National Captive Nations Committee presents award to RFE/RL director (08/12/01)

National Captive Nations Committee presents award to RFE/RL director

WASHINGTON - The National Captive Nations Committee (NCNC) held a luncheon on July 18, to discuss the progress of captive nations around the world, and to present an award to Paul Goble, a longtime supporter of the cause of freedom and democracy throughout the world. The luncheon was held at the Heritage Foundation, and approximately 50 supporters and friends of the National Captive Nations Committee were present.

The NCNC, created in 1959 by Public Law 86-90 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, was given the responsibility to maintain a Captive Nations List (CNL) of nations in the world still under the thumb of Communist dictatorial regimes.

Ambassador Lev E. Dobriansky, chairman of the executive board of the NCNC, gave the opening remarks and commented on the progress and continuing mission of the NCNC. "Although much progress has been made in the past decade, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the decline of the Soviet Union, there are still many other captive nations in this world," he stated. "The People's Republic of China is neither 'the people's' nor a republic. Many national groups such as: Tibetans, Inner Mongolians, East Turkestanis and others live under Communist rule."

Michael Sawkiw Jr., president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and executive secretary of the National Captive Nations Committee, read aloud the Proclamation of National Captive Nations Week issued by President George W. Bush.

Dr. Lee Edwards, a director of the NCNC, announced that the annual Truman-Reagan Freedom Awards dinner, sponsored by the Victims of Communism (VOC) Memorial Foundation, will be held in December this year to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Mr. Goble, recipient of the annual Captive Nations Award, works for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) as the director of communications. He previously worked for the State Department and labored to help the nations under communism exercise their self-determination. Dr. Dobriansky and Dr. Edwards presented the award to Mr. Goble.

The three other speakers, Ariel Cohen, Dimon Liu and Frank Calzon, spoke on the progress of freedom in Russia, China and Cuba, respectively.

Mr. Cohen stated that Russia is quickly degenerating into a totalitarian regime. Quoting members of the anti-reform putsch of 1991, he stated, "What [Russian President] Vladimir Putin is doing now is what we [the putsch participants] were trying to do back in 1991." According to Mr. Cohen, the outlook for Russian progress toward democracy is bleak.

Ms. Liu presented China as a nation growing bolder with each Western concession and less concerned for the rights and liberties of its citizens. She said she views U.S. normal trade relations with China and the awarding of the 2008 Olympics to Beijing as ways the U.S. and Western countries are propping up a repressive regime. She called on the United States to stop allowing China to "get away with these actions."

Mr. Calzon spoke briefly, outlining the history of communism in Cuba, and deriding Fidel Castro as oppressive, saying that the structures in Cuba are similar to those that existed in the Soviet Union in the 1950s. According to Mr. Calzon, internment, torture, human rights violations and imprisonment are all standard practices of the Castro regime.

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