Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The United States would like to compliment the Chairmanship and ODIHR for organizing this meeting. We believe it is both important and timely.

The events on 11 September in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania have highlighted the need for increased diligence in providing a legitimate voice to all persons to express their beliefs and influence their societies and governments without having to resort to violence. Now more than ever we should support the development of civil society, which is an integral part of any functioning democracy. As our Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor said to our Congress just a few weeks ago, "We cannot win a war against terrorism by stopping our work on the universal observance of human rights." Human rights defenders are an integral part of ensuring governments observe the human rights of their citizens.

Unfortunately, NGOs, human rights defenders and associations, including political bodies, who criticize governments, or who are involved in electoral education or monitoring, often face restrictions. As the United States delegation said in Warsaw, we are concerned about the attempts by some authorities in OSCE countries to control and eliminate independent NGOs, trade unions, and media -- sometimes through onerous registration requirements, sometimes through harassment, sometimes through even worse violations of human rights.

Such repression is often even more severe in times of ongoing conflict. NGOs are often viewed as being biased, as taking the side of "the enemy" or, worse, accused of treason. Other NGOs are openly targeted along with military combatants. It is unfortunate that human rights advocates and defenders are denied even more freedom of movement or access to populations in need at times when their help and information on the human rights abuses is most needed.

The OSCE, its bodies, and its institutions are important in encouraging government officials to protect the rights and freedoms of NGOs and human rights advocates and defenders. The OSCE provides a lifeline for those nascent democratic elements that believe in international human rights standards. The United States commends the numerous field programs dedicated to strengthening civil society in the OSCE region, such as last year's ODIHR project with the Belgrade Center for Human Rights, which trained representatives of opposition political parties to serve as electoral observers.

Human Rights training for NGOs and government officials is also very important, and in this regard we commend the OSCE for working with the Polish Border Guards to train Border guards in Kyrgyzstan on human rights. We also commend the October 5th seminar organized by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo on domestic violence in Pec (or Peja) that provided training to local legal aid NGOs. Human rights training of government officials is an effective way to combat government mistrust of NGOs, human rights defenders and advocates. Likewise, increased involvement of NGOs in the legislative process, and increased dialogue and partnership between governments and NGOs, such as the holding of roundtable discussions, are helpful in enhancing protection of human rights defenders.

Thank you.