive Director, Committee for Policy Studies, USA

Bette Bao Lord, Chairman, Freedom House, USA

Winston Lord, Co-Chairman, International Rescue Committee, USA

Helena Luczywo, Member of the Management Board, Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland

Rusmir Mahmutcehajic, President, International Forum "Bosnia," Bosnia & Herzegovina

Mona Makram-Ebeid, President, Association for the Advancement of Education, Egypt

Riad Malki, General Director, Panorama Center for the Dissemination of Democracy and Community Development, Palestine

Miklos Marschall, Executive Director for Central and Eastern Europe, Transparency International, Germany

Tadeusz Mazowiecki, former Special Rapporteur to the Former Yugoslavia, United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Poland

Thomas Melia, Vice President of Programs, National Democratic Institute, USA

Grigorij Meseznikov, President, Institute of Public Affairs, Slovakia

Dorota Mitrus, President, European Institute for Democracy, Poland

Cesar Montufar, Director of International Studies Department, Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar, Ecuador

Muhamet Mustafa, President, Riinvest Institute for Development Research, Kosovo

Yvonne Muthien, Consultant, South Africa

Gerald Nagler, President, Swedish Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, Sweden

Jigjidsuren Namsrai, Mongolian National Democratic Party, Mongolia

Oazu Nantoi, Coordinator of Conflict Management, Institute for Public Policy, Moldova

Nicolae Negru, Editor-in-Chief, Independent Journalism Center, Moldova

Aryeh Neier, President,Society Institute, USA

Hrihoriy Nemyria, Director, Center for European and International Studies, Ukraine

Kassie Neou, Director and Vice Chairman, Cambodian Institute of Human Rights, Cambodia

Peter Nizak, Executive Director, Foundation for Development of Democratic Rights, Hungary

Ghia Nodia, Chairman, Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, Republic of Georgia

Eduardo Nolla, Vice Rector, Universidad San Pablo, Spain

Olia Onyshko, Deputy Director, Institute of Reforms, Ukraine

Mark Palmer, Vice Chairman of the Board, Freedom House, USA

Virgilio Paredes Machado, Director, Center for Political, Economic and Social Studies for Central America, Honduras

Orlando Patterson, John Cowles Professor of Sociology, Harvard University, USA

Andres Pavon, President, Comite para la Defensa de las Derechos Humanos, Honduras

Zdravko Pecar, Professor, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Jean Penders, Member of the Supervisory Board, Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, The Netherlands

Inna Pidluska, Vice President, Center for Independent Political Research, Ukraine

Vicente Pinto de Andrade, Professor, Universidade Catolica de Angola, Angola

Vitaly Portnikov, Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty, Russia

Rodger Potocki, Program Officer for East Central Europe, National Endowment for Democracy, USA

Zef Preci, Executive Director, Albanian Center for Economic Research, Albania

Zoran Pusic, President, Civic Committee for Human Rights, Croatia

Xiao Qiang, Executive Director, Human Right in China, USA

Gail Rachlin, Spokesperson, U.S. Falun DAFA Information Center, USA

Jose Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, East Timor

Pauls Raudseps, Managing Editor, Diena, Latvia

Walter Raymond, Senior Advisor, U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress, USA

Sohrab Razzaghi-Sihrodi, Professor of Political Science, Gilan University, Iran

Roland Rich, Director, Centre for Democratic Institution, Australia

John Richardson, President, Council for a Community of Democracies, USA

Michel Rocard, Former Prime Minister of France, France

Kertu Ruus, Editor, Foorum Newspaper, Estonia

Andrzej Sadowski, Vice President, Adam Smith Research Center, Poland

Roostam Sadri, Plenipotentiary Representative, Tatarstan in Australia, Australia

Dorel Sandor, Director, Center for Political Studies and Comparative Analysis, Romania

Zygmunt Skorzynski, President, Poland in Europe Foundation, Poland

Gary Smith, Executive Director, The American Academy in Berlin, Germany

Aleksander Smolar, President, Stefan Batory Foundation, Poland

Hadi Soesastro, Executive Director, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Indonesia

George Soros, Chairman,Society Institute and Soros Fund Management, USA

Hari Stajner, Director General, Media Center, Yugoslavia

Jacek Strzemieczny, Director, Center for Citizenship Education, Poland

Nina Stuzhinskaya, President, All-Belarusian Womens' League, Belarus

Veton Surroi, Publisher, Koha Ditore, Kosovo

Piotr Szczepanski, President, Rural Development Foundation, Poland

Muborak Tashpulatova, Executive Director, Tashkent Public Education Center, Uzbekistan

Thomas Tint Swe, Minister of South Asian Affairs, National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, India

Alejandro Toledo, President, Partido Peru Posible, Peru

Wan Azizah binti Wan Ismail, President, National Justice Party, Malaysia

Jusuf Wanandi, Senior Fellow and Member of the Board, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Indonesia

S. Izetta Wesley, Assistant Secretary General, Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia, Liberia

Wei Jingsheng, President, Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition, USA

Anatoly Zabolotny, President, Siberian Civic Initiatives Support Center, Russia

Jacek Zakowski, Journalist, Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland

Victor Zamyatin, Foreign Editor, Den, Ukraine

Michael Zantovsky, Chair, Committee on Foreign Relations, Defense and Security, Senate of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic

Erping Zhang, Spokesperson, U.S. Falun DAFA Information Center, USA

Andrzej Ziabicki, Vice President, Stefan Batory Foundation, Poland

Altai Zorig, Director, Channel 25 TV, Mongolia