|
| |
Mission Statement:
The Center for Democracy in Lebanon™ (CDL)
supports, strengthens and enhances the aspiration of the Lebanese People to be
governed by a secular and democratic government of their own.
Policy Statement
Who We Are
What We Believe
Policy Statement:
The Center for Democracy in Lebanon™ (CDL) works to promote
democratic values and constitutional liberties in Lebanon. With expertise in
law, science, and policy, CDL seeks practical solutions to enhance free
expression, privacy and innovation in the dialogue among the Lebanese and
between Lebanon and the world. CDL is dedicated to building consensus among all
parties interested in the future of peace and democracy in Lebanon and other
vital structural and socioeconomic needs of the Lebanese People.
Our mission is to
conceptualize, develop, and implement public policies to preserve and enhance
freedoms of expression, association and worship, privacy, open access to government, and other democratic values
in a new and increasingly integrated and interactive society.
CDL pursues its mission
through research, electronic advocacy and public policy development in a
consensus-building process based on convening and operating broad-based working
groups composed of public interest and commercial representatives of divergent
views to explore solutions to critical policy issues. In addition, CDL promotes
its own policy positions globally through public policy advocacy, online
grassroots organizing with the Internet user community and public education
campaigns, and litigation, as well as through the development of policy
standards and online information resources.
Who
We Are:
A growing cadre of Lebanese dedicated professional volunteers around the world.
We are lawyers, academics, journalists, scientists, engineers and
experts of diverse backgrounds. We often join forces with democracy groups from
other countries to further our common goals.
"Democracy in Lebanon™" is an independent, nongovernmental grass-root
movement dedicated to promoting the democratic potential of the Lebanese People
in an open and decentralized society. An all volunteer coalition of Lebanese
organizations and individuals with various religious, educational and social
backgrounds dedicated to promoting Peace, Democracy and Prosperity in Lebanon.
The "Democracy in Lebanon™" family of organizations consists of
three entities: the Center for Democracy in Lebanon™ (primarily focuses on
policy, strategy, education and advocacy on important national issues), Citizens for Democracy
in Lebanon™ (primarily educates voters on the positions,
records, views, and qualifications of public officials or candidates for public office)
and DemocracyinLebanon.org™ (primarily helps members get acquainted with
officials or candidates who reflect our values).
What We Believe:
Work on our mission is guided by the following principles:
1. Unique Nature of Lebanon: We believe that an
open, decentralized, and diverse society creates unprecedented opportunities for
enhancing democracy and civil liberties. Whereas Lebanon’s prevailing image in
the world is one of a multi-confessional society struggling to find common
grounds and achieve peaceful cohabitation between its different religious
communities, we regard Lebanon as a global forum for free and open dialogue
between various ethnic and religious groups in the Middle East and around the
World. We see in the Lebanese people the potential to pioneer policies for
solutions and peaceful coexistence in a world of diversities entering an era of
globalization. A fundamental goal of our work is seeking public policy solutions
that preserve these unique qualities of diversity and dialogue and thereby
maximize the democratizing potential of the Lebanese society.
2. Government by the People: A true
democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people. CDL is working to
bring ordinary people back into politics. With a system of
government, in Lebanon today, which revolves around the entitlements of confessional groups,
family name, blood lines, deep pockets and foreign alliances, most Lebanese
citizens are left out. When it becomes clear that our "representatives" in
government don't represent the public, the foundations of democracy are in
peril. CDL is a catalyst for a new kind of grassroots involvement, supporting
busy but concerned citizens in finding their political voice. Our growing
international network of online activists is geared to become one of the most
effective and responsive outlets for democratic participation available in the
Middle East.
3. Government is Public Service:
CDL believes that the success of a democracy relies to a great extent on the
right attitude of officeholders towards their jobs and the educated
expectations of the public from its government. By and large, public office in
Lebanon continues to be regarded as an entitlement to a privileged few followed
by a misguided crowd. Part of CDL's mission is a massive education and awareness
campaign to inform the people of Lebanon about their rights and duties to their
country and to shift their perception of government from an entitlement of a few
to a public service for all.
4. The Lebanese Identity: The
Lebanese People is an amalgam of cultures, ethnicities and religious groups who
chose Lebanon as their country. They include Canaanites (Phoenicians and their
descendants),
Semites (Arabs, Syriac, Aramaeans, Israelites, etc.), Armenians, Kurds, Persians and
descendants of many other Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures. Their
culture is as diverse as their creeds and ethnic origins. CDL upholds the right of
every Lebanese to be proud of his/her cultural, ethnic or religious heritage and
to be proud of the "Lebanese Identity". The identity of Lebanon is Lebanese and
as unique as its diverse culture.
5.
Interactive Neutrality:
CDL advocates a
self-imposed and permanent neutrality in Lebanon’s policy vis-ŕ-vis armed
conflicts and regards this neutrality as a guarantee for long-term peace.
Historically, and particularly since the early twentieth century, the gathering
of Lebanese groups around regional and exclusive ideologies (including Syrian
and Arab nationalism) and their endorsement of the armed struggle of the
Palestinian People from the Lebanese territories (promulgated in the Cairo accord of
1969) cost Lebanon dearly in its unity and the life and wealth of its citizens,
leading to repeated unrest and a 30-years conflict, exacerbated by Israeli and
Syrian occupation of its land. CDL seeks non-participation of Lebanon in armed
conflicts while building bridges of cultural, economic and political cooperation
between Lebanon, its neighbors and the world at large, guided by our national
interest and a mutual respect for the specificity and the sovereignty of others.
6.
Civil Society: Given the diverse cultural, religious and ethnic makeup of
Lebanon, and in order to build a stronger and better union, CDL advocates a
civil society where individual rights are guaranteed by the Lebanese
Constitution. These rights include:
i)
Human Rights: CDL works to prevent discrimination, to uphold political
freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in peace and wartime, and to
bring offenders to justice.
We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable.
We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and
respect international human rights law.
We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of
human rights for all.
ii) Equal
Opportunity and Non-Discrimination:
CDL is strongly committed to promoting diversity within its Board of Directors,
advisors, staff and programs and translating this diversity to the public life
and the governmental body in Lebanon.
It is the official policy
of CDL that no person shall on the grounds of race, religion, ethnicity,
national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, or disability be excluded from
or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity of CDL, or any
program, activity or employment that receives public funding in the Republic of Lebanon.
CDL is an equal
opportunity advocate. As a center for peace and democracy, CDL does not
discriminate and advocates non-discrimination on the basis of race, religion,
ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
iii) Religious Freedoms: CDL
advocates secularism in government based on total separation of religion and
state, freedom to worship and guarantees against governmental interference,
involvement or endorsement of religious activities.
iv) Affirmative Action: CDL advocates affirmative
action programs to promote growth and development in the border areas in Lebanon
(North, Bekaa and South) and among groups sidelined by policy or practice of
succeeding Lebanese governments since the inception of the Lebanese Republic in
1920. We encourage women, persons with disabilities, members of minority groups
to have full participation in public life and be all they can be.
7. Freedom of Expression: CDL champions the right of individuals and groups
to express themselves, communicate and publish their views and to obtain access
to the unprecedented array of information available in the digital age. We
oppose governmental censorship and other threats to the free flow of
information. As an effective alternative to government controls, we believe that
a diversity of technology tools can empower families and individuals to
communicate freely and make choices about the information they receive.
8. Privacy
and Surveillance: CDL is working for individual privacy in the access and
publication of information. We believe that maintaining privacy and freedom of
association requires the development of public policies and technology tools
that give people the ability to take control of their personal information in
public domains and make informed, meaningful choices about the collection, use
and disclosure of personal information.
CDL challenges invasive government policies.
We work for strong privacy protections against surveillance of individual
activities in Lebanon. We believe that the content of communications, stored
information, and transactional data deserve strong legal protection against
unreasonable government search and seizure. Protections against government
searches should extend to the network, as well as to the home. CDL advocates for
stronger legal standards controlling government surveillance to keep pace with
the growing exposure of personal information in an open communication age.
9. Access: CDL is working to foster widely-available, affordable
access to information via the internet and other modern outlets. We believe that
broad access to and use of the Internet enables greater citizen participation in
democracy, promotes a diversity of views, and enhances civil society. We work
for public policy solutions that maximize, in a just and equitable fashion, the
unique openness and accessibility to information.
10. Democratic
Participation:
CDL is pioneering the use of the Internet to enhance citizen participation in
the democratic process, and to ensure the voice of the new generations of Internet users is heard in
critical public policy debates about peace and democracy. CDL believes that the
Internet provides unique and effective means of promoting democracy and of
facilitating grassroots organizing and public education. We support using the
Internet to afford citizens the immediate, broad access to government
information necessary to the full practice of democracy.
|
