 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(April 2023) |
| Summit for Democracy | |
|---|---|
 | |
._QUITO%2c_09_DE_DICIEMBRE_DE_2021._(51735451201).jpg) Guillermo Lasso, thePresident of Ecuador, participating in the summit | |
| Host country |  United States |
| Dates | December 9–10, 2021 |
| Venues | Virtual |
| Participants | 111 |
| Website | www |
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TheSummit for Democracy was a virtualsummit hosted by theUnited States during the presidency ofJoe Biden "to renew democracy at home and confront autocracies abroad". The first summit was held on December 9–10, 2021.[1][2] The three themes are defending againstauthoritarianism, addressing and fightingcorruption, and advancing respect forhuman rights.[3] Contradictory to its themes, multiple un-democratic and authoritarian nations have attended, which has attracted criticism.
The second Summit was held in March 2023 and was co-hosted by United States, Costa Rica, Zambia, Netherlands and Korea.[4][5]
The third Summit was held in March 2024 hosted in-person and virtually by Republic of Korea.[6]
The schedule was as follows:[7]
With opening remarks fromUnited States PresidentJoe Biden, theNew Zealand Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern made remarks about bolstering democratic resilience in the age of COVID-19 followed by panel discussions. Next topic was about preventing corruption since the conference coincided with the two-dayInternational Anti-Corruption Day andHuman Rights Day.[8]
Discussions about protecting human rights considered the issue of empowering human rights defenders and independent media. During the intersession remarks, Hong Kong democracy activistNathan Law made a speech.[a] Discussions about strengthening democratic institutions and preventive measures to stop authoritarianism from happening were held. Threats to democracy in the digital age were also discussed regarding digital surveillance. The day ended with closing remarks from Biden.
The summit was held in hybrid fashion March 28-30 online and across the capitals of the United States, Costa Rica, Zambia, Netherlands and the Republic of Korea.[9]
The summit was held in hybrid fashion March 18–20. The first two-day sessions were held inSeoul, the capital ofSouth Korea. The last day of the summit was held virtually. South Korean PresidentYoon Suk Yeol served as the Chair of the Summit.[10]
TheUnited States invited itself and the following countries and territories to virtually attend the summit.[11][12][13] Leaders could give a short virtual opening remarks to the participants, for example British Prime Minister gave a three-minute speech.[14]
The summit's guestlist was criticized for inviting participants based on the political interests of the United States, not on its democracy ratings.University of Sydney politics professorJohn Keane said the guestlist was a "cynically drawn up, bureaucratically crafted, agency-structured invitation list that includes states that by any measure are falling way down the democracy rankings or aren't democracies at all".[15]
Philippine PresidentRodrigo Duterte, accused ofcrimes against humanity, accepted President Biden's invitation to join the Summit for Democracy. According to ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy, "Duterte’s reign of terror and mass murder, which have provoked anICC investigation of crimes against humanity, would seem to disqualify him from providing advice on anything except fascist populism, repression and human rights violations."[16]
Despite several democracy watchdogs callingBrazil abacksliding democracy,Indonesia andNigeria as other types of democracy, and Pakistan as abanana republic,[17] former Brazilian PresidentJair Bolsonaro, Indonesian PresidentJoko Widodo, and Nigerian PresidentMuhammadu Buhari participated in the Summit for Democracy,[18][19] while former Pakistani Prime MinisterImran Khan, though invited, did not.[20] Japanese Prime MinisterFumio Kishida, Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau and former Australian Prime MinisterScott Morrison also participated in the summit.
Some invited countries, such asAngola, theDemocratic Republic of the Congo andIraq, were deemed "not free" in the democracy watchdogFreedom House's latest "Freedom in the World" report.[19] Other invited countries, such asPakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, India andSenegal, were deemed "partly free" in the report while Brazil, the United States, Korea, Japan,Canada,Australia andCosta Rica were deemed "free." The report also showed the United States, Korea, Japan, Canada and Australia to be developed democracies and Brazil to be a developing democracy.
