EMBASSY PRAGUE - OUTREACH TO HUMAN RIGHTS

UNCLAS PRAGUE 000289 SIPDIS EUR/NCE FOR ATRATENSEK, DRL/SEA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL EZ EUN SUBJECT: EMBASSY PRAGUE - OUTREACH TO HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS AND DISSIDENTS REF: A. STATE 44903 ¶B. PRAGUE 277 ¶C. EUR PD WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS 3.7.08 ¶D. PRAGUE 126 ¶E. EUR PD WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS 12.27.07 ¶F. 07 PRAGUE 1212 ¶G. 07 PRAGUE 1060 ¶1. The Czech Republic is rightly proud of its record as a country actively engaged in promoting democracy and human rights, particularly in oppressed societies such as Cuba, Belarus, Burma and countries in the Middle East, which greatly facilitates Embassy Prague's collaborative engagement regarding our shared values. Since Embassy Prague's last comprehensive update (Ref. G),the Embassy has continued to support the promotion of human rights through steady engagement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the particularly vibrant Czech NGO community. ¶2. Notably, the Embassy collaborated with the NGO People in Need earlier this spring to host a reception in honor of dissidents from Burma, Cuba, Belarus, Iran, Russia and Turkmenistan (Ref. C). These dissidents were in Prague at the invitation of PIN, which hosted a "One World" International Film Festival with discussions at the festival facilitated by these dissidents on human rights. As well, the Ambassador presented the annual Alice Garrigue Masaryk award on UN Human Rights Day, which was offered this year to the hard-hitting weekly Czech magazine Respekt for its exceptional contributions to the advancement of human rights (Ref. E). These Ambassadorial events in the last few months are in addition to the steady engagement of the Embassy's political-economic section as well as public affairs, both of which meet frequently with NGOs working to advance human rights in third countries as well as the relevant Czech MFA officials, particularly within the Department of Human Rights and Transition Policy. Graber