Pubdate: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 Source: Ledger-Enquirer (GA) Copyright: 2002 Ledger-Enquirer Contact: http://www.l-e-o.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/237 Author: S. Thorne Harper BOLIVAR WINNER URGES CONSCIOUSNESS Attorney Blames Lack Of Trust For Many Problems An attorney, recognized Friday by Fort Benning's Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation for her efforts in human rights, urged a cadre of military officers from the Caribbean and Latin and South America to support a grassroot efforts to hold themselves accountable for their actions. "We need to create a consciousness of human rights in our citizens," said Aura Celeste Fernandez Rodriguez, this year's recipient of the institute's Simon Bolivar Award for Democracy and Human Rights. Fernandez, an attorney from the the Dominican Republic who was nominated for the award by the U.S. ambassador to that country, has campaigned against torture, police and political corruption and child abuse, and has worked to reform the Dominican Republic's judicial system and penal code. Delivering the keynote address Thursday morning at the institute's 2nd annual Hemispheric Conference, Fernandez painted an ominous portrait of the region, warning that newly emerging democracies there face mounting pressures from ingrained poverty, persistent corruption and increasingly powerful drug cartels. Noting that the region's citizens "live in insufficient democracies" that - -- until the 1980s -- were subjected to "periods of military dictatorships," Fernandez said the new blooms of democracy there "cannot be guaranteed as irreversible processes." Furthermore, she said, advances in information technology are sometimes used to distort and defraud election results. Corruption, driven most recently by the rise of cocaine and heroin cartels operating in the region, is creating "a lack of trust" in lawmakers and increasingly undermining the confidence of the electorate. "Our peoples believe less and less in leaders of their political parties... choosing the least of poor choices," she said. Fernandez said 75 percent of the Dominican Republic's citizens live in "extreme poverty" while the remaining minority live in "irritating opulence," supported by "a culture of corruption" among police who utilize torture and fear to maintain the status quo. Addressing an audience largely comprised of military officers from the region, Fernandez urged their support for a "citizens network" that seeks accountability from military and government officials. "We must look at the social process in a self-criticizing way," she said. "We are far away from creating a consciousness of human rights in our citizens. We still have a long road ahead of us." U.S. Rep. Saxby Chambliss, R-Moultrie, a member of the institute's Board of Visitors, presented Fernandez with the award during a ceremony Friday morning. The award was established after the U.S. Army School of the Americas closed and the U.S. Defense Department-run institute opened in its place in 2001. Peruvian Ombudsman Dr. Jorge Santistevan de Noriega was the award's first recipient. - --- MAP posted-by: Tom