OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

We note with regret that this will be Ambassador Stoudmann's last official briefing on ODIHR activities to the Permanent Council. Let me, therefore, at the outset, thank Ambassador Stoudmann, on behalf of the United States government, for the stellar and highly commendable work he has done at ODIHR.

Ambassador Stoudmann has been the Director of ODIHR for nearly half of its long existence. In that time, he has transformed ODIHR into a world renowned human rights organization. Perhaps the greatest tribute to your leadership and management is that you have built an institution that is ready to move forward under new leadership.

Under Ambassador Stoudmann's leadership, ODIHR's work has expanded beyond its outstanding efforts to monitor elections, to include the development of projects that promote democratization, rule of law, and human rights, including combating trafficking in persons.

On the subject of elections, we welcome the announcement of the September 15 date of the Macedonian elections, and of the circulation by ODIHR of its election observation staffing needs. We will provide ODIHR with observers, and we urge all other delegations to contribute as well.

This observation effort will be among the largest ever for ODIHR, and demonstrates OSCE's commitment to helping ensure that these elections are free, fair, peaceful, and representative. We look forward to your visit in September to report on ODIHR's initial election assessment. These elections are a critical milestone for Macedonia. We look to all of Macedonia's political leaders to ensure that the elections -- and the preceding election campaign -- conform to international standards and that a smooth transfer of power to the next government takes place.

We also encourage participating States to second long-term observers to Slovakia for the parliamentary elections in September. We hope that ODIHR will continue working with local NGOs to encourage voter participation and the participation of Roma and other minorities.

The U.S. government welcomes the ODIHR press release of July 9 on the electoral reform process in Azerbaijan. We fully agree with Ambassador Stoudmann that the electoral reform process should be both transparent and inclusive.

Transparency and inclusiveness are essential for broad public confidence in the integrity of the electoral reform process, and its results. Especially considering Azerbaijan's past elections, which did not meet international standards, public confidence in the electoral reform process -- and in future elections -- is absolutely critical.

We urge the Government of Azerbaijan to invite ODIHR's comments on the proposed constitutional amendments. In light of the potential impact of the amendments on political pluralism and other important aspects of democracy, close cooperation with ODIHR on these proposed amendments -- and on the referendum process itself -- can only benefit Azerbaijan's democratic development.

Ambassador Stoudmann's statement in the press release that broad political consensus is needed to ensure the "widest public confidence in the reform process and its outcomes" also applies to the constitutional referendum process. We therefore urge the Government of Azerbaijan to postpone the constitutional referendum in order to maximize the time for public education and discussion of the twenty-plus amendments in the referendum. Widespread public participation in the reform process is a key element of democracy.

A delay in the date of the constitutional referendum also would provide time for implementation of ODIHR's recommendations, as well as time to reform the country's election commissions, whose conduct of recent elections does not inspire confidence in their ability to hold a referendum that meets international standards.

Election monitoring is only one of ODIHR's strengths. Under Ambassador Stoudmann's leadership ODIHR has remained flexible and has rapidly responded to new demands, such as trafficking in persons and the support of human rights in the fight against terrorism. It is because of Ambassador Stoudmann's direct involvement in trafficking in persons, that a number of women have been rescued from this horrible crime.

The United States welcomes ODIHR's development and inclusion in the regular budget of counter-terrorism activities. We hope that the Counter-terrorism Unit in the Secretariat will also receive sufficient funding to carry out counter-terrorism activities.

In this regard the United States looks forward to the October Baku Seminar on the Role of Freedom of Belief, Religious Dialogue and Tolerance in Combating Terrorism. The United States would like to see ODIHR, in the future, pay more attention to freedom of religion and freedom of belief.

ODIHR's work has increased as missions have scaled back their activities. As we continue our budget discussions, participating States need to match our demands upon ODIHR for increased activities with the appropriate resources. We believe that ODIHR training is a keystone of the institution's ability to provide concrete assistance to participating States.

In the future the United States, hopes that ODIHR will continue to monitor human rights, review legislation, and provide human rights training across the OSCE region, including in the Balkans, in Central Asia, in Russia, and in regards to Russian minorities in the Baltics.

Finally, we appreciate Ambassador Stoudmann's update on recent activities in Kyrgyzstan and hope that the Kyrgyz delegation will keep us abreast of developments.

In closing, we are pleased that our conversations with Ambassador Stoudmann do not have to end here today and that he has agreed to stay for the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, September 9-19 to usher in the new modalities. The United States is already assembling a robust delegation to go to the Meeting, to include State Department officials, legislative branch representatives, and public members. I am personally attending the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting for a number of days and would very much like to encourage that our OSCE colleagues here strongly support and actively participate in the meeting in Warsaw.

Again, thank you Ambassador Stoudmann for your dedication to the OSCE. We look to you to continue spreading the news of the great work OSCE does in your future endeavors and wish you well.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.