Captive Nations Week 2021 – At Least White House Recognized It
In the midst of a changing world with new sources of regional
and global threats, uneven condemnations of aggressors like Russia as it
pursues its seven-year war against Ukraine, and rumors that the White House was
considering revising the six-decade-old Captive Nations Week Proclamation,
President Biden fortunately today issued the declaration that included
references to Ukraine, Crimea and Belarus.
Despite the lack of serious attention to so-called remnants
of the Cold War, the annual Captive Nations Week Proclamations based on Public Law 86-90 are important
reminders of the ongoing danger posed by old and new totalitarian communist
regimes and notably their creator Moscow in all of its political colorations. Russian
leaders opposed this proclamation and overtly or quietly had asked successive
Administrations to abandon them. None did, though President Richard Nixon, in
the midst of his peaceful coexistence policy, delayed issuing the 1971
proclamation that ultimately was devoid of the words Communist, Soviet and Russia.
The third week of July was traditionally filled with similar
proclamations issued by governors and mayors as well as civic commemorations in
large and small communities.
President Biden did issue the statement but it was unwise of
him to even consider downplaying its historic title with “Free and Open Societies
Week.” The original version was meant to highlight the subjugation of countries
behind the iron curtain by Moscow, such as Ukraine, the Baltic States, Poland,
etc. In time the term iron curtain was expanded with the bamboo curtain,
pertaining to Chinese oppression in Asia, and the sugar curtain relating to
Cuban tyranny in the Southern Hemisphere, respectively.
Even
though many captive nations, like those in Eastern Europe, have liberated
themselves, they still face daily perils from Moscow. Russia’s war against
Ukraine is seven years old as it simultaneously bullies and intimidates other
near and distant countries – even the United States.
President Biden observed
in the 2021 iteration: “Though much has changed in the world since
President Eisenhower issued the first Captive Nations Proclamation in 1959, its
call for liberty and opportunity still ring true. During Captive Nations
Week, we recommit ourselves to those principles which form the foundation of
our Nation, and to amplify the voices of courageous individuals around the
world who are striving to advance the principles of human rights, justice, and
the rule of law.”
Biden took notice of existing oppression in Belarus, China,
Burma, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, where “voices are crying out for liberty.”
He also noted “the Crimean Tatars, ethnic Ukrainians, and other ethnic and
religious minorities who suffer repression for opposing Russia’s illegal
occupation of Crimea.”
“We are committed to ensuring that all those who are
oppressed across the globe — including people with disabilities, women and
girls, members of the LGBTQI+ community, indigenous populations, and racial and
ethnic minorities — are heard, respected, and protected.
“During Captive Nations Week, we recommit ourselves to the
timeless, vital work of advancing freedom and justice for all,” the President
wrote.
“Together with our allies and partners, we must continue to
strengthen democratic institutions, defend independent civil society and media
freedom, promote free and fair elections, protect human rights online, insist
on accountability for those who commit abuses and foster cultures of corruption,
and push back against authoritarianism around the world.”
For a historical perspective about the Captive Nations Week
Proclamation, I’d like to quote from an article by Lee Edwards, chairman and co-founder of the Victims of Communism
Foundation, that appeared in the Summer 2020 edition of The Ukrainian
Quarterly:
“One man more than any other was responsible for the
proclamation and the week – Prof. Lev E.
Dobriansky of Georgetown University, longtime president of the Ukrainian
Congress Committee of America. Born in November 1918 in New York City of Ukrainian
immigrant parents, Dr. Dobriansky attended New York University where he earned
a Ph.D. in economics. He taught at Georgetown from 1948 until 1987 during which
he founded and directed the Institute on Comparative Economic and Political
Systems. He also served as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas from 1982-86 when the
islands were in the front lines in the battle against illegal drug traffic.
“Professor Dobriansky came into political prominence in 1959
when he persuaded Congress and the Eisenhower administration to adopt the
Captive Nations Proclamation, which he personally drafted. The Proclamation was
a litany of anti-Soviet pro-freedom paragraphs:
“ ‘Whereas since 1918 the imperialistic and aggressive
policies of Russian communism have resulted in the creation of a vast empire
which poses a dire threat to the security of the United States and of all the
free peoples of the world;
“ ‘Whereas the imperialistic policies of Communist Russia have
led, through direct and indirect aggression, to the subjugation of the national
independence of Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, Latvia,
Estonia, White Ruthenia, Rumania, East Germany, Bulgaria, mainland China,
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, North Korea, Albania, Idel-Ural, Tibet,
Cossackia, Turkestan, North Viet-Nam, and others…
“ ‘Whereas these submerged nations look to the United States
as the citadel of human freedom, for leadership in bringing about their
liberation and freedom and in restoring to them the enjoyment of their
Christian, Jewish, Moslem, Buddhist or other religious freedoms and of their
individual liberties…
Whereas the desire for liberty and independence by the
overwhelming majority of the people of these submerged nations is a powerful
deterrent to war and one of the best hopes for a just and lasting peace;
Whereas it is fitting that we clearly manifest to such
peoples through an appropriate and official means the historic fact that the
people of the United States share with them their aspirations for the recovery
of their freedom and independence…’ ”
Ambassador Dobriansky wrote about the proclamation’s significance in his
article, “The Captive Nations Week Resolution Then and Now”:
“Originated as S.J. Resolution 111,
passed on July 17, 1959, and signed into Public Law 86-90, the law has remained
in force to the present day precisely because of its realistic, conceptual framework
and outlook. With ease and real conformation, its dominant concepts relate to
these upsurging events. They are: ‘national independence,’ ‘the democratic
process,’ ‘inter-dependency of peoples and nations,’ ‘imperialistic and
aggressive policies of Russian communism,’ ‘a vast empire,’ ‘threat to the
security of the United States and of all the free peoples of the world,’ ‘religious
freedoms,’ ‘individual liberties,’ ‘powerful deterrent to war and one of the
best hopes for a just and lasting peace.’ Then and now – even more so now and
in the future – these concepts have been fully applicable, notwithstanding
current hopes and notions about the end of the Cold War, the fading of military
threat from the Soviet Russian empire, and secure, sovereign national freedom
in Central Europe.”
Undeniably, the Captive Nations Week
Proclamation belongs to the category of American documents that should be
observed throughout the ages.
The 2021 proclamation can be found on the White House website:
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