Hamas during the 1990s.

The Holy Land Foundation was Al Aqsa's chief fund-raising rival, said Steven Emerson, director of The Investigative Project, a terrorism watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. "There was a whole dispute during (the early 1990s)."

After the Oxford meeting, Ashqar was told to cede all Hamas fund-raising activities to the Holy Land Foundation, according to FBI wiretaps included in court documents.

Al Aqsa now reports no income above $25,000 to the Internal Revenue Service, according to its Form 990 IRS filings. It is "essentially defunct," Emerson said.

Al Aqsa was incorporated in Oxford in 1993 by Ashqar and Imad Sarsour, a Wisconsin native who sits on the board of the Islamic Association for Palestine. That association "has acted in support of Hamas," Kessler wrote in the 2002 ruling.

Before Ashqar arrived at Ole Miss to pursue a doctorate in management information systems, he attended the Islamic University in Gaza, where he was a spokesman and editor of the university's newsletter, Cohen said.

A Hamas activist under FBI surveillance listed the Islamic University as one of "our institutions," at the 1993 meeting in Philadelphia, court documents say.

Cohen said Ashqar is the victim of a smear campaign by the government.

"The government targets every Palestinian activist in this country and has for 15 years," Cohen said. "Was Ashqar an activist? Absolutely. I don't know a Palestinian that wasn't an activist."

**Even though Ashqar has never been prosecuted for terrorist activities, Emerson believes Ashqar's alleged ties to Hamas should not be discounted: "He shouldn't have been allowed to stay in this country."**

Copyright © 2003, The Clarion-Ledger.

MSNBC: News With Brian Williams

(c) Copyright FDCH e-Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Thursday, June 5, 2003

And now to the push for peace in the Middle East being fought in part here on American soil. For President Bush to make further progress, it will depend in large part on preventing suicide bombings by militant groups like Hamas, and so the FBI is trying now to stop the violence there by going after suspected Hamas operatives right here in this country. NBC's Senior Investigative Correspondent Lisa Myers with our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA MYERS, NBC CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a middle-class suburb of Chicago, living in this house, a man the U.S. government calls a designated global terrorist. His name, Mohammad Salah. NBC News caught him peering out the window this weekend. In 1993, Salah confessed in Israel to raising money for Hamas's suicide bombings and to training recruits in the U.S. in bomb-making and explosives. He now denies all that, saying he was tortured. But U.S. officials tell NBC News that Salah is one of about two dozen alleged Hamas operatives in the U.S. now under investigation by the FBI.

**STEVE EMERSON, TERRORISM EXPERT: U.S. officials are concerned about the continuation of Hamas fund-raising in the United States and they're also worried that Hamas continues to use the U.S. as a base to plan attacks against Israel.**

MYERS: Also under scrutiny, **Abdelhaleem Ashqar**, a Howard University professor. This FBI document says Ashqar organized a Hamas meeting in Philadelphia a decade ago, secretly wiretapped by the FBI. Other admitted operatives have identified Ashqar as a fundraiser. But Ashqar's lawyer says he has not associated with Hamas since the U.S. designated it a terrorist group in 1995. In an interview with NBC, current FBI Counterterrorism Agent Robert Wright charges the FBI could have moved against Hamas five years ago. Instead, he says, it shut down his criminal

investigation in favor of gathering more intelligence.

ROBERT WRIGHT, FBI COUNTERTERRORISM AGENT: The Hamas criminal enterprise has been flourishing since then. These guys are still operating strong today because we're doing absolutely nothing about it. The FBI's turned a blind eye to what they're doing.

MYERS: Wright is controversial within the FBI. Some claim he exaggerates the importance of his investigation. But current and former prosecutors familiar with that investigation describe the evidence as significant and compelling.

(on camera): Are you saying that based on what you know, Salah, Ashqar, and others should not be walking the streets of America?

WRIGHT: They should either be behind bars or out of this country.

MYERS: The FBI says Agent Wright does not know all that's going on. In fact, law-enforcement sources tell NBC News that indictments of some Hamas operatives are likely within months. Lisa Myers, NBC News, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

# FBI Focus Increases On Hamas, Hezbollah; Ruling Enables Intensified Probes

The Washington Post

Copyright 2003, The Washington Post Co. All Rights Reserved

Thursday, May 8, 2003

## By: John Mintz

Wielding new powers granted by a six-month-old federal court decision, the FBI has greatly intensified decade-old investigations of alleged U.S. supporters of the Islamic Resistance Movement and Hezbollah terrorist groups, according to government officials.

Confident that its efforts to track the al Qaeda terrorist network in this country are beginning to pay off, the FBI is devoting more resources to the two Middle Eastern groups, which command more widespread support in Arab and Muslim communities here. Officials say that there are active Hezbollah cells in this country but that most of their renewed efforts are aimed at alleged financial supporters of both groups -- including Islamic centers, charities and criminal rings from Washington to Detroit to Los Angeles.

The stepped-up investigations in at least two dozen U.S. cities were triggered by a November 2002 ruling from a secretive three-judge appeals panel. The renewed efforts are another example of the more aggressive tactics the FBI has been freed to use in the war on terror since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The court ruling authorized federal agents who pursue criminal prosecution of terrorism suspects to use decades worth of classified wiretaps and intelligence reports from foreign security agencies that previously had been off-limits.

"It's a trove of information that's created enormous possibilities, a whole new world for us," said a senior U.S. counterterrorism official who works on criminal cases. "Before, we were playing with one hand tied behind our backs."

Before the ruling, wiretap and search information from intelligence probes was not usable in criminal cases because the standards for securing an intelligence warrant are lower. Traditionally, intelligence agents kept track of people believed to be engaged in terrorism and espionage, but did not develop criminal cases.

Because of the ruling, federal prosecutors and FBI counterterrorism agents who work on criminal cases are now getting their first chance to examine tens of thousands of pages of wiretap transcripts and reports compiled over many years by fellow FBI agents who pursued intelligence cases. The ruling was issued by an appellate panel that adjudicates investigations begun under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Stanley Cohen, a New York attorney who represents several men in this country who the U.S. government contends

are officials of the Islamic Resistance Movement, also known as Hamas, said he has detected reinvigorated investigations of his clients after the ruling.

Prosecutors "haven't figured out how many pieces of candy they can eat," he said. "It's been quite a topic of discussion [among defense lawyers] on how and when the next shoe will drop."

The first shoe to drop was the indictment in February of Florida college professor Sami Al-Arian on charges of conspiracy to commit murder via suicide attacks in Israel and the Palestinian territories. For years, Al-Arian had denied that he was an operative of Palestinian Islamic Jihad -- which the U.S. government has designated a terrorist group because of its suicide bombings of Israelis.

No charges were filed against Al-Arian until the 50-count indictment, the first to exploit FISA information. It contains scores of transcribed pages from secretly intercepted telephone conversations, e-mails and faxes made available to FBI criminal investigators only months ago. Authorities said they prove that Al-Arian helped direct Palestinian Islamic Jihad's worldwide operations. Al-Arian's lawyers deny the charges, saying he is a victim of anti-Muslim conspiracies.

U.S. officials said the investigation into alleged supporters of Hamas focuses in part on the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, the nation's largest Muslim charity until agents shut it down in 2001. Last year, a federal judge in Washington ruled that the charity supports the families of Hamas suicide bombers, paid for many trips by Hamas officials to this country, and "has had financial connections to Hamas since its creation in 1989." Holy Land officials deny terrorist ties.

Hamas is a militant group, founded in 1987 and based in the Palestinian territories, that seeks the establishment of an Islamic state there and in Israel, and works to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It runs an extensive network of social service agencies in the territories and has not targeted U.S. interests.

The probe of suspected backers of Hezbollah largely focuses on networks of Islamic centers that allegedly raise money for the group, officials said. In addition, investigators are looking into rings that commit crimes such as credit card fraud and send the profits to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the officials said.

A radical Lebanese political party that was formed in 1982 to represent Shiite Muslims, Hezbollah, or Party of God, is funded by Iran and is dedicated to destroying Israel and establishing Islamic rule in the area. Its militias forced Israel from southern Lebanon in 2000.

Prosecutors' goal is to shut down Hamas and Hezbollah support networks through a variety of tactics, from filing criminal charges or lawsuits to deporting individuals. One likely tactic is the filing of racketeering charges, which would allow agents to investigate activities that go back decades. By contrast, a criminal charge of providing material support to terrorists could encompass only activities since 1995, when U.S. officials deemed Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups.

Many Arab and Muslim activists denounce the probes, saying they admire Hamas and Hezbollah for their armed resistance to Israel.

"Mr. Bush believes Hezbollah, Hamas and other Palestinian factions are terrorists, but we believe they are freedom fighters," said Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News, a newspaper in Dearborn, Mich. "Hezbollah liberated south Lebanon from Israel after 22 years. Why wouldn't the Lebanese be appreciative to the people who liberated them" by sending them money?

"By criminalizing attempts to send money to Hezbollah or to support it, the FBI is confusing and alienating people here who could be allies in the war on terrorism," said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, a Washington nonprofit group.

U.S. officials believe Hamas and Hezbollah are unlikely to mount an attack on U.S. soil, but say attacks are more conceivable overseas. If Iran decides it is the next target of U.S. military action, "then we've got a real problem," a senior FBI official said.

Hezbollah has "a worldwide presence, and we see them actively casing and surveilling American facilities," CIA Director George J. Tenet told Congress in February.

In recent weeks, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has said that the government is concerned about attacks by

"regional extremist organizations" against U.S. interests -- a reference, sources said, to Hamas and Hezbollah.

Some officials from both terrorist groups have said the U.S. assault in Iraq obligates Muslims to attack Americans, even as others indicated they would not attack U.S. targets. "The [U.S.] strike on Iraq would be the continuation of the Crusaders' war, so Muslims should threaten and strike Western interests, and hit them everywhere," Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said in February.

Knowledgeable sources said one person under investigation is Howard University professor Abdelhaleem Ashqar, who U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled in 2002 was "a senior Hamas activist."

Ashqar was jailed for six months in 1998 for refusing to testify before a New York grand jury looking into Hamas finances. Now agents are using hundreds of pages of formerly unexploitable documents -- including bugs of his Mississippi apartment in the mid-1990s -- in a possible attempt to bring immigration charges against him, sources said. Cohen, his attorney, said that while Ashqar once may have associated with Hamas, "there's no allegation [he] did anything with Hamas after it was declared a terrorist group" in 1995.

A Howard University spokesman declined to comment on the case.

U.S. officials say they similarly have tracked Hezbollah in this country since the early 1980s. That is when the group kidnapped a number of Americans in Beirut, and was involved in bombings of U.S. embassy buildings and a Marine barracks there. U.S. officials say Hezbollah helped train al Qaeda members in explosives before they bombed U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998.

"Hezbollah may be the A-team of terrorists," Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage said last year. "They have a blood debt to us. . . . We're not going to forget it."

Abu Nahidian, the director of the Manassas Mosque in Virginia, said recently that area Muslims who dispatch money to clerics close to Hezbollah in Lebanon have come under scrutiny by the FBI. He added that agents don't understand it is a religious obligation to give alms to religious charities requesting help.

"They're listening and asking questions," Nahidian said, and "people have been badly harassed" by the FBI.

He also said U.S. agents should have understood that a man named Mohamad Hammoud was acting on religious impulses when he sent money to Hezbollah-linked charities in the 1990s. But a federal jury in Charlotte disagreed, and last June it convicted Hammoud of funneling profits to Hezbollah from a huge cigarette smuggling operation he ran. U.S. officials say compatriots also arranged delivery of military equipment, such as stun guns and night-vision goggles, to Hezbollah.

Agents are also looking into the possible Hezbollah ties of Detroit resident Ali Nasrallah, who was convicted in 1999 of helping to run one of the nation's biggest credit card scams.

After Sept. 11, 2001, federal agents reopened the case. It could not be learned whether officials are relying on FISA files in the new probe, but Tom Matuszak, the local prosecutor who put Nasrallah in prison four years ago, said, "This is no longer a credit card case; it's a terrorism case."

David Steingold, Nasrallah's attorney, said his client "has absolutely no knowledge of Hezbollah."

Staff writer Dan Eggen contributed to this report.

If you would like to be removed from this mailing list or if you prefer to receive these notices by fax please let us know.

The Investigative Project
202-363-8602
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articles@ctnews.org

IFES

elections • rule of law • civil society • governance

AUG 2 5 2003

August 20, 2003

Dr. Henry Kissinger
Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.
350 Park Avenue
26th Floor
New York, NY 10022

Dear Dr. Kissinger:

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), we extend a cordial invitation for you to become a member of the new IFES Public Advisory Council. We have enclosed information about IFES for your review.

Over the past 16 years, IFES has worked in more than 120 countries in the fields of elections, civil society, rule of law and governance. We are looking forward to Professor Allen Weinstein and members of his staff at The Center for Democracy (CFD) joining the IFES team as of September 1, 2003. They will be a great addition to our IFES family. Allen will also serve on the Public Advisory Council as an ex-officio member.

We invite you to join us for a dinner with the IFES Board of Directors at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, September 8, 2003, at the University Club in Washington. The purpose of the dinner is to welcome our colleagues from The Center for Democracy who will serve on the new IFES Public Advisory Council, as well as new members on the IFES Board from CFD.

You are also invited to participate in the IFES Board meeting on Tuesday, September 9, 2003, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We look forward to working with you and Allen to build upon the legacy of The Center for Democracy and move forward together as part of the IFES team.

Richard W. Soudriette
President

Enclosures (2)

### BOARD OF DIRECTORS

William J. Hybl
Chairman

Peter G. Kelly
Vice Chairman

Leon J. Weil

Secretary

Joseph Napolitan

Treasurer

Judy A. Black

Judy G. Fernald

Patricia Hutar

Lesley Israel

Lionel C. Johnson

Maureen A. Kindel

Jean-Pierre Kingsley

R. Scott Pastrick

Michael Pinto-Duschinsky

T. Timothy Ryan

Robert H. Tuttle

Paul DeGregorio
Executive Vice President

Randal C. Teague

Counsel

### DIRECTORS EMERITI

James M. Cannon

Dame Eugenia Charles

Charles T. Manatt

Peter McPherson

### HONORARY DIRECTOR

Mrs. F. Clifton White

1101 15th Street, N.W.
Third Floor
Washington, D.C. 20005

Tel: 202.828.8507

Fax: 202.452.0804

www.IFES.org

EXTENDING THE REACH OF DEMOCRACY

SEP-11-2003 15:54

IFES

202 822 9744

P.02

INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ELECTION SYSTEMS

1101 15th Street NW, 3rd Floor - Washington, DC 20005 USA - (202) 828-8507 - Fax (202) 452-0804 - www.ifes.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Keenan Howell

202-496-4186

khowell@ifes.org

Former Center for Democracy President Allen Weinstein Joins IFES

*Plus, Four New Members Appointed to IFES Board of Directors*

Washington, DC – September 11, 2003 – Professor Allen Weinstein, former president of The Center for Democracy and a senior figure in the global democracy promotion community, joined IFES on September 2, 2003, as Senior Advisor for Democratic Institutions.

Professor Weinstein founded The Center for Democracy (CFD) in December 1984 and has served at its president for nearly two decades. In 1983, he served as Project Director for the non-partisan group that designed the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and then served as Acting President of the Endowment until a President was selected.

"Joining IFES cements nearly a year of increasingly close collaboration between CFD and IFES," said Prof. Weinstein. "The global networks and program activities built by CFD since 1984 will clearly yield substantive fruits when combined with IFES' comprehensive program and research capacity."

The Center for Democracy, which closed its doors on August 15, 2003, was a democratic assistance organization undertaking high-profile assignments in virtually all parts of the world. Most of its funding came from private sources—individuals, foundations, and corporations. Several of The Center's flagship programs, including the International Judicial Conference that has brought together Supreme Court justices from around the world annually for the past 11 years, will now continue under IFES sponsorship.

"Professor Weinstein's presence at IFES will significantly boost our core strengths, diversify our access to funding sources, and enable IFES to respond with unparalleled creativity to the challenges facing democratic institutions at this turbulent time," said Bill Hybl, Chairman of the IFES Board of Directors. "Allen is truly a giant in the field of democracy promotion, and we are privileged to have him join our team."

Four former members of The Center's board of directors will now join the IFES board: Robert L. Livingston, former congressman and current President of the Livingston Group; Barbara Kennelly, former congresswoman and current President of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare; Frederick P. Furth, Esq., Senior Partner with the San Francisco-based Furth firm and CEO of Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards and Winery; and Kathleen M. Linehan, Esq., Vice President of Altria Corporate Services in Washington, DC.

###

IFES provides professional advice and technical assistance in the promotion of democracy worldwide and serves
as a resource for information on governance, rule of law, civil society, and elections.

TOTAL P.02

To Henry Kissinger

From PNAC

09/11/03 1:43pm

SEP 12 2003

PROJECT FOR THE
NEW AMERICAN CENTURY

DIRECTORS

WILLIAM KRISTOL, CHAIRMAN

ROBERT KAGAN

BRUCE P. JACKSON

LEWIS E. LEHRMAN

MARK GERSON

RANDY SCHEUNEMANN

GARY SCHMITT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

September 11, 2003

MEMORANDUM TO: OPINION LEADERS

FROM: ELLEN BORK, Deputy Director

SUBJECT: U.S. Policy on Tibet

Over the past several years, Tibet has received greater and higher level attention from the United States than in the past. A special position for Tibetan affairs was created within the State Department under the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration filled the job with the highest ranking official yet. Nevertheless, U.S. policy has not progressed beyond a mantra-like expression of support for "the preservation of Tibet's unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity," the "human rights of all Tibetans" and "substantive dialogue" between China and the Dalai Lama.

Of course, Tibetans cannot achieve these goals without political rights. Nor can they resist the threat from Beijing's population transfers of ethnic Chinese, economic marginalization of Tibetans, extensive environmental degradation and the militarization of the Tibetan plateau. These problems will only be intensified by Beijing's Western development initiative that includes a railroad connecting Lhasa with Qinghai province.

Confining U.S. policy to questions of "identity" and "dialogue" also neglects the geostrategic implications of China's subjugation of Tibet and the rest of China's far West. Recently, China has begun trying to restore its influence in Central Asia which waned in the aftermath of September 11. Access to Central Asian oil is increasingly important to China. To the South, it is cultivating India, Nepal and Burma, through which it seeks access to the Indian Ocean.

A U.S. policy on Tibet that does not address these issues and fails to exert pressure on China to allow true autonomy and self-rule for Tibetans is nothing more than photo-op diplomacy.

1150 17TH STREET NW, SUITE 510, WASHINGTON, DC 20036 • (202) 293-4983 FAX (202) 293-4572

SEP 12 2003

The NEW YORK Sun

Weekend Edition, September 12-14, 2003

## Two Years Later...

By STEVEN MALANGA

Twelve months ago, as New York paused to remember those who had lost their lives in the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, it was hard to be hopeful about rebuilding downtown Manhattan. No-growth activists dominated the debate about what should go up where the World Trade Center once stood, and their vision of downtown excluded a vigorous commercial revival in favor of a gigantic memorial site, cultural uses, and parkland.

Today, on the second anniversary of the bombing, the outlook is rosier. Impelled by business leaders' concerns, Governor Pataki has jumpstarted the downtown planning process and helped focus it on a vigorous rebuilding of the commercial district. The resulting plan, while far from perfect, includes a welcome pledge to build up to 10 million square feet of office and retail space on the site, as well as a new hotel. The state is also moving ahead energetically with plans to restore and upgrade transportation to the downtown area, including building a new transit center on Fulton Street to link the subway and PATH lines. Having heard persistently from business leaders that better transportation is essential to Lower Manhattan's revival, state officials are also considering other worthy new transportation projects, such as providing rail access between downtown and the city's airports. And the state has committed to some sensible short-term improvements, targeted at helping businesses now operating in Lower Manhattan — adding new pedestrian walkways, for example, and re-opening some of the streets closed since Sep-

tember 11, 2001. The planning process has actually advanced to the point that Larry Silverstein, the developer who controls the site and who has doggedly fought to have it redeveloped, has put his architects to work on designing the first of the towers that will rise from ground zero.

All good news. But the past year has also served as a reminder that any downtown revival also depends on a resurgence of New York City's economy as a whole — and there the outlook is much more troubling. New York remains mired in a recession that it can no longer blame

> New York's economic momentum might come to a halt.

solely on the terrorist attack. Since the initial job losses immediately after September 11, 2001, New York has hemorrhaged an additional 100,000 jobs in businesses ranging from motion picture production to apparel manufacturing to telecommunications to business services to, of course, finance.

Rather than lifting the private economy out of its steep fall, politicians have only piled new burdens on an already over-taxed and over-regulated private sector. In the past year, even as businesses faced economic uncertainty because of the war in Iraq and continuing questions about the city's future as a business center after September 11, 2001, Mayor

Bloomberg, encouraged by a political culture in the city that has shifted sharply left, imposed heavy new taxes and regulations on companies — adding up to the most anti-business agenda enacted in the city in more than a decade. The mayor also proved unable or unwilling to extract any significant concessions out of the city's workforce that could help reduce the cost of government, lessen the tax burden, and provide some long-term budget stability for the city.

Even more troubling, it seems unlikely that any relief is on the way. The left-wing contingent that now dominates the City Council is cooking up a whole host of new laws that will make doing business in New York even tougher. And if the city's budget fixes of the past year — including billions in new taxes — don't succeed in plugging Gotham's big deficit, still higher taxes might be on the way, especially given New York's current political culture.

These days, some still say: "If you build it, they will come." New York, which has spent the last 50 years stuck in a continuing cycle of boom and bust that has resulted in no lasting job growth, should know that such clichés simply aren't true. The economic momentum that September 11, 2001, slowed could simply halt if city government's hostility to enterprise persists. If New York's political leaders don't figure this out soon, the long and trying process of rebuilding Lower Manhattan will have been wasted.

Mr. Malanga is a contributing editor of City Journal, from whose Web site, www.city-journal.com, this piece was adapted.

09/12/03 09:81

MANHATTAN INST. POLI->Kissinger & Associat/Dr. Henry A. Kissin

001

WORKING WITH THE TIDE OF HISTORY

Fifteen years ago, F. Clifton White created IFES, an organization dedicated to performing the practical tasks necessary for the spread, support and strengthening of democracy. With dust from the fallen Berlin Wall still settling, he wrote: "The collapse of communism has ushered in an era of tremendous opportunity, and great risks as well. In the years and decades ahead, we may witness an explosion of freedom and democracy on a scale unprecedented in human history, or be victimized by a long period of civil, political and economic upheaval." Wholeheartedly believing in the benefits of freedom, Mr. White wanted to do more than hope for the triumph of democracy.

During 15 years of carrying out its mission, IFES has worked in more than 100 countries with a vast diversity of people and cultures. In our initial efforts, we concentrated on providing the basic tools needed to hold elections. IFES encouraged electoral commissions, helped design get-out-the-vote campaigns, advised legislatures on drafting new electoral codes, trained poll workers, procured ballots, equipped polling stations and did everything we could to make sure that, come Election Day, the essential mechanisms of democracy would be in place.

Elections, it turns out, are often merely the most visible manifestations of a democracy.

As the idea of elections gained a secure foothold and new democracies began to mature, their needs naturally became more complex. Other, less visible elements must be present in a society if democracy is to take root. These elements include an active civil society, a just rule of law and public officials capable of honest and competent governance. As we pursue our mission to extend the reach of democracy worldwide, we are now working in four areas—rule of law, civil society, governance and elections—which we see as the necessary pillars of democracy.

Today we face the same challenge F. Clifton White spoke of 15 years ago. Just as Mr. White was not content to merely hope for the triumph of democracy, so the organization that he created is not content to watch this struggle from the sidelines. The key to the success of IFES has always been our people and their respectful and cooperative approach to fostering freedom in emerging democracies across the globe. IFES has labored long for freedom and democracy, and we are committed to continue our efforts to extend the reach of democracy worldwide.

William J. Hybl
Chairman

Peter G. Kelly
Vice Chairman

2

ELECTIONS

Elections are the cornerstone of democracy, and over the past 20 years the practice of regular elections has become ever more widespread around the world. Nevertheless, it is possible to have the mechanics of democracy without the substance. Problems persist, both in mature democracies and in nations emerging from authoritarianism, oligarchy or ethnic strife. IFES has witnessed how technical fixes—for instance, adopting a new voting technology or electoral code—may be important first steps, but are rarely effective alone. The ongoing problems in the United States illustrate that the conduct of elections is not a task that can be achieved and perfected once and for all. Rather, it is more of an art, requiring the constant assessment and reevaluation of technique and approach. The success of the enterprise often rests on its nontangible elements: the attitudes, motivations and understandings of voters and election officials.

That is why IFES has always placed great emphasis on the human side of the electoral process. Much responsibility rests on the shoulders of election officials, and fostering a sense of professionalism, collegial loyalty and ethical principle among them is the front line for the advancement of democracy in many nations. To address this need, IFES has helped launch several professional associations of election officials worldwide, including the Association of African Election Authorities, the Association of Asian Election Authorities, the Association of Caribbean Electoral

Organizations, the Association of Central and Eastern European Election Officials and the Association of Election Officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In Albania, international observers noted after recent parliamentary elections that the principal source of irregularities was political party interference with local election commissions. IFES' response has been to assist the Central Election Commission to launch an association of Albanian election officials. Commission members are trained in election law, administrative procedures and voting technologies. They also learn to promote public confidence in the electoral process by displaying independence and impartiality in their relations with civil society groups, political parties and the media.

A similar problem recently confronted IFES in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. Election officials in Nigeria's 774 local districts had to be trained to conduct a voter registration exercise and prepare for state and federal elections in 2003. The logistics and expense of the task seemed prohibitive until IFES, with support from USAID, designed the *Basic Election Administration Training (BEAT)* course, which was delivered in each of Nigeria's state capitals over a two-week period. The course covered the basic elements of the election administration profession, with particular emphasis on ethical principles for a fair electoral process.

Election administrators everywhere face the critical challenge of expanding the franchise—making sure that women, minorities, people with disabilities and other traditionally marginalized groups are able to exercise their electoral rights. Under a disabilities project funded by the governments of Finland and Sweden, IFES has launched several initiatives to promote the electoral rights of people with disabilities. In Sierra Leone, IFES helped design a tactile ballot guide that enabled blind voters to vote in secret for the first time in Africa. A new website, www.electionaccess.org, features such model programs as well as articles, links and other resources on the voting rights of people with disabilities.

The passage of landmark electoral reform legislation in the United States in 2002 opens the door for IFES to apply its extensive international experience in efforts to improve elections at home. IFES has already taken steps in this direction. We joined the Center for Democracy to conduct assessment and observation missions in Miami-Dade County for the November 2002 general elections, and we delivered long-term recommendations for improving elections in the county. We conducted a similar mission to the City of St. Louis prior to the November 2002 election. We are eager to continue contributing our expertise to make the U.S. electoral system a model of which we can be proud.

4

The well-being of democracies regardless of their type and status is dependent on one small technical detail: the right to vote. Everything else is secondary.

José Ortega y Gasset

5

RULE OF LAW

IFES has learned that efforts to promote justice must be homegrown and include the grass roots. Elites who benefit from the status quo can rarely be counted on to carry out significant judicial reforms without strong civil society engagement and oversight. A good case in point is the situation in Haiti. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, hundreds of millions of dollars were spent in reform efforts focused on a narrow agenda and a small cadre of government officials. Today, although the Haitian constitution enshrines the principle of judicial independence, the judiciary continues to be subservient to the other branches of government. The consequences are felt throughout Haitian society. The inconsistent application of the law jeopardizes investment security, contractual enforcement, property rights and other fundamental human rights.

Judicial independence cannot be achieved without a strong constituency for reform among judicial professionals and civil society organizations. With this in mind, USAID and IFES have launched a project to build broad coalitions across Haitian society to generate popular demand for judicial reform and the rule of law. The initiative's name in Creole, *Konbit pou Mamman Law—a 2004* (Come Together for the Constitution in 2004), draws on popular anticipation of Haiti's bicentennial of independence in 2004.

The integrated, participatory approach applied in Haiti is the outcome of intensive research

and analysis, which IFES has organized and compiled into a Rule of Law Toolkit, a set of programmatic tools, checklists, working papers and other resources designed to foster the independent, impartial and professional functioning of the judiciary. The materials are geared to a variety of audiences, including members of the judiciary, advocacy groups, academics, policy makers, the media, donors, business associations and the general public. The Toolkit provides citizens with strategies and resources to protect and exercise their legal rights, develop coalitions and broaden the base of support for judicial reforms. It also assists reformers and donors to assess, prioritize, design and monitor reform efforts.

The Toolkit is based on a global research program conducted by IFES in partnership with USAID to identify, organize and strategically assess the essential components of judicial impartiality. The research program resulted in the publication in January 2002 of *Guidance for Promoting Judicial Independence and Impartiality*, a compendium of consensus findings, best practices, global and regional norms, lessons learned and comparative data gleaned from surveys, thematic papers, roundtables and the contributions of numerous pro bono advisors. IFES and others are now using this Toolkit as a guidepost for judicial reform programming in locations as diverse as Haiti, Egypt, Malawi, Peru and the Caucasus.

Justice also requires equitable enforcement of laws, regulations and court decisions. As a complement to *Guidance for Promoting Judicial Impartiality*, IFES is currently preparing a second global report on the barriers to judicial enforcement in developing countries. It will outline the high costs of arbitrary, cumbersome enforcement procedures and will identify emerging enforcement norms required to effect long-overlooked reforms in this area.

Another significant study, to be released in 2003, is being prepared for the Inter-American Development Bank on the legal and financial obstacles to small business development in developing countries. Taking Peru as a case study, this report will outline the key cost and access issues that must be addressed in order to formalize property and contract rights, promote economic growth and investment, and establish a rule-of-law culture.

Other recent or ongoing rule-of-law efforts include a project to train and mentor public defenders in East Timor, a series of commercial law seminars for Moroccan administrative and commercial tribunals, a two-year project to enhance popular awareness of the ongoing peace process and its impact on the rule of law in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and regional conferences on judicial independence in Honduras, Malawi and Egypt.

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CIVIL SOCIETY

Over the last two decades, the widespread diffusion of knowledge and the technical means for its dissemination and analysis have opened potent new channels for political expression by previously marginalized sectors of society. Large segments of the world's population, once inert in the face of social, political and economic forces beyond their control, are now discovering the power of their collective will and their own innate capacity to drive change. The transformation of the peoples of the world— their growing self-awareness and political maturity—is in turn transforming the practice of international development. Whereas 20 years ago Western “experts” drove the development agenda, with mixed results, today’s leaders are emerging from the matrix of their societies and giving voice to a rich diversity of development concepts and approaches.

IFES has watched civil society come of age with a mixture of wonder and pride. At the heart of IFES' efforts around the world has always been the goal of passing on the torch to a new generation of leaders in the countries in which it works. Many IFES field offices have matured into autonomous and self-sustaining organizations. Examples include CENTRAS, the successor of the IFES field office in Romania, which now provides technical assistance to Romanian NGOs and organizes an annual NGO forum; ADEPT, a similar organization that emerged from a five-year IFES project in Moldova; IESD, the successor to the IFES field office in Russia; the Global-Kontakt

Foundation, an NGO in Bosnia founded by former staff of an IFES civic education project that ended in mid-2001; and the Association of Election Officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina (AEOBiH), a professional association founded by IFES that now operates independently.

We have learned along the way to achieve results by giving people access to the tools and resources they need—and standing aside. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we have opened Democracy Resource Centers to support the transition to sustainable peace. Freely open to everyone, these centers offer print and electronic resources on all aspects of civil society and democracy building. More importantly, they are serving as gathering places for civil society groups to meet and strategize about their collective efforts. IFES has opened nearly a dozen other similar centers from Eastern Europe to Central Asia.

In Armenia, IFES civic education instructors travel the country, organizing citizen groups and providing the training and resources they need to engage effectively in the political process. By providing guides to laws and government agencies, and linking these to local needs and issues, IFES is helping to unleash the power of an informed and proactive citizenry. Our London-based affiliate, IFES Limited, conducted a similar project in Kosovo, reaching out to ethnic

communities and training women, youth and the disabled to advocate for their own interests under Kosovo's new government.

Recognizing that an attitude of pluralism and civic participation must be imbued from youth, IFES has focused its efforts in Central Asia on introducing civic education curricula in secondary schools. Under an agreement with the Ministry of Education of Kazakhstan, IFES produced a civic education textbook and teachers' guide for the nation's secondary schools. After pilot testing, the textbook was introduced in schools nationwide in both the Kazakh and Russian languages. The school curriculum is supplemented with a number of extracurricular activities. Each year, IFES organizes several Democracy Summer Camps, ten-day retreats that provide intensive, hands-on training in civic participation. The outcome of these summer camps has been the creation of Student Action Committees, organizations through which students themselves initiate, develop and administer projects to address concerns in their local communities.

IFES also organizes Student Local Government Days for students to spend a day observing local government officials on the job and an annual Civic Education Olympiad to recognize top-performing students and teachers. These integrated programs are being successfully implemented throughout Central Asia and provide a model for nurturing a new generation of citizens and leaders in democracy.

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GOVERNANCE

Governance refers to the sum total of institutions, laws, mores and principles that enable human societies to flourish. IFES has helped governments at all levels—national, regional and local—to streamline and professionalize all aspects of public administration, including civil registration, decentralization, institution building and delivery of public services.

Corruption, the misuse of public influence or resources for private gain, is perhaps the most prevalent obstacle to good governance throughout the world. IFES has responded to this challenge by promoting transparency and access to information as the cornerstone of efforts to improve the quality of governance. In Indonesia, IFES was instrumental in the creation of a 24-hour television channel carrying live proceedings of the Indonesian parliament. Known as SWARA, an Indonesian acronym for Voice of the People's Representatives, the channel and a companion website have revolutionized public awareness and understanding of the workings of government. The Indonesian media draw extensively on SWARA for their public affairs and news programming.

One area where disclosure of information is critical is political finance. Although it affects elections most directly, integrity and transparency in political financing is ultimately a cross-cutting issue that lies at the core of good governance. In many countries, the relevant data, scattered in official bulletins

and publications, is difficult to compile and analyze. Through its Money and Politics (MAP) program, IFES is developing new tools to track the money, using Microsoft Access and the dot-net platform for a model database that can be customized for use in any country. IFES works with an implementing partner to adapt the database to each country's particular legal and regulatory environment. Political parties, civil society organizations and the media are offered training on how to use the database to monitor political finance. To date, the program is being implemented in Bolivia, Lithuania, Romania and other countries.

To be effective, governance must be adaptable. The evolving conditions of a society often require the design and implementation of new procedures, institutions and legal frameworks. This was the case in Azerbaijan, where an entirely new municipal level of government was created in 1999. The newly elected councils lacked a clear mandate, a complete legal framework, and the skills to provide effective services to their constituents. IFES helped address these deficits in municipal development at the national level by advising Azeri officials on how to improve the legal framework for the municipal councils. On the local level, IFES works closely with nine targeted municipalities to promote a model of community development that engages both the councils and citizen stakeholders.

Some of the most heart-wrenching failures of governance in recent years have involved the collapse of whole societies in a maelstrom of ethnic or tribal violence. At the heart of many post-conflict peacekeeping operations has been the effort to create new political processes and patterns of governance to which the parties in conflict can subscribe. Elections have been considered important elements of this effort, and IFES has offered technical assistance for post-conflict elections in Angola (1992), Mozambique (1994), El Salvador (1994), Haiti (1995), Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996), Liberia (1997), Eastern Slavonia (1997), Kosovo (2000) and Sierra Leone (2002).

But post-conflict governance involves much more than elections. Other mechanisms are often required to prevent a relapse of violence, including truth commissions and new systems of local governance in areas of dispute. IFES is making post-conflict governance a dedicated field of study, combining the best of its extensive field experience with the latest academic research to develop comprehensive strategies for post-conflict interventions. This approach is being put to the test in Afghanistan. In 2002, IFES joined the Consortium for Response to the Afghanistan Transition to assess ways for the international community to support the Afghan transition. In 2003, IFES is providing technical assistance to the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Afghan government to prepare for general elections slated for 2004.

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After 15 years of making democracy work, IFES has refined its focus. This year, our Board of Directors approved a staff-led strategic plan to make IFES, currently the world's leader in election assistance, the global leader in democracy promotion. To reach this goal, IFES will broaden its programming, produce cutting-edge research and information resources, and forge partnerships with new constituencies.

IFES upholds democracy as the preferred form of government, yet we recognize that its precise forms and mechanisms will continue to evolve according to time, place and culture. As highlighted in this report, we are building four interdependent program areas that comprise the foundation of healthy, functioning democracies: elections, rule of law, civil society and governance. The IFES strategic plan calls for consolidating our well-established expertise in electoral assistance while increasing the number, breadth and capacity of programs in each of the three other areas.

After being focused almost entirely overseas from the time of our founding, IFES is now rendering a real service in the United States. Following the passage of the *Help America Vote Act of 2002*, we are eager to help jurisdictions across America with the challenges of adopting new technologies, meeting federal standards, and educating voters and poll workers.

Another new focus for IFES is the Arab world, a region of tremendous human potential

that will benefit greatly from releasing the power of its citizenry through more open political systems. IFES has a track record as a trusted advisor in this region. We have worked in Yemen since 1993, where we helped form the Arab world's only permanent independent electoral commission. We are opening a field office in Bahrain, and we continue to build on our relationships in West Bank/Gaza, Qatar, Oman and Morocco.

With the F. Clifton White Resource Center and a team of experienced senior advisors on staff, IFES is poised to establish itself as a primary source of cross-cutting research and policy analysis in democracy development. Efforts are underway to design strategies for post-conflict governance, to promote the political participation of people with disabilities, and to produce a Toolkit of rule-of-law programs and strategies. Our senior advisors also mentor graduate students who come to IFES each summer under the Hybl and Manatt Democracy Studies Fellowship Programs.

IFES extends democracy's reach through outreach programs targeting international media, international NGOs, U.S. government staff, and an extensive network of election officials and democracy advocates. We sponsor panel discussions and other events that enable democracy advocates to reach a wide audience and speak frankly about

issues they could not discuss in their own countries.

IFES websites and publications are another platform for democracy leaders. These publications include our quarterly magazine, *Elections Today*, a White Paper series, and Web-based products like the *Arab Election Law Compendium*. Other IFES products, such as the *IFES Buyer's Guide to Election Suppliers* and the *Administration and Cost of Elections (ACE) Project*, have become standard reference works for election officials around the globe. These and other resources are made available to the public through our regional democracy resource centers, which also serve as meeting places for local democracy advocates.

Finally, under the leadership of our Strategic Business Development division, we are committed to broadening our valued partnerships with USAID, DFID, SIDA, FINNIDA, the UNDP and other funders. With our new strategic plan in place, IFES will offer more products with the same independent, responsive, research-based project development on which our partners have come to rely. While the challenges to democracy may seem daunting at times, we are confident that the irrepressible human longing for freedom and self-determination will find its expression. We at IFES feel a deep solidarity with those who are seeking a better way of life, and ultimately, we feel a sense of balanced optimism. We are working with the tide of history.

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Did you, too, O friend, suppose democracy was only for elections, for politics, and for a party name?

I say democracy is only of use there that it may pass on and come to its flower and fruit in manners, in the highest forms of interaction between [people], and their beliefs—in religion, literature, colleges and schools—democracy in all public and private life.

Walt Whitman

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IFES BOARD OF DIRECTORS
& SENIOR STAFF

IFES BOARD OF DIRECTORS

William J. Hybl, Chairman
Peter G. Kelly, Vice Chairman
Leon J. Weil, Secretary
Joseph Napolitan, Treasurer
Judy Black
Dame Eugenia Charles
Judy G. Fernald
Patricia Hutar
Lesley Israel
Lionel C. Johnson
Maureen Kindel
Jean-Pierre Kingsley
R. Scott Pastrick
Michael Pinto-Duschinsky
T. Timothy Ryan
Robert H. Tuttle

DIRECTORS EMERITI

James M. Cannon
Charles T. Manatt
Peter McPherson

HONORARY DIRECTOR

Mrs. F. Clifton White

COUNSEL

Randal C. Teague

IFES SENIOR STAFF

EXECUTIVES

Richard W. Soudriette, President
Paul DeGregorio, Executive Vice President

DIRECTORS

Thomas C. Bayer, Director of Programs,
Africa & Near East

Stephen Connolly, Senior Director,
Operations

Patricio F. Gajardo, Director of Programs,
Americas

Scott R. Lansell, Director of Programs,
Europe & Eurasia and Coordinator for
U.S. Election Assistance Initiatives

Tracey Merchant, Director of Finance

Pearl Mihara, Director of Human Resources

Mary Lou Schramm, Director of Programs,
Asia

Dorin Tudoran, Director of Research &
Communications

SENIOR ADVISORS

Joe Baxter, Senior Advisor on Elections

Jeffrey Fischer, Senior Advisor on
Governance

Keith Henderson, Senior Advisor on
Rule of Law

Jerry Mindes, Senior Advisor on Disabilities

IFES AFFILIATE

IFES Limited
London, United Kingdom
Simon Clarke, Chief Executive Officer

IFES FIELD OFFICES

Kabul, Afghanistan

Tirana, Albania

Yerevan, Armenia

Baku, Azerbaijan

Manama, Bahrain

Cotonou, Benin

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bujumbura, Burundi

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Tblisi, Georgia

Conakry, Guinea

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Jakarta, Indonesia

Almaty, Kazakhstan

Nairobi, Kenya

Priština, Kosovo

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Skopje, Macedonia

Rabat, Morocco

Abuja, Nigeria

Freetown, Sierra Leone

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Sana'a, Yemen

Patricia Hutar stepped down after two years as chair of the board. IFES deeply appreciates her vision and leadership, and we are grateful that she will continue to serve on the board and as chair of IFES Limited, the IFES affiliate in London. IFES is also very grateful for the services and contributions of our departing board members, Barbara Boggs, Sharol Siemens and William Sweeney, Jr.

IFES recognizes the hard work and dedication of Juliana G. Pilon, former Vice President for Programs and Senior Advisor on Civil Society, and David Tikkala, former Vice President for Finance, during their long and valued tenure at IFES.

14

["IFES WORLDWIDE TEAM", "Oksanna Abrahamian", "Elmira Abdullayeva", "Ulker Agamirzoyeva", "Saeed Ahmed", "Abdul-Qawi Ahmed", "Artur Aivazyan", "Alice Alaverdian", "Mahdi Albart", "Dinora Aleksi", "Šeja Alisic", "Viola Alku", "Hanan Al-Medwahi", "Rabab Al-Medwahi", "Lazhar Aloui", "Mohamed Al-Saffi", "Ali Alwahti", "Alpha Amadou Bah", "Adhy S. Aman", "Wadah Amed", "Farah Amini", "Erni Andriani", "Alvaro Antonian", "Koutin Apollinaire", "Zarko Ardjelan", "Eldaniz Asadov", "Phebean Ashley", "Bolanle Asimolowo", "Philip Asoh", "Marcel Assignname", "Vlatko Atanasov", "Gerald Augustin", "Bradley Austin", "Violaine Autheman", "Farangis Azizova", "Mkrtich Babayan", "Eldar Babayev", "Aleksandra Babic", "Concessa Bacanamwo", "Kamran Baghirov", "Dickson Bailey", "Astghik Bakhalbashyan", "Oleg Bakhmutov", "Tatiana Bakpe", "Karlygash Balapanova", "Edwidge Balutansky", "George Baratashvili", "Benjamin Barhinjibawa", "Salamata Barry", "Janice-Daphne Bassi", "Dana Beegun", "Micheline Begin", "Majlinda Beqiri", "Natia Berdzenishvili", "Kellie Bethke", "Marat Bigaliev", "Joseph Bigirumwami", "Virginia Bishop", "Almaz Bizhigitov", "Daniel Blessington", "Lisa Blonder", "Knarick Boryan", "Aidar Botagarov", "Michelle Bovich", "Anthony Bowyer", "Rebecca Brabec", "Jeffrey Brady", "Edwina Bundy", "Monique Burhama", "Nabintu", "Elizabeth Burke", "Victor Butler", "Jeffrey Carlson", "Ada Castilla", "Roseline Chilaka", "Catherine Clinger", "Marguerite Colston", "Laurie Cooper", "Elizabeth Cote", "Almami Cyllah", "Gayane Danieliyan", "Akbar Dashdamirov", "Yulia Daskevich", "Hilary Dauer", "Albert Decie III", "Jean Jacques", "Descartes", "Yulianto Dewata", "Cheick Diakité", "Jasmina Dimitrievska", "Admira Dini", "Zhanna Dokholyan", "Gilles Dovonou", "Zvjezdana Dragovic", "Bojan Dumaloski", "Marceau Edouard Jr.", "Sandra Elena", "Paul-Albert Emoungu", "Cynthia Epler", "Alfiya Fattahova", "Doreen Faulkner", "Sara Feinstein", "Ashot Felikian", "Chedomir Flego", "Bakary Fofana", "Glen Fullmer", "Bakhtiyor Gadoev", "Pablo Galarde", "Bret Gardner", "Ashot Gareginian", "Margarita", "Ghazakhetyan", "Tigran Ghazaryan", "Sabina Gjebrea", "Thanas Goga", "Maya Gogoladze", "Bernard Gousse", "Sayora Grezova", "Irena Hadziabdic", "Beverly Hagerdon", "Thakur", "Anna Hakobian", "Manuk Hakobian", "Sutrisno Halim", "Joshua Haring", "Zhanna Harutiunian", "Didie T. Hasan", "Ada Hasenova", "Lilit Hasratian", "Felician Hatungimana", "Mario Henriquez", "Mathias Hounkpe", "Nara Hovhannissian", "Keenan Howell", "Linda Hubbard", "Ruth Ann Hudson", "Mirali Huseynov", "Sardar Huseynov", "Vugar Huseynov", {"bbox": [480,