World Social
Thematic Forum
Democracy, Human Rights, War and Drug
Trafficking
Cartagena de Indias, June 2003.
Issues like drug trafficking,
violence, terrorism, resistance and
peace, Human Rights, and the construction
of democratic states and societies are
items of great interest in the global
agenda. These are not themes of concern
in a continental level only, but correspond
to the specific national realities as
well.
Phenomena like drug trafficking, money
laundry, the trade of chemical products
to process illegal drugs, the negative
effect of these on public health, the
associated violence to this business,
the increased corruption in State and
private sectors, and the penetration
of drug money in legal activities are
enough reasons to put these items on
the spot at this World Social Thematic
Forum. At the United Nations Vienna
Conference in 1961, a prohibitionist
policy was adopted towards crimes related
to drug trafficking. Its consequences
were the punishment of production, traffic
and consumption of specific illicit
drugs. Today this policy seems to have
failed. Many people in the world identify
as a significant problem that which
relates to the illicit crop production:
the increasing production, commercialization,
and consume of synthetic illegal drugs
-of which the principal producer is
Holland-, the urgent agrarian issues
postponed because of the persecution
against farmers –be it in Burma,
Afghanistan, or in the Andean region.
Consequently, it is urgent to unveil
the character of the circulation of
enormous amounts of money product of
illegal drug trafficking in the international
financial circuits, and the chains of
corruption attached to this phenomenon
in both the public and the private spheres.
Furthermore, discussions around legalization,
punishment or repression, and its critical
effects on human health are of great
importance in the context of finding
solutions and alternatives to this problem
in a global context.
In second place, the
rallies against the war on February
15th attended by millions of citizens
around the world -in Washington, Madrid,
Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Rio de Janeiro-
pointed, with human solidarity as its
force, at the will to construe a society
in which military force is not a valid
reason for some to violate the Right
to Self-determination of others by imposing
their point of view upon them. These
people showed their reject of the politics
of the governments of the United States,
Spain, and England to determine what
is good for humanity. They also put
in the spot-light many social processes
used to resist, find peace, and create
a new social and political order based
on equality between nations.
Furthermore, global
security and democratic security have
taken too much importance on the world’s
agenda. The events of September 11th
2001 in the U.S.A and the war against
terrorism adopted by the government
of president Bush and its allies, and
the issues related to what the UN has
called Human Security, have put forward
in the global debate questions about
democracy, the different kinds of terrorism,
and individual and collective security.
Third, the crises
in democracy and politics go hand by
hand. Questions concerning representative
political organizations, and the procedures
to include traditionally excluded groups
from political decisions as are women,
youths, etc. are issues of great importance.
Likewise, questions concerning the viability
of political democracy in conditions
of extreme social exclusion or the tension
between national sovereignty and multilateral
organizations will be treated under
the same central question: Is it possible
to construe a global democratic government?
It will, furthermore, be necessary to
revise the World Social Forum experience
as a means to create global citizenship.
Last, it is necessary
to make progress on the characterization
of a Philosophy of Human Rights which
guarantees dignity of life and, consequently,
pays special attention to a broad understanding
of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.
Themes like the causes and conditions
under which phenomena like forced internal
displacement, migration, and refugees
must be approached systematically, and
from there conclusions must be drawn
in order to find alternatives to affront
these phenomena from civil society.
We must call for the responsibility
of the State to ensure that the fundamental
Rights and Liberties are upheld. We
need to move forward in the analysis
of the consequences which the politics
of security and the new steps in the
war against terrorism undertook after
the 11th of September have for democracy,
Human Rights, and liberty.
The World Social Thematic
Forum will analyze those issues and
propose alternatives to strengthen democracy
and the respect for Human Rights, to
diminish violence and promote peace,
to make of the world a place of equality,
and to find democratic and down to earth
solutions to the drug trafficking business.
The Colombian
Context: A Brief Note.
The focus of the World
Social Thematic Forum about democracy,
Human Rights, war, and drug trafficking
is not on Colombia. Nevertheless it
is important to make notice that in
this country many policies which have
been endorsed in international stages
–and are, therefore, totally out
of place in the country- are applied,
often evidencing serious limitations.
In this sense, the World Social Thematic
Forum is a perfect stage to evaluate
policies that have been applied for
tens of years with dreadful social,
economic, environmental, and ethical
consequences. This situation becomes
paradoxical in Colombia because of the
lack of spaces to evaluate this policies
or to try to change them, as is the
case with prohibitionist policies or
air fumigation, just to mention a few
examples.
Furthermore, in Colombia
democracy is threatened by authoritarianism
(from both extreme left and right wings),
by general violence, and by the application
of the neoliberal model. Since the making
of the new Political Constitution of
1991, 270.000 violent deaths have been
recorded in Colombia. This is one of
the highest rates in the world; 3.4
times more than in Brazil, 3 times more
than in Mexico, and 1.4 times more than
in El Salvador. Additionally, in Colombia
there are over 2.000.000 internally
displaced, of which women and children
are the vast majority. The economic
price of war and violence equals three
points of the gross domestic product,
with a tendency upwards towards 12%.
The plan of economic
development which is applied in Colombia
has hindered a balanced and auto-sufficient
exploitation of the great diversity
of our vast natural resources, and has
led to their increasing deterioration.
Today the situation is devastating,
as there are only 27% of the Andean
forests, 30% of the Caribbean esplanades,
and 50% of the mangroves left in the
country. Even though the tropical forests
are still of considerable size (67%
of what they were), they are now threatened
by illicit cultivation and extensive
stockbreeding, especially in the Amazon.
These ciphers highlight
the great economic, social, political
and environmental crisis in Colombia.
The way out of this crisis is to promote
democracy in the economic, social, and
political spheres; it is the only alternative
to improve Colombian reality –and
possibly the one of many other countries
in the world- in a reasonable way.
In order to achieve
this, active participation and the confluence
of all social and political forces interested
in this project is needed. Consequently
it is urgent to look for and gather
the solidarity of States, organizations,
and civil society if we want to make
progress in this project.
GENERAL OBJECTIVES:
To foster a scenery in which multiple
and diverse sectors of global civil
society can meet in order to analyze,
discuss and search for alternative solutions
to the before mentioned problems.
To co-ordinate actions around specific
themes of world-wide impact as is illegal
drug trafficking, Human Rights, democracy,
and war and peace.
To render continuity and strengthen
the character of the World Social Thematic
Forum as a social movilizator in the
construction of a different world.
CENTRAL THEMES
Drug Trafficking and Illicit Cultivation.
Violence, War, Terrorism, Resistance
and Peace.
Democracy
Human Rights.
METHODOLOGY
Sectorial Meetings
Within the World Social Thematic Forum
different thematic spaces have been
opened representing different spaces
of global civil society. Among these
are: syndicalists, local authorities,
environmentalists, peasants, boys and
girls, youths, NGOs, women, indigenous
peoples, etc. Each of these spaces has
been given the denomination ‘Sectorial
Space’. The sectorial meetings
will take place simultaneously on the
17th of June between 8 am and 6 PM.
Each sector has adopted the methodology
which is best adapted to its interests,
of which we can mention panels of discussion,
conferences, and workshops, among others.
World Social Thematic Forum: Drug
Trafficking, Democracy, War, and Human
Rights
As was the case with the World Social
Forum, this one will evolve through
conferences, simultaneous panels, and
discussion boards on each of the central
themes. The panels will take place in
the mornings, the conferences will take
place between 6 and 8 PM, and the discussion
boards will be in the evenings of the
18th, 19th, and 20th of June. Monday
the 16th is reserved for registration
and the installation of the participants,
and at the end of the day the organization
committee will take the participants
for a walk in Cartagena. On Friday there
will be a closure concert with many
famous artist and some international
guests in the name of peace and democracy
in Colombia.
