STATEMENT BY CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS AND ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS ON THE VIII CONFERENCE OF DEFENSE MINISTERS OF THE AMERICAS 2nd-6th of september, 2008 Banff, Canada We, the undersigned non-governmental organizations and academic institutions, are pleased that the Ministers of Defense taking part in the VIII Defense Ministers Conference of the Americas have agreed to allow civil society organizations and institutions of the region to participate in the conference. We believe that the involvement of civil society actors in this forum, even as observers, is a step in the right direction towards strengthening citizen diplomacy and consolidating democracy in the region, which contributes to the transparency and success of the conference. Making use of this space, and upholding our commitment to the promotion and defense of human rights and of democratic institutions, the undersigned civil society organizations: * Agree that democracy, respect for the rule of law, full respect for human rights and international humanitarian law, and the strengthening of multilateralism are essential conditions for sustaining peace and security in the continent; * Affirm that mutual security lies in the preservation of democracy, and that the armed forces should be subordinated to democratically elected authorities; * Express our concern about the increasing militarization of Latin America, and the continuing participation of the armed forces in internal security missions and socio-economic development tasks that distort the role of the armed forces and of the defense system; * Observe that the various processes of civilian control of the armed forces in the region are still incomplete, with weak Defense Ministries and few public officials trained on security and defense issues, delegating –in many cases- civilian leadership of the defense sector to the military domain; and, * Express concern about growing gap between the thematic agendas of the meetings of the Conference of the Defense Ministers of the Americas and the principles on which these conferences were founded, among others the institutionalization of the defense sector, the need to adapt the military to the democracies of the XXI Century, and the formation of civilian defense experts. Therefore, we: * Suggest that participating governments return to the Williamsburg Principles, such as the promotion of democratic values, civilian control of the military; transparency and confidence building measures, among others; * Highlight the need to continue working towards the subordination of the armed forces to the legitimately constituted political authority and the correct use of democratic institutions; * Insist on the importance of including in the Defense Ministers’ declaration the need to conceptually separate the roles of the armed forces from the roles of the police forces and of security forces; * Encourage the definition of national defense policies that protect the rule of law and favor of the preservation of a zone of peace in the region; * Recommend strengthening the institution responsible for defense policies: the Ministry of Defense; * Promote cooperation and joint work between the Ministry of Defense and the Foreign Affairs Ministry on defense matters, acknowledging the need for joint political analysis and the creation of a permanent mechanism to link the two institutions; * Advocate for a stronger role for the Congress in debates on defense issues. The Congress is the body responsible for defense budget allocation. It must also control the use of the armed forces in peacekeeping missions and approval of joint military exercises with foreign nations; * Reaffirm the importance of training civilian experts on the design and implementation of defense policies, and of promoting debates on these issues involving both civilians and the military; * Urge governments to consider modifying the rules governing the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas to broaden and strengthen the participation of civil society organizations and academic institutions, understanding that it would add (social) legitimacy and transparency to the conference process, besides important technical and conceptual contributions; * Continue to support the Conference of Defense Ministers as a legitimate space for hemispheric dialogue, which encourages and strengthens cooperation and trust among American countries, and as an instrument to promote democratic defense policies. Signatory Organizations participating as observers of the VII Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas: -Argentina: Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), SER en el 2000 - Estados Unidos: Washington Offies of Latin America (WOLA) - Peru: Instituto de Defensa Legal (IDL) - Venezuela: Control Ciudadano para la Seguridad, la Defensa y la Fuerza Armada Nacional - América Latina: FLACSO