How healthy is Democracy in the Commonwealth?/Combien la democratie est-elle solide au sein du Commonwealth?Today, 13 March, we once again celebrate Commonwealth Day with this year's theme being Health and Vitality'. Whilst many things can be said about both health and vitality, another important question springs to mind: 'How healthy is democracy in Commonwealth countries?' Four months after the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, abbreviated to CHOGM, is a biennial summit meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations. Every two years the meeting is held in a different member state, and is chaired by that nation's respective Prime (CHOGM CHOGM Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting ) held in Malta, the answer to this question arguably ar·gu·a·ble adj. 1. Open to argument: an arguable question, still unresolved. 2. That can be argued plausibly; defensible in argument: three arguable points of law. varies from country to country--but overall the answer is not as positive as it should be. Many countries are still in the same dire situation, whilst others are actually in a worse state than before. Amongst the concerns which trigger the above question is the fact that the health of democracy seems to be faltering not only in countries which have in the past struggled with the notion of democracy, but even in countries with a strong tradition of democracy such as the United Kingdom and Australia. In all fairness, not all has been negative. For example, Swaziland's long awaited new constitution has finally come into force--thanks to the intervention of the Commonwealth. Despite the fact that this constitution has been criticised by civil society groups for not being as strong as it could have been, it must be acknowledged that this is nevertheless a small but positive step forward for the country. But for every semi-successful story are many far less positive ones. One of the countries of major concern is Uganda, the host country for the next CHOGM, which will be held in 2007. The run up to the first multi-party elections in over twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. has been marred by acts of intimidation against members of the opposition and the voting public. The most serious incidents have been the arrest of the opposition leader, Dr. K. Besigye, and the fact that hundreds of voters were allegedly not allowed to vote in the elections. In terms of democracy and human rights, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration, abbreviated to CMAG, is a group of representatives of members of the Commonwealth of Nations that is responsible for upholding the Harare Declaration. (CMAG CMAG Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group CMAG Campaign Media Analysis Group CMAG Case Management Adherence Guidelines CMAG Cruise Missile Advanced Guidance CMAG Configuration Management Advisory Group ) is the most effective (but often underused) mechanism at the disposal of the Commonwealth. Pakistan is the only country on its agenda and is being kept under close observation. The progress made in the country has been very slow and many question whether the move from a regime government to a democratic government really is genuinely taking place. Yet Pakistan is not the only country where the principles of democracy are not being respected and perhaps it is time that a few more countries end up on CMAG agenda. One country that might easily be on its agenda is the Maldives. The Maldivian President has promised democratic political reforms for his country. Over the past year, for instance, opposition parties have finally been allowed to register, and a multi-party election has been promised. These are positive signs and widespread reforms obviously take time to become reality. Some however question whether the reforms exist more on paper than in practice. For instance, while political parties can now be registered, unfortunately prominent opposition members have been jailed. The independent media has also come under fire when they have criticised the President and his government. In such a climate, it is not surprising that observers question whether everything possible is being done to allow democracy to flourish. The Maldives is just one of many Commonwealth countries where the independent media is harassed by the authorities. Just two weeks ago, Kenya witnessed raids on print and television media in what can be deemed as a shocking and violent new tactic by the Kenyan government to quiet the voice of the media and limit freedom of expression. Minority groups in Bangladesh complain that their rights are being breached and that the government is doing little to help them. They also claim to have problems with getting their opinion published in the media. There is also much concern over the ever-rising religious intolerance Religious intolerance is either intolerance motivated by one's own religious beliefs or intolerance against another's religious beliefs or practices. It manifests both at a cultural level, but may also be a formal part of the dogma of particular religious groups. in the country, leading to problems for minority groups. It is impossible to have a strong democracy when the rights of minorities are not respected. The notion of independence of the judicial has also been questioned in several countries. The Gambia Bar Association recently urged the Chief Justice to resign due to what it perceived as an unprecedented breakdown of the judiciary judiciary Branch of government in which judicial power is vested. The principal work of any judiciary is the adjudication of disputes or controversies. Regulations govern what parties are allowed before a judicial assembly, or court, what evidence will be admitted, what . They issued a press release which stated that in the whole history of the Gambian judiciary, the Bar has never witnessed such a dangerous tendency toward a serious break down in the administration of justice at all levels. Countries that are normally associated with a healthy democracy are also facing potential erosion of civil liberties. Proposed laws in the United Kingdom and Australia would certainly breach civil liberties if passed. Australia's new proposed phone tapping phone tapping n → escuchas telefónicas phone tapping n → mise f sur écoutes téléphoniques phone tapping n laws would make it possible for the police and secret service to tap innocent third parties' phone lines and control their SMS (1) (Storage Management System) Software used to routinely back up and archive files. See HSM. (2) (Systems Management Server) Systems management software from Microsoft that runs on Windows NT Server. , email or mobile phones. It is worrying to note the general trend of putting aside citizens' rights in the name of the war against terrorism or in the name of security. It is likely that such a trend will backfire sooner or later. A country like the UK has faced countless terrorism threats in the post but has not previously gone as close to limiting civil liberties as it is doing now. With members of the media constantly under fire across the Commonwealth, religious intolerance on the rise, democratic elections and political reforms being undermined, illegal arrests of those who oppose their governments, and civil liberties being infringed upon by new anti-terror legislation, it is legitimate to feel that democracy needs more than a simple 'visit to the doctor' to improve its health. Widespread symptoms of a large problem are rampant and perhaps it is time to do something more about these situations. This Commonwealth Day, we should all keep in mind that health and vitality are very important to every living creature--and should be enjoyed by all in free and democratic societies. Andrew Galea galea /ga·lea/ (ga´le-ah) [L.] a helmet-shaped structure. galea aponeuro´tica the aponeurosis connecting the two bellies of the occipitofrontalis muscle. Debono works with the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Article courtesy of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Aujourd'hui 13 mars, nous celebrons encore la Journee du Commonwealth, le theme de l'annee etant: 'Sante et Vitalite'. Alors qu'on peut beaucoup beau·coup also boo·coo or boo·koo Chiefly Southern U.S. adj. Many; much: beaucoup money. n. pl. dire sur la sante et la vitalite, une question importante revient cependant a l'esprit: 'combien la democratie estelle solide au sein des pays du Commonwealth?' Quatre mois apres la derniere Reunion des Chefs de Gouvernements du Commonwealth (CHOGM) tenue a Malta, on peut dire que la reponse a cette question varie d'un pays a l'autre--mais la reponse n'est pas aussi positive qu'elle devrait etre. Plusieurs pays connaissent toujours la meme situation desastreuse et d'autres se trouvent actuellement dans un etat pire. Parmi les preoccupations qui font font or typeface or type family Assortment or set of type (alphanumeric characters used for printing), all of one coherent style. Before the advent of computers, fonts were expressed in cast metal that was used as a template for printing. surgir une telle question, il y a le fait que l'etat de la democratie semble faiblir non seulement dans les pays qui, dans leur histoire, ont eu des problemes avec la notion de democratie, mais meme ceux au sein desquels il existe une forte An application development system for enterprise client/server environments from Sun. It was folded into the Sun Studio compiler and tool suite, which is based on the open source Netbeans IDE. tradition de la democratie a l'instar du Royaume Uni et de l'Australie. A vrai dire, tout Tout To promote a security in order to attract buyers. tout To foster interest in a particular company or security. For example, a broker might tout a security to a client in the hope that the client will purchase the security. n'est pas negatif. Prenons l'exemple du Swaziland, ou finalement la nouvelle constitution est entree en vigueur--grace a l'intervention du Commonwealth. Bien que cette constitution ait ete critiquee par des groupes de la Societe Civile pour n'avoir pas ete aussi forte qu'elle aurait pu etre, il faudrait reconnaitre neanmoins que c'est une petite etape positive pour l'avenir de ce pays. Mais derriere toute histoire de quasi-reussite, il y en a beaucoup d'autres qui sont moins positives. L'un des pays qui constituent notre preoccupation pre·oc·cu·pa·tion n. 1. The state of being preoccupied; absorption of the attention or intellect. 2. Something that preoccupies or engrosses the mind: Money was their chief preoccupation. majeure, c'est l'Ouganda, l'hote de la prochaine CHOGM en 2007. La course pour les premieres elections multipartites au cours de vingt ans a ete caracterisee par des actes d'intimidation contre les membres de l'opposition et les electeurs. Les incidents les plus graves ont ete l'arrestation du leader de l'opposition, Dr K. Besigye, et le fait qu'une centaine d'electeurs n'auraient pas ete autorises a voter. En termes de democratie et de droits de la personne, le Groupe d'Action Ministeriel du Commonwealth (GAMC GAMC Glendale Adventist Medical Center (Glendale, California) GAMC General Agents and Managers Conference (National Association of Life Underwriters) GAMC Grants and Agreement Management Course ) est le mecanisme le plus effectif (mais souvent sous-employe) a la disposition du Commonwealth. Le Pakistan est le seul pays figurant fig·u·rant n. 1. A member of a corps de ballet who does not perform solos. 2. A stage performer having no speaking part. sur son programme qui est observe de pres. Le progres realise dans ce pays est lent et il se pose plusieurs questions si le passage du regime gouvernemental a celui de gouvernement democratique est sincerement en train de prendre place. Cependant, le Pakistan n'est pas le seul pays ou les principes de la democratie ne sont pas respectes et peut-etre qu'il est grand temps que d'autres pays soient inscrits au programme du GAMC. Un pays qui peut facilement figurer sur son programme serait les Maldives. Le President de ce pays a promis des reformes politiques democratiques pour son pays. Tout au long de l'annee derniere, par exemple, les partis de l'opposition ont finalement recu l'autorisation de s'enregistrer et une election nationale multipartiste a ete promise. Ces signes sont positifs et les reformes generalisees prennent evidemment longtemps avant de se concretiser. Cependant, d'aucuns se demandent si ces reformes existent ex·is·tent adj. 1. Having life or being; existing. See Synonyms at real1. 2. Occurring or present at the moment; current. n. One that exists. Adj. 1. plus dans les papiers qu'en pratique pra·tique n. Clearance granted to a ship to proceed into port after compliance with health regulations or quarantine. [French, from Old French practique, from Medieval Latin . Par exemple, alors que les partis de l'opposition se sont faits enregistrer, les grandes figures de l'opposition ont malheureusement ete emprisonnees. Les medias independants sont egalement sous pression a cause des critiques faites au President et a son gouvernement. Dans une telle atmosphere, il n'est pas surprenant que des Que.D (aka Q.Diesel) is a hip hop artist from Detroit, Michigan. He is known for his affiliation with Slum Village and world renowned producer and artist J Dilla, who also happens to be his cousin. He has released several twelve inch white labels with various record labels in the U. observateurs se demandent si des efforts sont fournis pour permettre l'epanouissement de la democratie. Les Maldives sont juste un de plusieurs pays du Commonwealth ou les medias independants se voient toujours harceler par les autorites. Il y a a peine deux semaines, le Kenya a connu une descente de la police contre les medias typographique et la television en ce qui peut etre considere comme nouvelles techniques tres choquantes et violentes du gouvernement Kenyan pour faire taire les medias et limiter lim·it·er n. 1. One that limits: a limiter of choices. 2. Electronics A circuit that prevents the amplitude of a waveform from exceeding a specified value. Also called clipper. ainsi la liberte d'expression. Les groupes minoritaires au Bangladesh se plaignent que leurs droits sont violes et le gouvernement ne fait presque rien pour les assister. Ils se plaignent egalement des problemes qu'ils connaissent pour publier leur opinion dans les medias. Il y a aussi une tres grande preoccupation concernant la montee de l'intolerance religieuse dans le pays, resultant This article is about the resultant of polynomials. For the result of adding two or more vectors, see Parallelogram rule. For the technique in organ building, see Resultant (organ). In mathematics, the resultant of two monic polynomials ainsi en problemes des groupes minoritaires. Il ne serait pas possible d'avoir une democratie solide alors que les droits des couches minoritaires ne sont pas respectes. La notion d'independance du systeme judiciaire a ete mise en cause dans un bon nombre de pays. L'Association des Avocats de la Gambie a recemment demande au Chef de la Justice de demissionner en raison de ce qu'elle percoit comme une decomposition decomposition /de·com·po·si·tion/ (de-kom?pah-zish´un) the separation of compound bodies into their constituent principles. de·com·po·si·tion n. 1. sans precedent du systeme judiciaire. Ils ont fait a la presse La Presse can refer to
abbr. versed sine une decomposition grave de l'administration judiciaire a tous les niveaux. Les pays qui sont normalement associes avec une democratie solide font egalement face a une erosion eventuelle des libertes civiles. Les lois proposees au Royaume Uni et en Australie pourraient, une fois adoptees, violer les libertes civiles. Les nouvelles lois proposees en Australie pour l'enregistrement des appels telephoniques permettraient a la police et au service secret d'enregistrer les tierses parties des innocents et de controler leur SMS, e-mail ou telephones cellulaires. C'est regrettable de constater la tendance generale de negliger les droits du citoyen au nom de la guerre contre le terrorisme ou au nom de la securite. Il est probable que tot ou tard, cette tendance ait des repercussions repercussions npl → répercussions fpl repercussions npl → Auswirkungen pl nefastes. Dans le passe pas·sé adj. 1. No longer current or in fashion; out-of-date. 2. Past the prime; faded or aged. [French, past participle of passer, to pass, from Old French; see , un pays comme le Royaume Uni a connu beaucoup de menaces du terrorisme mais n'est jamais alle jusqu'au point de limiter les libertes civiles tel qu'il en est le cas aujourd'hui. Avec la pression constante exercee sur les membres des medias, la montee de l'intolerance religieuse, le mepris des eledions democratiques et des reformes politiques, les arrestations illegales de ceux qui s'opposent a leurs gouvernements et la violation des libertes civiles en vertu des nouvelles Iegislations sur l'anti-terrorisme, il est legitime de croire que la democratie a besoin de beaucoup plus qu'une simple "visite au docteur" en vue d'ameliorer sa sante. Des symptomes tres repondus d'un grand probleme sont endemiques et il est peut-etre temps de faire quelque chose a propos de ces situations. Pendant pendant or pendent In architecture, a sculpted ornament suspended from a vault or ceiling, especially an elongated boss (carved keystone) at the junction of the intersecting ribs of the fan vaulting associated with the English Perpendicular style. cette journee du Commonwealth, nous devrions garder a l'esprit que la sante et la vitalite sont tres importantes aux etres vivants--et tout le monde n. 1. The world; a globe as an ensign of royalty. Le beau monde fashionable society. See Beau monde. Demi monde See Demimonde. devrait se rejouir en toute liberte et democratie. Andrew Galea Debono travaille avec l'initiative du Commonwealth sur les droits de la personne Grace a l'initiative du Commonwealth sur les droits de la personne |
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