[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 87 (Friday, July 1, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
            JOHN W. DOUGLAS RECEIVES THE GOLER BUTCHER AWARD

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, John Douglas is the son of a former 
U.S. Senator, who was one of the finest to ever serve in this body, 
Paul Douglas.
  Recently, he received an award titled, ``Goler Butcher Award'' from 
the International Human Rights Law Group.
  He richly deserves that award for a whole series of things he has 
done through the years.
  His immediate contribution was to be one of those who monitored the 
election in South Africa.
  His statement in accepting the award is a tribute to the people of 
South Africa, black and white, who have shown restraint and a 
willingness to see that their democracy really works.
  In a world where there is sometimes not as much hope as we would 
like, John Douglas's statement stands out.
  Particularly interesting is this sentence:

       There was a young Afrikaner--the son of a large landowner--
     who proved to be a meticulous and fair-minded presiding 
     officer at a voting station where virtually all of the voters 
     were black, many were illiterate and some had never held a 
     pencil before.

  The entire statement is one I hope some of my colleagues and their 
staffs will read, and I ask to insert it into the Record at this point.

                  International Human Rights Law Group

                          (By John W. Douglas)

       Thank you, Greg, for those generous remarks.
       Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
       I accept this award with pleasure. It is a great honor--
     particularly so since it is in the name of Goler Butcher who 
     made so many valuable contributions to human rights, 
     including her years of work, with your Board member Gay 
     McDougall, on independence for Namibia and democracy for 
     South Africa.
       In many ways, however, there should be a reversal of roles 
     tonight. It is I who should be paying tribute to the Law 
     Group because I have received so much in the way of 
     opportunities and fulfillment from you, including the 
     missions to Chile during the Pinochet years.
       Your organization deserves great credit for its tireless 
     efforts to unlock the best in the human potential. Despite 
     the roadblocks, that march for human rights continues--
     towards the assurance of basic dignity and respect for every 
     individual everywhere. Where is there a better calling?
       The vistas which human rights missions can provide were 
     never more compelling than those which some of us encountered 
     as observers for a sister organization during the recent, 
     historic election in South Africa.
       In a primarily rural area 150 miles west of Johannesburg--
     an area which is near the Botswana border and where the 
     population is overwhelmingly black--our group witnessed 
     dramatic expressions of some of the finest of human 
     qualifies--dignity, resolve, generosity, and tenacity. The 
     scenes were riveting.
       On the first special voting day--for the aged and infirm--
     there were some individuals in wheelbarrows, others on 
     stretchers, waiting patiently for long hours so they could 
     finally act as citizens in the country of their birth.
       Some individuals in their seventies were helping others in 
     their nineties get to the voting stations.
       There was a dwarf--whose legs were little more than 
     stumps--and who, with fierce determination, moved ever so 
     slowly toward the ballot booth.
       There was a young Afrikaner--the son of a large landowner--
     who proved to be a meticulous and fair-minded presiding 
     officer at a voting station where virtually all of the voters 
     were black, many were illiterate and some had never held a 
     pencil before.
       Elsewhere, in the East Rand industrial belt, voters stood 
     peaceably, even respectfully, next to others with whom they 
     had been fighting only days before.
       And all over the country, the security forces, so 
     oppressive as apartheid's enforcers in the recent past, now 
     performed with even-handed skill.
       The South African election was a tribute to many things, 
     and certainly to the human spirit. For observers it was a 
     deeply moving experience.
       And for South Africa, the massive, peaceful voter turnout 
     was, in and of itself, a unifying force. It sealed a 
     consensus for the new, democratic dispensation. It opened the 
     door to national redemption.
       That election also should drive home to all the world the 
     over-arching importance of free and fair elections--of the 
     right of every individual to take part fairly in the 
     selection of his or her national government.
       Article 21 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Rights had 
     asserted that entitlement to democratic governance through 
     ``periodic and genuine elections.'' Although the UN initially 
     adopted that principle only as a goal worthy of aspiration, 
     subsequent events have raised it to the position of a 
     customary, international norm.
       Today, the concept of ``free and fair'' elections is, 
     indeed, widely accepted. The idea has permeated previously 
     closed societies such as Malawi, Nepal and Mongolia, not to 
     even mention Russia and Central Europe. It has become a 
     potent political slogan.
       Thus, the primary challenge now is not so much to broaden 
     adoption of the principle--desirable though that is--but, 
     rather, to translate the principle into every day practice. 
     This will entail a long struggle, during which it will help 
     us to remember that while free and fair elections do not 
     guarantee respect for the individual, they do remain an 
     essential part of any viable human rights regime. They make 
     it far easier to secure and retain other individual rights.
       What is needed now--besides the restoration of President 
     Aristide in Haiti--are breakthroughs in a select number of 
     other recalcitrant countries--the countries which, like Burma 
     and Nigeria, profess adherence to periodic and genuine 
     elections but deny them in practice. Breakthroughs in such 
     states would pave the way for progress in the even more hard-
     line countries.
       All this will require planning and hard work--both 
     scholarly and political--in determining where, when, and how 
     to proceed. It will require disciplined choices as to how the 
     international human rights community can best convey the 
     essentials of democratic elections within local political 
     cultures.
       In this endeavor organizations such as the Law Group and 
     its allies should take the lead--most importantly in 
     encouraging international collaboration. This is a field 
     where private organizations can play the most effective 
     roles.
       The South African election was such a brilliant success. 
     Let us learn from it and do our best to build upon it.
       Thank you very much.

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