> [070220havel]{.underline}
>
> Carolyn Brown:\
> President Havel, Ambassador Kolář, our distinguished speakers, honored
> guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening and welcome to the Library
> of Congress (the Library). I am Carolyn Brown, director of the Office
> of Scholarly Programs and the John W. Kluge Center, and it gives me
> great pleasure to welcome you here this evening for a forum,
> "Dissidents and Freedom," featuring President Václav Havel, former
> president of the Czech Republic. Joining President Havel on the
> platform will be several activists and dissidents from around the
> world. And you have in your programs brief bios \[biographies\] and
> descriptions. We extend a warm welcome to each of you, and look
> forward to your participation in this evening\'s program.
>
> I would like to give a special thanks, as we begin, to the National
> Endowment for Democracy \[NED\] and its able president, Carl Gershman,
> here in front with us, who has partnered with us on all aspects of
> this event. We have greatly appreciated the generous assistance of
> Carl and his staff as we have prepared this. Our thanks also to
> Ambassador Kolář of the Czech Republic, whose staff has been
> unfailingly gracious and helpful in making this evening possible.
> Finally, also, thanks are due to the Hurford Foundation, represented
> here by Robert Miller and Jayne Kurzman for their financial
> contribution.
>
> Tonight\'s program is full. We have a good many speakers who will be
> brief, I\'m sure. We have also reserved 20 minutes for questions and
> answers, but I do request that each of our speakers please limit
> themselves to the appointed time so that we really have sufficient
> time for discussion. A few quick announcements; this evening\'s event
> is being recorded for Internet distribution, so if you ask a question,
> that will be recorded. Finally, please turn off any cell phones and
> any other equipment that may go off and disturb the proceedings.
>
> It is now my pleasure to introduce the Librarian of Congress.
> Dr. James Billington is the 13th librarian \[of Congress\], and he\'s
> well known to all of you, I\'m sure; a scholar of Russian history and
> a particularly keen observer of the unfolding of political events in
> Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and its successor states. His
> unparalleled leadership in helping members of the Congress and the
> American public understand the monumental transformations in Europe
> has been greatly appreciated by the highest levels of government. And
> of equal importance has been his commitment to encouraging deep
> understanding of all peoples across the globe, regardless of culture.
> I would say also Dr. Billington is an unrelenting supporter of
> informed and open inquiry to all areas of endeavor, and of course, as
> the librarian \[of Congress\] has worked unceasingly to make knowledge
> freely, broadly and easily available to people all over. So I bring
> you Dr. Billington.
>
> \[applause\]

Librarian of Congress James Billington:\
Thank you very much, Dr. Brown. It is really a very great pleasure, I
would say even a special honor, to be able to hail and welcome once
again Václav Havel, one of the moral as well as political leaders of our
time here at the Library. We are here to celebrate the human spirit over
all the systems that would oppress it and hold it down. And I want to
join Carolyn Brown in thanking Carl Gershman and our co-sponsors for
this evening, the National Endowment for Democracy and its association,
because President Havel himself has endowed democracy with something
more important than money or prestige, and that is the moral courage and
a kind of conscience that reaches across border lines and across
cultures for our global era.

> So we\'re honored to have him here at the Kluge Center of the Library
> of Congress for a period of writing and reflection. And believe me, he
> has been working very diligently. He occupies the Kluge Chair of
> Modern Culture, and the book that President Havel completed during his
> prior residence with us as chair of the, chair of Countries and
> Cultures of the North will be published later this spring. The Kluge
> Center is named after its benefactor, John W. Kluge, and it\'s
> designed to be a place where scholars and thinkers can engage in
> periods of uninterrupted study on their own projects, and reflections
> drawing on the Library\'s unique collections and curators. We
> accommodate many young fellows and very senior scholars, as well, in a
> variety of fields and forums like this to try to bring together the
> thinkers and the doers.
>
> Tonight\'s program considers the relationship between dissidents and
> freedom. President Havel wrote eloquently in his 1978 essay, "The
> Power of the Powerless," about the difference between living out of
> one\'s own truth, and living within someone else\'s lie. He champions
> people who want to say what they think and value what they do, but are
> prohibited from either. By his words and by his example President
> Havel has given courage to those living under oppression, and reminds
> others not to take their freedoms for granted. The Library is a good
> place to have such a forum, because libraries are inherently islands
> of freedom, and they\'re antidotes to fanaticisms of all kinds. Books
> that contradict one another stand peacefully side-by-side on the
> shelves, just as workers who are maybe intellectual antagonists
> nevertheless work peacefully next to each other in reading rooms.
>
> The Library of Congress is particularly suited, I think, for
> tonight\'s program with President Havel, because it was formed out of
> the personal library of another president, Thomas Jefferson. The Czech
> Declaration of Independence was written here in D.C. It was preserved
> for a long time in the Library of Congress, and I had the honor, of
> presenting it to our highest political authorities to present it back
> to President Havel when he addressed a joint session of Congress after
> he became president.
>
> It was an inspiring document, and it was returned to the country that
> emerged with its declaration after long and difficult travails.
> President Havel symbolizes the successful overcoming of those travails
> in a peaceful way, but with great heroism and also a great literacy
> process that uplifted as well as transformed a great people. He\'s of
> course become a symbol of the human hunger for authenticity, freedom
> of the possibilities for its realization. Ladies and gentlemen, I
> present to you a real hero of our times, President Václav Havel.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> President Václav Havel:\
> Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, permit me to begin with thanks. I
> thank Mr. Billington for his very nice words of me. I thank the
> Endowment of Democracy for organizing or help, and of course, I thank
> the Library of Congress not only for this, this occasion to speak, but
> especially for the opportunity to work. I am here, I was here one and
> a half years ago. And I wrote one book, and now I finished another
> book. And for me, it is something like my second home now, after my,
> my presidency. And of course, I thank also you that you are coming
> here. And among you is many foreigners, but for me means that you are
> ready to listen to my English.
>
> \[laughter\]
>
> I would like to speak about three things, or to have three remarks.
> First one, my experience as a former dissident was that we didn\'t
> like the term "dissident," because it looks a little bit like it is
> some special profession. It isn\'t any special profession.
>
> \[laughter\]
>
> Dissidents were people who were freely speaking, who were engaged for
> human rights and want to have freedom in their countries \-- such as
> I; that power, and they have different original professions. Somebody
> was scientist, somebody playwright, somebody worker. I think it was
> not the idea of dissidents to call them dissidents. It was, it was, It
> is a product of the Western press, but after many years I begin to use
> it too because, because it is very simple and practical to use this
> term. And I also wanted that our meeting is called "Dissidents and
> Freedom" because everybody understood what it means. It is my first
> remark.
>
> My second remark is that I am very happy that there are people,
> dissidents from different countries, and that they are here together.
> Something similar, we made it, or we arranged it here when I was here
> last time, and I think that it is extremely important not only then
> \-- these people and their movements, their ideas -- but, but to
> support also their possibility to cooperate themselves. And it seems,
> it shows that the style of governing is more important than ideology.
> And they are from different countries with different official
> ideologies. But, butt what is common is their fight for liberties, for
> human rights. And their, their ability to cooperate shows that there
> is something more important than concrete political ideology; it is
> the human dignity, human freedom.
>
> I would like \[to\] mention two things. First one, there are two
> \[unintelligible\] in life as a dissident. First one is \[the\]
> unsureness of democratic states; who is the right, right t man with
> whom it is necessary to speak, with whom it is important to support,
> because they and their embassies, for example, or politicians never
> knew who is the real leader or important man or future president, and
> who is only some crazy, crazy man who likes drinks in \[the\] embassy
> or something.
>
> \[laughter\]
>
> And dissidents are not elected. It means that you have not any control
> over who is who, and you don\'t know who is an agent of the state
> security of the state, or a gentleman, some friend, power or
> superpower,
>
> \[laughter\]
>
> and if it is \[a\] crazy man, or real politician. some of these people
> who are in embassies, rum everything together and how to work with
> them.
>
> In spite of it, I think that it\'s extremely important to give the
> democratic world, democratic states support \[for\] these movements.
> All kinds of support are important, with all risks; it means
> publicity, books, education, money, everything is important. And I
> think that to risk that you don\'t speak with the right person is much
> cheaper than risks which are, for example, if you arranged an invasion
> in the state. It is cheaper and more sensible for future freedom and
> democracy in different states.
>
> And now allow me to mention second risk, or how to tell you about this
> risk. It is inside, dissident movements are inside the mind of
> concrete persons. And it is a risk that you will not be successful.
> Americans like stories, and stories with happy ends.
>
> \[laughter\]
>
> My story had \[a\] happy end, but it doesn\'t mean that all work of
> all people who are engaged opposition under \[a\] dictatorship will be
> successful. And for them they have no guarantees; they only have some
> precepts, principles, some values they believed with. They know that
> it is necessary to speak the truth; that it always has some sense.
> Some result may be indirect. And it is impossible to think about
> concrete results which this political movement will have to grow, or
> the day after tomorrow. It\'s necessary to speak about values, and to
> accept this philosophically that it will not bring some visible,
> visible, in the near future some visible happy end. But in spite of
> it, I think that it is very good and very important to like happy
> ends.
>
> \[laughter\]
>
> Thank you.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Carl Gershman:\
> Thank you so much, President Havel, for those remarks. I, too, agree
> with you about dissidents. Well, maybe we\'ll use the term freedom
> fighters for the sake of this evening\'s program. I want to thank
> Carolyn, and thanks also to our friend Jim Billington and the Library
> of Congress for hosting this event, and Bob Miller and Jayne Kurzman
> of the Hurford Foundation for helping to sponsor it. And of course, I
> want to thank President Havel for bringing us together this evening,
> and for his continued moral leadership and inspiration in the
> worldwide struggle for human freedom. Our meeting here this evening
> underscores our commitment to the idea that democracy is a universal
> value. Throughout the world there are people like those from whom we
> will hear this evening who are putting their lives on the line for the
> right to live in freedom, and with dignity.
>
> Too often such people are not seen or heard. They are silenced by
> dictators, and too often ignored by democratic leaders who treat them
> as marginal voices and a distraction from the main issues of
> international relations. It was not so long ago that Václav Havel was
> himself such an isolated voice, and we are grateful to him for
> continuing to remind the world of the power of the powerless, and of
> the need for free people to amplify that power through moral and
> political solidarity with those who are fighting for freedom and
> democracy. This evening we shall hear briefly from eight such freedom
> fighters, from seven different countries. I emphasize that each of
> them is here not just as an individual, but as a participant in a
> broader movement for human rights and democratic liberation.
>
> We will hear first from Oksana Chelysheva, the spokesperson for the
> Russian-Chechen Friendship Society. I might note that Ilya Zakharov is
> with us in the audience this evening. The society is the leading
> Russian NGO \[nongovernmental organization\], trying to document the
> terrible human rights abuses and atrocities in Chechnya. On October 9,
> two days after the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, who also tried to
> reveal what is happening in Chechnya, the prosecutor in Nizhny
> Novgorod, where the society is based ordered the organization closed
> for allegedly violating Russian laws against extremism.
>
> The decision was appealed to the Russian Supreme Court, which ruled
> against the Society on January 23, but not before more than 100
> intellectuals and members of Parliament had signed a statement of
> solidarity in which they symbolically joined the Russian-Chechen
> Friendship Society. The attack on the Society is not new. Journalists
> associated with it have been repeatedly harassed, some have been
> killed, and two years ago, Oksana herself was threatened with death
> when a leaflet describing her as a terrorist was distributed
> throughout her neighborhood. But never for a moment has she, her
> colleague Stanislav Dmitrievsky or any others associated with the
> society wavered in their pursuit of justice and truth. I\'m proud to
> present Oksana Chelysheva.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Oksana Chelysheva:\
> Dear ladies and gentlemen, I would like to begin with a word in praise
> of the enormous solidarity that we have gained, and it\'s thanks to
> the support of these kind of active solidarities that we are still
> managing to operate in spite of all the tough circumstances of the
> present Russia. The Russian-Chechen Friendship Society has existed for
> seven years, but for the last two has come under unprecedented
> pressure from the Russian state. The aim of this campaign, which
> incorporated all state law enforcement agencies, was not only to
> destroy the organization, but to send a message to other NGOs as a
> strategy that factored early during the elimination of the free media
> and the show trials of the dissident NGOs. Our aim has never been
> confrontation with the state.
>
> When our organization was founded, our desire was simply to oppose the
> propaganda, violence and intolerance that was a key element of the
> Kramden strategy. Efforts to oppose this program of numbing the
> Russian people\'s aversion towards violence may have seemed naïve, but
> we did manage to fulfill our task with at least some success. We
> regard the campaign of harassment launched against us as proof to the
> efficiency of our work. But Chechnya has become both a course and a
> pretext for the slow dismantling of Russia\'s democracy. As other
> democratic voices have fallen silent, and NGOs have become the last
> advocates of democracy in Russia, and now have been drawn into
> conflict with the state even against our own will.
>
> However, merely noting the scale of human rights abuses in Russia, or
> the crisis of the NGO sector is no longer enough. We have disseminated
> more than 5,000 dispatches, the overwhelming majority of which concern
> gross human rights violations perpetrated in Chechnya and in
> Ciscaucaasia. Our colleagues from other human rights organizations
> have revealed horrific facts of reporting crimes perpetrated by state
> agents, all to no avail. More than a dozen journalists have been
> killed during President, President Putin\'s rule. The most recent,
> Anna Politkovskaya, had lambasted Russia for perpetrating numerous
> crimes in Chechnya.
>
> Murders of journalists, and the threats against activists are not
> effectively investigated. The world has remained silent, and prefers
> not to raise the issue of Chechnya so as not to antagonize the
> Kremlin. I have even had to listen to a European diplomat complain
> that Putin flies off the handle whenever Chechnya is mentioned. This
> reaction is not surprising from the head of the state that provoked
> the crisis in the north caucuses, and now having hypocritically joined
> the War on Terror seeks to cover his own responsibility. The
> increasingly threatening tone of Mr. Putin's rhetoric was his demands
> that the world not remark on his democratic backsliding. And his
> accusations that other powers are attempting to establish a unipolar
> world is easy to understand.
>
> The Kremlin has gotten away with its glaring misdeeds, and its
> confidence is fueled by the free world ongoing fairly to dispel the
> myth of Russia\'s phantom democracy. Russia is now indisputably an
> autocracy, and few signs of real democracy survive in my country. At
> the same time, in a particular Russian region of Chechnya \-- I have
> to point it out \-- the Kremlin has established a regime with many
> features of totalitarianism. Ethnic intolerance thrives in Russia;
> organized crime permeates through all spheres of life in my country.
> And in conclusion, I would like to turn with my own question to you.
> What is your response to my question? What will be the role of such a
> regime on the international stage? Thank you so much.
>
> \[applause\]\
> Carl Gershman:\
> We\'ll next hear from Min Zin, who joined the prodemocracy movement in
> Burma during the historic uprising of 1988. He campaigned publicly
> with Aung San Su Kyi until he was forced into hiding in 1989. He spent
> nine years in the underground movement inside Burma, but was forced to
> operate from across the Thai‑Burma border in the wake of the student
> demonstrations of December 1996. He has remained the leading activist
> in the Burma democracy movement, representing it in 2001, at the fifth
> conference of President Havel\'s Forum 2000. President Havel has an
> especially deep commitment to the Burma struggle, and will take part
> next Monday evening at the Czech Embassy in a discussion of "Total
> Denial," a new documentary about human rights violations in Burma.
> I\'m honored to present Min Zin.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Min Zin:\
> Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. I really appreciate having a
> chance to give a talk here. I\'m very much honored to explain about
> Burma and its struggle for democracy, particularly Burma\'s connection
> to President Havel. Actually, Mr. Havel has been familiar to the
> Burmese people since our prodemocracy leader Aung San Su Kyi
> repeatedly elaborated \[on\] Mr. Havel's, teaching "The Power of the
> Powerless." But I would say Mr. Havel has gained nationwide respect
> not because of Aung San Su Kyi, but ironically speaking because of
> military dictators in Burma.
>
> It happened when Mr. Havel and South Africa\'s Bishop Desmond Tutu
> jointly published a report called "Threat to Peace," a call for UN
> \[United Nations\] Security Council action in Burma. The report
> provided a powerful new direction in international efforts to bring
> democracy in Burma. The report came out because of successive failures
> of UN general assemblies, and then a commission on human rights of
> Burma. And then Mr. Havel and Tutu did not call for the sanction; they
> just called for the effective multinational engagement to be applied
> through the UN Security Council. In other words, the report \-- we
> call it the Havel‑Tutu report \-- the report proposed a practical
> alternative between inaction and sanction. When the report came out in
> 2005, the military regime in Burma made a series of desperate
> reactions. You can imagine that state-run media in Burma were flooded
> with the announcement, statements, speeches, articles denouncing
> Mr. Havel and Desmond Tutu.
>
> And when they did these reactions, they mentioned most details of the
> report. So that\'s why many Burmese people had a chance to read the
> report.
>
> \[laughter\]
>
> And they learned about Mr. Havel, too. So as a journalist, when we
> interview, people say, "Well, we now know who Mr. Havel is, who
> Desmond Tutu is." So that\'s why I said Mr. Havel gained nationwide
> respect and popularity in Burma, mainly because of the military
> dictators. And we all know that the United States translated this
> report into action. The United States managed to put \[the\] Burma
> issue in the UN Security Council in 2006, late 2006. And when the U.S.
> called for the vote in January 2007 for a nonpunitive Burma
> resolution, you know, like you should suspect China and Russia; they
> benefited a lot from Burma, they veto against it. You know, because of
> this \-- I mean, in Burma there have been, you can catalog lists of
> the atrocities, what the Burmese military regime committed.
>
> I will say like a few: imprisonment of over 1200 political prisoners,
> including Aung San Su Kyi; thousands of civilians being forced to be
> slave laborers; more child soldiers than any other country in the
> world, about 3000 villages destroyed in the ethnic minority era since
> 1996; the use of rape as a weapon in the ethnic minority era through
> other conflicts since the war broke out; and also millions of refugees
> and other displaced people within the country and across the
> neighboring country. So these are very few. You can name drug
> trafficking, and human trafficking, and go on and on. And then, so
> these are the things that the Burmese regime committed, well
> documented. But because of the China and Russia veto, one of the
> prominent activists said like this China and Russia grant the regime
> licensed to kill the Burmese people. But don\'t get the Burmese people
> wrong, as if they felt they had been victimized. People of Burma show
> tremendous courage and determination to fight for democracy and
> freedom.
>
> Aung San Su Kyi is a shining example. Not only Aung San Su Kyi; there
> are more, thousands. Let me pick one quick example. Min Ko Naing and
> other strong leaders. They are my close colleagues. They spent 50
> years, 50 or 60 years in jail in the past 90 years. They spent so many
> years in jail, but they were released in the past two years. After
> they are released \[they\] immediately re-engage in the nonviolent
> activities against the regime inside Burma. So there are thousands of
> courageous men and women, ethnic people, Buddhist monks, working for
> democracy in Burma, so I think we should really honor them. They are
> not victimized.
>
> And then \[the\] Burmese people know that they have to rely on
> themselves to free the country. But they also appreciate the
> importance of national solidarity. They do feel gratitude to people
> like Mr. Havel for his moral leadership. And also they do feel
> thankful to a country like the United States for their, for her effort
> in mobilizing an international consensus and action to bring democracy
> in Burma. They expect that with the leadership of the United States
> and moral support, persistent moral support from people like Mr. Havel
> and Desmond Tutu, we can pass \[a\] Burma resolution in the Security
> Council.
>
> This is one key component of contribution for the Burmese democracy,
> Burmese democracy movement. With this UN Security Council resolution
> we can give \[the\] Burmese people a great moral boost and practical
> and political expression for their courage as public actions for
> democracy. Before I came here for a talk, as a journalist I have
> contacted several political leaders inside Burma, as well as the
> refugees. I asked them, "What message would you like to convey to this
> respectful audience?" They all answered by repeating what Aung San Su
> Kyi has said. Their message to you is, "Please use your liberties to
> promote ours." Thank you.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Male Speaker:\
> Ramón Colás is the founder of the movement of independent libraries in
> Cuba. It\'s especially important that we have such a person with us
> tonight at the Library of Congress. In 1998, following Castro\'s claim
> at an international book fair in Havana that in Cuba there are no
> banned books, only a lack of money with which to buy them, he and his
> wife Berta \[Mexidor\] opened their personal book collection as a
> public library named after the Cuban independence activist, Félix,
> Félix Varela. Within just nine months there were 12 other independent
> libraries in Cuba, and today there are 135 such libraries located in
> every Cuban province.
>
> The Cuban government has responded to this challenge to its monopoly
> of information by driving Ramon and Berta into exile, jailing 20 of
> these librarians in the March 2003 crackdown on dissidents, harassing
> others with government sponsored mobs and denying many of the
> librarians paid employment. Nonetheless, more than 240,000 Cubans are
> regular patrons of the libraries, and Ramon continues to support the
> movement from exile. I\'m honored to present Ramon \[Colás \] and
> Berta \[Mexidor\] Colás.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to be among such
> distinguished guests. I am especially grateful to share this moment
> with Mr. Havel, who is a champion of human rights and an icon for
> democracy supporters around the world, along with my personal hero,
> Nelson Mandela.
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:\
> \[English Translation\]
>
> Thank you as well to the U.S. Library of Congress for welcoming us in
> this room, which is an example of respect for intellectual freedom and
> access to information. I hope for a similar place one day in Cuba,
> where many books and authors are now censored, and those independent
> librarians that offer information are judged in summary trials and
> sentenced to long years in prison.
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:\
> Thank you also to NED, as it always continues to highlight Cuba and
> Cubans.
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> Cuban civil society is emerging to fight against the intolerance of a
> totalitarian regime that restricts all freedom. Its presence in Cuban
> society responds not only to a historic but a human need, as more than
> 11 million Cubans in the island live under the imposition of a
> stubborn dictatorship that is determined to remain in power against
> the sovereign will of the people.
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> The independent libraries of Cuba emerged despite high levels of
> repression in adverse conditions, when Fidel Castro in a moment of
> improvisation said that in Cuba there are no banned books.
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> That window allowed us to identify loopholes in the system, and
> establish an alternative and cultural project whose fundamental vision
> is to inform Cubans without worrying about the censorship that the
> Communist regime has traditionally imposed in my country.
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> These uncensored cultural and educational spaces have broken the
> authorities' absolute control of information, becoming civic centers
> where the future of Cuba is debated, where democratic values are
> discussed, where Cubans dream and even plan the best path to achieve a
> peaceful transition.
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> The independent libraries are small centers where one can live in
> freedom, and those that go in search of a book find in it a valuable
> alternative that demonstrates that transition is eagerly awaited by
> most Cubans, and that such a transition is an inevitable process.
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> Despite fears of repression, the people on the island welcome these
> changes as the best alternative to overcome almost half a century of
> backwardness and demagoguery. No one should question these genuine
> aspirations, and any solidarity invested in the Cuban people is
> capital that will produce a democracy capable of becoming a moral
> point of reference for our continent.
>
> Ramón Colás::\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> I am optimistic that this historic process is near. The greatest
> challenge for any democrat in the world is to stand by the Cuban
> people, who are the true leaders in this transformation.
>
> Ramón Colás::\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> The design of a coherent policy towards Cuba must include global
> solidarity, where international actors accompany Cubans from all
> corners in leading the democratic changes that Cuba needs.
>
> Ramón Colás::\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> Uncensored books and information must be at the center of this global
> solidarity with the Cuban people, because independent libraries can
> take on the challenge of teaching Cubans how to live in a democracy.
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> The dissident movement in Cuba has been inspired by three people:
> Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Mr. Havel. Thank you very much.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Carl Gersham:\
> Ales Mihalevic has been for more than a decade at the forefront of the
> democracy struggle in Belarus, which has been called Europe\'s last
> dictatorship. He chaired the Belarusian Students Association, which
> has been closed by the Lukashenka regime, and founded the Youth
> Information Center, which has worked with the Czech People in Need
> Foundation and other groups in central Europe to promote cross-border
> educational initiatives.
>
> In local elections in 2003, Ales was elected deputy of the Puchavicy
> Regional Council, receiving the highest percentage of votes of any
> prodemocracy candidate, and is vice chairman of the Belarusian Popular
> Front. He was a leader last March of the demonstrations that followed,
> followed the flawed and widely criticized presidential elections.
> Because of his political work he has been frequently detained and has
> been jailed on two occasions, and he was also expelled from the
> Institute of Philosophy and Law three months before he was scheduled
> to defend his doctoral dissertation. But he has obviously not been
> silenced. I\'m honored to present a young fighter for democracy, Ales
> Mihalevic.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Ales Mihalevic:\
> It\'s my pleasure to represent Belarus, which is known today as the
> last dictatorship in Europe. My country with 10 million inhabitants
> used to be the most privileged part of the Soviet Union, in economic
> terms. After gaining independence a majority of Belarusians were
> afraid of dramatic changes, and they elected Aleksandr Lukashenka, who
> proposed to restore the Soviet Union as a president. Those elections
> in 1994 were the last democratic elections in my country. From that
> time on, the situation has become increasingly worse in terms of human
> rights and civic liberties. Like all of the independent electronic
> media and the majority of independent print media, most nongovernment
> organizations in Belarus have been closed down.
>
> We have more and more political prisoners. Several popular position
> politicians who could have been an alternative to President Lukashenka
> have disappeared or died under strange circumstances. So the question
> from the Belarusian people to the democratic opposition has been, who
> if not Lukashenka? In response, the opposition came together before
> the last presidential elections in 2006 and nominated a single
> candidate, a professor of physics and NGO leader, Aleksandr
> Milinkevich. In a short period of time he became a real alternative,
> and the symbol of a new European Belarus. During the last local
> elections a month ago, Aleksandr Milinkevich campaigned on behalf of
> several hundred democratic candidates and traveled around Belarus,
> meeting with thousands of citizens at marketplaces, factories and
> schools.
>
> He was detained by police and KGB many times, but continued to speak
> with people even at police stations. In spite of the fact that
> Milinkevich traveled to Moscow several times, and tried to convince
> Russian officials that our democrats would be a better partner for
> Russia. The Kremlin is afraid of Milinkevich pro-European position.
> Russian officials still seek arriving at terms of aggressive NATO
> expansion, rather than about democratic or economic reforms. Last
> year, when Putin realized that Lukashenka is not especially useful for
> Russia\'s interests, the Kremlin began playing a political game,
> political game with Belarus opposition. As a result, the opposition
> today is not so united as it used to be a year ago, before the
> presidential elections.
>
> Recently some more positive factors have appeared. More and more young
> people are becoming our supporters. They are struggling for freedom
> without any conditions. The most recent criminal cases against several
> youth groups demonstrate that Lukashenka understands the threat of
> youth emerging as a prodemocratic group. Several prominent youth
> leaders are in prison, and hundreds of students were expelled from
> universities for political reasons. Lukashenka is pushing active young
> people to immigrate, but most are staying to fight. The gas war at the
> start of this year has shown Belarusian societies that Lukashenka\'s
> promises of stability and an economic miracle were a house of cards.
> Now the state budget will have less funding for the projects dearest
> to Lukashenka \-- raising the salaries of the police and KGB.
>
> Lukashenka decided to move against individual entrepreneurs and the
> active group of 200,000 self‑employed traders because they are not
> dependant on the state, and don\'t pay enough taxes. So we now have
> several new protest groups, and perhaps the police will not find it as
> worth their while to defend Lukashenka. We believe that during the
> next few years, democratic changes will come to Belarus. Belarusian
> society is ready for them, and a growing part of Belarusian society is
> ready to fight for them. Our society needed more than education to
> gain an appreciation for democracy and human rights as values, and we
> increasingly understand that economic prosperity can only be achieved
> only in a democratic society. Thank you very much.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Male Speaker:\
> Rebiya Kadeer is the most well known human rights advocate of the
> Uyghur people, most of whom live in China\'s Xinjiang province, also
> known as east Turkistan. The mother of 11 children, she began her
> career as a laundress and built a multimillion dollar trading company
> and department store. She set aside space in the store to educate poor
> Uyghur children, and she also initiated the thousand mothers movement
> to empower Uyghur women by helping them start their own businesses.
>
> She was arrested in 1999, en route to a meeting with the U.S.
> congressional delegation to discuss human rights issues. And she spent
> the next six years in prison, two of them in solitary confinement.
> Finally, in March 2005, the Chinese government succumbed to
> international pressure and sent her to the United States, where she
> continues to campaign for the rights of the Uyghur people. Last year
> she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. It\'s a great honor to
> present Rebiya Kadeer.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Rebiya Kadeer:\
> \[Uyghur\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> First of all, thank you very much, all, for coming here, and thank you
> so much for Mr. Havel, for being such a great dissident in the cause
> of human rights and freedom. And because of English, I would like to
> let my translator and assistant read my speech.
>
> And distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it\'s my great honor
> to be here with you this evening. And as you all know, Mr. Havel is a
> great human rights advocate who played a critical role in bringing
> democracy to Czechoslovakia. And because of him, communist
> Czechoslovakia peacefully transitioned into a democracy, and even
> became an example for a lot of other countries to follow.
>
> I have a great admiration for President Havel because he\'s a great
> dissident, and as a Uyghur descendant myself, I\'m not only struggling
> for the human rights and the democracy of the Uyghur people, I have
> also been closely working with the Tibetans, Mongolians and the
> Chinese dissidents for the promotion of human rights and a democracy
> in China. Before I came to the U.S. in 2005, in March 2005, I was a
> member of China\'s parliament. I tried to work within the Chinese
> system to change the human rights conditions of the Uyghur people and
> other minorities in China, but apparently it didn\'t work. Later in
> 1999, the Chinese government arrested me and sentenced me to eight
> years in prison. But I was imprisoned for a total of six years, and
> because of international and U.S. pressure and concerns, I was
> released to the United States in March 2005.
>
> After I came to the United States, I began to champion the human
> rights and democracy of the Uyghur people, together with all the other
> oppressed minorities. But to retaliate against my human rights
> activism in the United States and around the world, the Chinese
> government arrested my three sons last June and detained my daughter;
> put my daughter under an extremely rude form of house arrest. And last
> year, last November, I decided to run for the presidency of the World
> Uyghur Congress. But on the day I was elected as president, on
> November 27, the Chinese government sentenced my youngest son, Alim
> \[Abdureyin\], to seven years, and my other son Ablikim \[Abdureyim\],
> whose whereabouts are still unknown.
>
> And I have been told that he is being held secretly somewhere, and has
> even been tried. But in spite of all this, I\'m determined to struggle
> peacefully for the human rights of the Uyghur people and for their
> democracy. And I believe that as long as we peacefully struggle, as
> long as we faithfully and wholeheartedly struggle for human rights,
> democracy \-- and with the support of the American government, and
> with the help, especially with the financial help of the National
> Endowment for Democracy \-- I do believe that whether we are Uyghurs
> from East Turkistan or Tibetans from Tibet or Chinese from China or
> North Koreans, Iranians, Belarusians; all those people who are
> fighting for human rights and democracy shall prevail, and we will one
> day enjoy human rights and democracy just as Czechoslovakia did under
> the leadership of Mr. and President Havel. Thank you very much.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Carl Gershman:\
> Min Zin mentioned the Havel‑Tutu report, calling to bring the issue of
> Burma to the Security Council. I might note that President Havel has
> also taken a very strong interest in North Korea, and cosponsored a
> similar report called "Failure to Protect," the object of which is to
> bring the issue of North Korea before the Security Council on human
> rights grounds. Tonight we have with us one of the most prominent
> North Korean defectors, Kim Min. He was born in 1962 in a mountainous
> region of North Korea where his father, a poet, had been exiled by the
> Kim Il Sung regime. Shortly after famine struck North Korea in the mid
> 1990s, he escaped to China, was arrested and returned to North Korea,
> was tortured and escaped again, finally making his way to South Korea
> where he was determined, as he wrote in a personal testimony, and I
> quote, \"to become a freedom fighter.\"
>
> He founded the North Korean Defectors Association, and in April 2004,
> he launched Free North Korea radio, which broadcasts daily into North
> Korea on a shortwave channel. Explaining the importance of the radio,
> which is the first initiative of its kind by North Koreans, he said,
> and I quote, \"It is important to give bread and milk to starving
> people in North Korea. However, if we do not give them freedom and
> democracy at the same time, it would be like providing only for
> animals. Our radio program provides information about freedom and
> democracy for the North Korean people. I might add that it also
> provides hope.\" I\'m honored to introduce Kim Min.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Kim Min:\
> \[Korean\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> Thank you, President Havel.
>
> Kim Min:\
> \[Korean\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> And thank you, Mr. Congressman and the family members.
>
> Kim Min:\
> \[Korean\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> I\'m not here by myself, but I am with 10,000 strong North Korean
> defectors in South Korea.
>
> Kim Min:\
> \[Korean\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> This is \[a\] really precious time, but the North Korean defectors
> once respected and adored Kim Jong ll, and I want to talk about him a
> little bit.
>
> Kim Seung Min:\
> \[Korean\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> He has imprisoned 200,000 political prisoners in the concentration
> camps, even today.
>
> Kim Seung Min:\
> \[Korean\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> He terrorized in Burma \[unintelligible\] \-- that\'s Korean
> pronunciation \-- \[unintelligible\] in Burma, the South Korean
> cabinet members.
>
> Kim Seung Min:\
> \[Korean\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> While more than 3,500,000 North Koreans died of starvation, he spent
> \$900,000,000 to mummify and to build a temple for his father.
>
> Kim Seung Min:\
> \[Korean\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> Now he\'s destroying or disrupting the international order by nuclear
> threat.
>
> Kim Seung Min:\
> \[Korean\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> For those North Koreans who are living under such dictatorship, we
> North Korean defectors are broadcasting into North Korea about
> freedom, democracy.
>
> Kim Seung Min:\
> \[Korean\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> The North Korean regime under Kim Jong ll has threatened us. They
> would blow up Free North Korea radio station. They threatened every
> month to blow up our station.
>
> Kim Seung Min:\
> \[Korean\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> And the Kim Jong ll followers in South Korea, they have been
> demonstrating in the front of the radio station, very often to close
> up, to close up our station.
>
> Kim Seung Min:\
> \[Korean\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> However, we know if we give just bread and milk to North Koreans, we
> are treating them like animals.
>
> Kim Seung Min:\
> \[Korean\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> It is important to eat, but more important is to learn about freedom
> and human rights. That\'s why we are continuing this broadcasting.
>
> Kim Seung Min:\
> \[Korean\].
>
> Male Speaker:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> So I have to thank Mr. Carl Gershman and NED, who made this broadcast
> possible into North Korea, and at this place I want to thank Suzanne
> Scholte of Defense Forum Foundation who made this movement possible of
> the North Korean defectors. Thank you very much.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Carl Gershman:\
> I\'m very happy that Kim Seung Min mentioned Suzanne, and I think
> it\'s worth noting that there are many people in this audience who
> provided so much help to different struggles. Frank Calzone for the
> Cuban struggle, Debbie for the North Korea struggle, and so many
> others in the audience. Harry Wu is with us tonight. There are many
> \-- Michelle Bohanna for the Burma struggle. I want to thank them all
> for what they do.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> We have now come to the last country on our list, and we\'re
> especially honored to have with us this evening two of the most
> important leaders of the Iranian student movement, which historically
> has been the cutting edge of the reform movement in Iran. Ali Afshari
> and Manouchehr Mohammadi come from different wings of this movement.
> Ali became secretary of the Islamic Student Association at Amirkabir
> University in 1995, and organized many protests against the Iranian
> government\'s violent repression of students and intellectuals.
>
> He helped mobilize Iranian civil society to support reform candidates
> in the historic 1998 city council elections, and has also written more
> than 20 essays and delivered over a hundred speeches on issues of
> human rights and democracy. For these activities he has spent more
> than three years in jail, including more than 400 days in solitary
> confinement. In 2005, after yet another prison term, he helped
> organize the call for a referendum to change the Islamic Republic's
> Revolutionary Constitution, which many activists believe is the
> principal obstacle to reform in Iran. Ali has been sentenced to six
> years in prison if and when he returns to Iran.
>
> Manouchehr Mohammadi has been at the forefront of the Iranian student
> movement for more than a decade. He served as secretary general of the
> National Association of Iranian Students, and helped organize the
> major student protests of the late 1990s. He was sentenced to death
> for his role in the student uprising of July 9, 1999; a penalty that
> was reduced to 13 to 15 years in prison following an international
> outcry. In August of last year, following the death of his brother
> Akbar, under suspicious circumstances in Evin prison, Manouchehr
> managed to escape from Iran, and arrived in the United States in
> October.
>
> Let me note that the World Movement for Democracy meeting in Brazil
> honored Manouchehr and the Iranian student movement with its Democracy
> Courage Tribute in November 2000. Now that Manouchehr is safely with
> us in America, we shall look for an appropriate opportunity to present
> him with that tribute, which was given with the 1999 uprising very
> much in mind. For now, we want him to know that we appreciate his
> courage, that we join him in mourning Akbar\'s death, and that we will
> do everything we can to support the struggle of the Iranian student
> movement and the people of Iran for freedom, justice and democracy. I
> now call upon Ali Afshari, who will speak briefly and then introduce
> Manouchehr.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Ali Afshari:\
> Ladies and gentlemen and honorable guests, good evening. First of all,
> I really appreciate the Library of Congress administration and
> National Endowment for Democracy for giving me this great opportunity.
> And I especially thank Mr. Václav Havel for putting us together in
> this event. Freedom is the greatest of human values, but freedom is
> not something that is given to us. It\'s something mankind must
> constantly work for, and never take for granted. I\'m from Iran, a
> place where there is a serious and ongoing struggle for freedom of
> expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of election, freedom of
> religion and freedom of the press.
>
> The Mahmoud Ahmadinejab regime persecutes students, political
> dissidents, intellectuals and other civil society activists. The
> Iranian regime has executed thousands of political dissidents.
> Hundreds of Iranian civil society activists, journalists, human right
> defenders have been detained. A lot of Iranian press and publishers
> have been banned. Yet despite the region's cruel and unjust policy of
> suppressing democracy and violated human rights, in Iranian people
> will not give up their fight against dictatorship and totalitarianism,
> regardless of how difficult and how arduous this struggle may be.
>
> If one wishes to see an example of the courage and persistence of the
> democracy movement inside Iran, one should look at the Iranian student
> movement. The student movement is a main part of Iranian civil
> society, and is the primary regime for promoting democracy and human
> rights. Because of this, Iranian student activists are in prison,
> tortures, exiled and in some hard cases, even killed. As Carl Gershman
> mentioned, Mr. Manouchehr Mohammadi, his brother, Mr. Akbar Mohammadi,
> he was a well-known student activist. He died \[unintelligible\] when
> he was in \[unintelligible\], inside prison.
>
> In the face of this fierce intimidation, the student movement
> continues to speak out against Iran\'s undemocratic regime, and
> continues to advocate democracy and human rights. As you see in the
> recent protest of Iranian students during the speech of Ahmadinejad in
> one of the most important universities in Iran, students said to him,
> "Fascist president, leave the university; it's not your place."
>
> I\'m honored to have a chance to be here, and in the presence of an
> esteemed, and inspiring individual like Mr. Václav Havel. I truly
> believe that democratic values and freedoms can be furthered toward
> all if we can continue to have things like this, where dissidents from
> all across the globe can come together to learn from each other, to
> share their experiences, and most importantly, to let one another know
> they are not alone in their struggle for freedom and democracy.
>
> And last thing, I just wanted to mention that the President Václav
> Havel is one of the most respected international people inside Iranian
> society, and particularly inside Iranian student activists. Thanks
> again for inviting me, and I have good wishes for everyone, and have a
> good meeting that leads to democratic war as soon as possible.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Carl Gershman:\
> And now we\'ll hear from Manouchehr Mohammadi.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Manouchehr Mohammadi:\
> Thank you, Ali Afshari. Ali Afshari is a famous student leader. Ladies
> and gentlemen, Mr. Gershman, President Havel, I\'m honored to have the
> opportunity to be here tonight. As this audience knows, President
> Havel has been a leader for freedom against the Czech Republic. Like
> my brother, mother, father, sister, me and many freedom-loving
> Iranians, President Havel endured years of hardship for life, liberty
> and human rights. Today students all over Iran are fighting for their
> freedom, thanks to the support and solidarity of organizations like
> the National Endowment for Democracy and people like President Havel,
> students of our struggle don\'t get lost.
>
> This ensures that people like my brother, Akbar Mohammadi, who was
> killed in Evin Prison last year for fighting for freedom in Iran, do
> not die in vain. If the countries of Eastern Europe can transition
> from the brutal repression of communism to democracy, then one day
> President Havel and I and all of us will stand together in a free
> Iran. Thank you very much.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Carl Gershman:\
> That is a very tough act to follow, but Paula Dobriansky is going to
> try to do that. Paula is the under secretary of State for Global
> Affairs and Democracy. She has been a vice chairman of the NED Board.
> She served on the NED Board for eight and a half years, and within our
> government she\'s one of the leading voices for democracy and human
> rights. And we\'re really honored to have Paula with us this evening.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Paula Dobriansky:\
> Good evening President Havel, very distinguished guests. I\'m truly
> honored to be here this evening. And I first want to begin by thanking
> Carl Gershman and the NED staff for bringing us together, and also
> thanks to Dr. Billington and Carolyn Brown, and for the Library of
> Congress for hosting us. And also I want to recognize Ambassador Peter
> Kolář, and to thank the Czech Embassy also for their support of this
> very important occasion. Tonight we have truly assembled men and women
> of courage; men and women who are truly champions of freedom, who have
> devoted themselves to advancing democracy in their respective
> countries, and who also \-- as we know and we\'ve heard \-- who have
> also risked their very own lives in doing so.
>
> Each of them are truly an inspiration; an inspiration not only to your
> fellow countrymen and women, but also to those around the world who
> are desirous of respect for human rights, democracy and freedom. Each
> and every one of you have made immense personal sacrifices to stand up
> for liberty in Russia, Burma, Cuba, Belarus, China, North Korea and
> Iran. And what\'s significant about each and every one of you, you are
> acting as agents of positive change in some of the most difficult and
> dangerous circumstances. I want to say to you that you are making a
> difference; that your voices are being heard and are being acted upon.
> You deserve the gratitude and support not just only of your fellow
> citizens, but of men and women in all countries.
>
> And what struck me, sitting here this evening and hearing each of you
> comment for a few minutes, was that there was a strong, common theme,
> and the theme was that men and women everywhere \-- it doesn\'t matter
> what country, or where one is \-- have a right to fundamental rights,
> freedoms, human rights, and each and every one of you eloquent, so
> eloquently stated that. President Havel, who is here with us tonight,
> embodies the dissident who seeks truth and justice through his
> determination, his eloquence and his actions. He helped transform his
> country and also the world. I have been very honored to work with him
> and to support many of his initiatives, and also to work with many of
> his fellow countrymen, and I congratulate you on the awards that you
> will be receiving this night, tonight.
>
> By defending freedom and human dignity in the face of oppression,
> President Havel advanced the most noble, hopeful and powerful cause of
> all. And each of you, in fact, is doing the very same today. As
> President Havel wrote in his landmark essay, "The Power of the
> Powerless" \-- I\'d like to quote you. \"Life in its essence moves
> towards plurality, diversity, independent self‑constitution and
> self‑organization; in short, towards the fulfillment of its own
> freedom,\" unquote. Well, the work that you are doing now can and will
> have a lasting impact. I\'d like to quote, finally, Nathaniel Niles,
> an American patriot who urged us two years before America declared its
> independence, and nine years before it secured its freedom never to
> forget the power of every person.
>
> And this is what he said: \"Each individual has a proportion of
> influence on some neighbor, at least; he on another, another and so
> on, as in a river. Mighty floods have their rise in single drops from
> the rocks which unite, proceed, enlarge until mountains tremble at
> their sound," unquote. You are making a critical difference now, and
> in time I am confident that the efforts that you have begun will, in
> fact, cause the mountains to tremble. Thank you so much.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Carolyn Brown:\
> Well, I think we all need to take a deep breath and get ready, then,
> to move to our next section. I think we\'ll need another chair over
> here on this side. Thanks. And I\'m going to invite President Havel to
> join us up here, and the ambassador. And now the floor is open for
> questions, and we have a mic in the back. If you raise your hand
> we\'ll bring the mic to you, and we\'d like to have the questions
> recorded. We have a question right here already.
>
> Male Speaker:\
> It\'s always a great honor to hear everything that we have heard here
> tonight, and see President Havel. I know there is a lot of concern
> about efforts by foreign governments to impede the promotion of
> democracy around the world, but rather than to ask about that I would
> like to ask President Havel what he would say to those here in the
> United States who say that American efforts to promote democracy
> around the world is simply a way to impose American views on others.
> And a related question, what would you say to those who argue that
> until all problems in the United States are resolved, the United
> States should not be speaking out about human rights violations
> elsewhere? Thank you.
>
> President Václav Havel:\
> Only one remark. I think that if you have big power, you must be very
> careful in using some words. And for me, for example, the fighrt
> against terrorism is the fight of humankind against its enemies. It
> isn\'t struggle between the United States, a conflict between the
> United States and some al‑Qaeda people. It is something more general,
> and I think that everybody understands what is international
> solidarity. But to speak about the export of democracy could be
> perhaps dangerous; it is not the best language. I personally think
> that there are cases when it is necessary to use power, but it is
> possible, and it must be mentioned that it is an act of basic
> elementary human solidarity with some people who are in need, and it
> isn\'t the exporting of one political system to another one. I think
> that it is necessary to use very carefully different words.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Carolyn Brown:\
> Okay. Thank you. And thank you to the questioner for keeping the
> question short and pointed, not as a statement. So let\'s follow that
> wonderful model. I see we have another question. Dr. Dwek.
>
> Dwek:\
> Well, like everybody else in the audience, we applaud all your
> courage. I\'d like to simply ask you, particularly in countries like
> Burma, what do you think about tourism as a weapon? Should that be
> used in any way to support the cause, or is it counterproductive?
>
> Carolyn Brown:\
> Why don\'t you come to the mic?
>
> Min Zin:\
> Very briefly, I think as far as I understand the Burmese position led
> by Aung San Su Kyi. They ask the tourists, basically like tourist in a
> group not to come to Burma, mainly because of the Burmese military
> regime used forced labor in the tourism projects. Not tourism per se,
> and mainly because of the military used forced labor tactics in the
> \[unintelligible\] projects for attracting tourists. That\'s what I
> understand. And so for the International Labor Organization, ILO, they
> still say Burma commits, exercises forced labor practices widespread,
> so that\'s why I think our opposition leader still, you know, is
> asking people don\'t visit Burma; not because of they are against
> tourism but because of tourism being, you know, an instrument of other
> forced labor. Thank you.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Carolyn Brown:\
> I think there\'s another question in the back. Could we have a mic
> \[microphone\]?
>
> Male Speaker:\
> Thank you. It\'s a question to the President Havel. I\'m Min also,
> working for the Burma \[unintelligible\] Voice of America. I would
> like to know, how can the international community support democracy in
> Burma at this time, please? Thank you.
>
> President Havel:\
> What I think that, and what we have heard shows that what is extremely
> important is the publicity, and to make it known, to make it an
> international team. And I think that it\'s impossible, for example, to
> think that economic situations are more important than human rights
> issues. People really -- as was said here \-- are not animals.
>
> Carolyn Brown:
>
> Female Speaker:\
> We have another question over here. Thank you.
>
> Male Speaker:\
> President Havel, a very quick question for you, which is this. In the
> transition from more authoritarian states towards democracy there are
> often difficulties; interethnic strife being one of the most
> predominant ones. Your country peacefully made the transition from
> being Czechoslovakia to being the Czech Republic abd Slovakia, in
> contrast to some other Eastern European states, I think most notably
> of the former Yugoslav republics. Could you speak to me, and I suppose
> give advice to all democrat advocates here \-- how do we go about
> doing that? How do we achieve that sort of peaceful transition?
>
> Ambassador Kolář\
> I was asked by President Havel to send his message to you; what he is
> thinking about your question. One of the reasons why Czechs and
> Slovaks divorced so peacefully, and how we have managed to transform
> our country not only peacefully but successfully is the fact that
> Czechs and Slovaks don\'t like to fight so much, first.
>
> \[laughter\]
>
> And of course, also the democratic tradition of our country, which we
> had as a so-called first republic between wars.
>
> Carolyn Brown:\
> Okay. I think we have a question in the back, if we can get a mic over
> there.
>
> Male Speaker:\
> My question to President Havel \-- I\'m from Russia independent
> television. What could you say about new possible dangerous
> confrontations in Europe? A few days ago, one major Russian general
> told that in case the Czech Republic and Poland agreed to deploy
> American missile defense system, Poland and the Czech Republic will be
> an easy target by Russian missiles. What could you say on this?
>
> President Havel:
>
> My personal experience is that Russian politicians or authorities,
> they give more speeches than they really, really want to do. I
> remember since the beginning 'til the end of the enlargement of NATO,
> and I remember how many sentences and words and speeches and
> decorations by Russians I had to hear or to read, and of course
> nothing happened.
>
> \[laughter\]
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Carolyn Brown:\
> We have another question over here.
>
> Male Speaker:\
> The Czech Republic has been in the forefront of helping democracy in
> the east, and President Havel has been the leader, particularly in
> strengthening or working toward democracy in Belarus. I would like to
> ask him a question, being the visionary that he is, what is his vision
> for freedom in Belarus?
>
> Ambassador Kolář:\
> It\'s actually lovely to be ambassador, working with President Havel,
> the Czech ambassador. I really like it. So I was just asked to tell
> you that for such an interesting question it would probably be the
> best to ask our friend from Belarus to tell you what is the vision for
> Belarus, so that\'s the question probably for you, if you want to
> answer. What\'s your vision of freedom \-- how it would work, how it
> could happen? What could be the situation then in Belarus?
>
> Ambassador Kolář:\
> You are speaking about \-- everybody wanted to add something?
>
> Male Speaker:\
> So my answer will be extremely simple. We have a lot of parallels with
> the Czech Republic. Both our countries have 10 million inhabitants. We
> have very big capitals, like Nice and Prague are almost two million
> inhabitants, so I hope that Belarusian terms of civil society, civic
> freedoms, human rights and also economy will be very similar to the
> Czech Republic. Thank you very much.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Carolyn Brown:\
> We are way over time. I think maybe we should take just one more
> question, and then try to move on. Let\'s go to the gentleman here.
>
> Male Speaker:\
> Yes. This is for Mr. Colás. Cuba presents a great contradiction,
> because it\'s a pocket of extreme poverty only 90 miles from one of
> the richest states in the world. In central and eastern Europe, with
> the fall of Communism, there are various experiments to attempt to
> equitably, economically distribute the assets of the states in order
> to give each citizen a fair shake. I think we saw in Russia some
> fairly wholesale looting of state assets. In the Czech Republic there
> was a very good faith attempt made to privatize state assets and
> distribute them to the citizens through a voucher system. What, in
> your opinion, would be the ideal situation for managing the process of
> dismantling the totalitarian system in Cuba, so that the individual
> citizens get a fair shake economically?
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> To have the kind of system that you\'re describing, the first thing we
> need to do is to get rid of the totalitarian system and replace it
> with a democratic system.
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> It is important that people know that in Cuba we have a system where
> everybody receives a ration that lasts you seven days, and that is the
> same ration for everybody.
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> So we are all equal in that sense among Cubans, but that is a
> difference with the political leadership, which enjoys great resources
> and freedom a lot more richer than many of the elites in Latin
> America.
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> The transition in Cuba surely will lead to a democracy, will certainly
> have many controversies.
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> There are many things that are discussed that are maybe byproducts of
> this dictatorship; that many of us that live here abroad will go back
> and destroy our country.
>
> Ramón Colás:\
> \[Spanish\].
>
> Berta Mexidor:
>
> \[English Translation\]\
> But my idea is simple. The system has been based on a single
> individual, Fidel Castro, and once he\'s no longer there the whole
> system will work better. I think that\'s what he is trying to say. The
> system will work better because he will no longer be there, and there
> will be a whole new system that is to be designed.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Carolyn Brown:
>
> It is very hard to cut off this really exciting part of the program,
> and the questions and the give and take, but I am recognizing the time
> we have at this, and point wish to present President Havel with two
> awards. Let me call on Ken Wollack \-- is he here? Yes. There he is,
> president of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), who would like
> to present the Harriman Award.
>
> Ken Wollack:\
> First of all, I want to thank the Library of Congress and
> Dr. Billington and the National Endowment for Democracy and Carl for
> this opportunity. It\'s a great honor to be here among such dedicated
> and courageous individuals, and there is no doubt that your peaceful
> struggle for democracy will someday be realized. Sixteen years ago in
> 1991, NDI recognized Václav Havel with its W. Averell Harriman
> Democracy Award, honoring him for his years as a dissident, political
> essayist and leading figure in the Velvet Revolution of 1989.
>
> In accepting the award on behalf of the then‑president of the Czech
> and Slovak Federative Republic, Ambassador Rita Klimova commented on
> the difficulties of consolidating the new democratic government. She
> said, \"The transition to a parliamentary democracy and to a market
> economy are proving to be much, much more difficult than we had
> anticipated in the good old days when we were dissidents and had only
> the police to fear.\"
>
> \[laughter\]
>
> No longer facing arrest or harassment, President Havel went on to
> successful terms as the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first
> president of the Czech Republic.
>
> Also quite clear in the decade and a half since that occasion is that
> Václav Havel could have rested on his accomplishments and celebrity
> status, and retired gracefully from the world stage. I am certain that
> his doctors would have advised such a course of inaction. Instead he
> took a cue from another Czech‑born playwright, Tom Stoppard, who wrote
> in "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" that, quote, \"every exit
> is an entrance someplace else.\"
>
> For President Havel, that someplace else was a voice of conscience and
> a force of solidarity for those who today suffer and sacrifice for
> their democratic ideals as he once did. He is still a passionate
> believer in the notion that the individual can make a difference.
> \"The cry of freedom, the free action of a person is most important,\"
> he once said. \"It is the first nail in the coffin of a system based
> on a lie.\" This explains in part his tireless efforts on behalf of
> courageous individuals such as Oswaldo Payá of Cuba, Aung San Su Kyi
> of Burma and many others who struggle against tremendous odds to
> advance peaceful democratic change. \"I remember vividly what the
> support of the democratic world meant for me when I was persecuted and
> imprisoned,\" Havel told the "Prague Post." \"I feel obligated to
> repay this debt to those who are in a similar situation now.\"
>
> In that 1991 ceremony, NDI also presented the Democracy Award to then
> AFL‑CIO President Lane Kirkland, who also believed in the triumph of
> the human spirit, and more than most understood the value of timely
> and sustained international support to democratic forces in need. NDI
> was to have given President Havel the Harriman Democracy Award for the
> second time in 2004. That was the year that NDI celebrated its 20th
> anniversary, and paid tribute to an era of democratic transformation
> by presenting the award to recipients from each region of the world.
> So this award, Mr. President, is engraved with 2004. President Havel,
> this award bestowed on you is as close to family as it gets. NDI\'s
> Czech roots run deep. Our founding vice chair and current chairman,
> Madeleine Albright, is traveling today, otherwise she would have been
> here herself to present the award.
>
> So, 16 years ago we honored President Havel for one set of
> accomplishments, and today the homage is even deeper, richer and more
> profound. We are proud to have given this award to you in 1991, in
> 2004 and now today. Just 30 years after co-founding Charter 77,
> 24 years after enduring almost five years in prison and 17 years after
> the Velvet Revolution, NDI is honored that we can finally make this
> presentation in person, and celebrate a lifetime of individual
> engagement, of personal courage, of public service and of making a
> difference. Thank you very much.
>
> \[applause\]
>
> Carolyn Brown:\
> And now I would like to call on Congressman Vin Weber, is he ‑‑ yes,
> good \-- to present the award from the National Endowment for
> Democracy.
>
> Vin Weber:\
> Thank you very much, Carolyn. To Carolyn and Jim Billington, thank you
> very much for welcoming us here today. I have to say that whenever
> I\'m in this building I remember that when I first came here as a
> congressional staffer, this building was about to conclude
> construction, and there was a movement underway to turn it into yet
> another office building for the U.S. House of Representatives. I\'m
> glad to see it over the years has been put to better use than that,
> with no disrespect to my former institution. And to my friend and our
> leader, Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for
> Democracy, always a pleasure to be with him, and always a pleasure to
> follow my friend Ken Wollack.
>
> President Havel, will you please come forward? And I want you to stand
> here while I make the presentation. We were originally going to have
> all of the dissidents or freedom fighters stand and surround you as we
> made the presentation, but we thought that a group of dissidents would
> be a fairly unruly group, so we will allow them to remain seated. The
> Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy created the
> Democracy Service Medal to recognize individuals who have made
> significant contributions to the progress of democracy around the
> world, and the medallion we are about to present was first awarded
> eight years ago to Lech Walesa and to former AFL ‑CIO president Lane
> Kirkland on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the round table
> agreement that led to the peaceful transition to democracy in Poland.
>
> As Ken Wollack mentioned, and as many in this room are aware, this
> year marks the 30th anniversary of Charter 77, the district dissident
> movement you helped bring into being that was instrumental in setting
> the stage for democracy in Czechoslovakia. But Charter 77 was far more
> than a movement of a single country. Indeed, it has served as an
> inspiration to dissidents throughout the world, such as those we have
> heard from so eloquently tonight and who are joining us here. In your
> writings you have emphasized the fragility of democracy, noting that
> it is a never-ending challenge, and you have cautioned us that
> effective democracy requires critical examination. At the same time,
> you have taught us that the ideas of human rights, civil society and
> the free market carry with them the potential seeds of our salvation.
>
> And while you have warned us against regarding democracy as something
> given, finished and complete, that in your words can be exported like
> cars or television sets, you have also pointed out that, and I quote,
> \"it is both a moral responsibility, and in the vital interests of
> everyone who lives in democratic or free conditions not to be
> indifferent to the fate of people who do not enjoy the same good
> fortune, and to offer a wide spectrum of help to those who have the
> courage, even in unfree conditions, to behave freely and under the
> rule of lies; to serve truth,\" end quote.
>
> In a single phrase, sir, you have captured the philosophy that guides
> our work at the NED. For your courage in facing down totalitarian
> oppression and speaking out against it on behalf of others, and for
> your wisdom in creating an enduring body of literature ranging from
> the imaginative realm of drama to the organizational and political
> work of promoting democracy and human rights, and for your unique
> sense of solidarity that has bound you to dissident movements the
> world over, the National Endowment of Democracy is proud and honored
> to present you with its Democracy Service Medal.

\[applause\]

President Václav Havel:\
Thank you.

Vin Weber:\
Thank you.

President Václav Havel:\
Thank you very much for these awards. Thank you, thank you for your
support, your solidarity, and please accept these awards as awards not
only for me, but for all these people. Thank you.

\[applause\]

Carolyn Brown:\
This concludes our portion for the evening. I\'m going to request that
those on the platform remain on the platform briefly so we can take some
photographs. And those of you in the audience, if you would please
proceed out the rear doors and around to your right to the reception in
the Montpelier Room, we on the platform will be joining you there
shortly. Thank you very much.

\[end of transcript\]