Freedom House

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Freedom Houseis a non-profit organization that relies upon tax-deductible grants and donations under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code.[1] Corporate researcher Holly Sklar described it as a "conservative research, publishing, networking, and selective human rights organization."[2] Freedom House's work is linked to the "democracy promotion" efforts of the National Endowment for Democracy.

Background

Freedom House describes itself as non-partisan and broad-based, "a clear voice for democracy and freedom around the world." It was founded "nearly sixty years ago by Eleanor Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie, and other Americans concerned with the mounting threats to peace and democracy, Freedom House has been a vigorous proponent of democratic values and a steadfast opponent of dictatorships of the far left and the far right."[3]

Freedom House sees itself "at the center of the struggle for freedom ... It was an outspoken advocate of the Marshall Plan and NATO in the 1940s, of the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, of the Vietnam boat people in the 1970s, of Poland's Solidarity movement and the Filipino democratic opposition in the 1980s, and of the many democracies that have emerged around the world in the 1990s ... Freedom House has vigorously opposed dictatorships in Central America and Chile, apartheid in South Africa, the suppression of the Prague Spring, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, genocide in Bosnia and Rwanda, and the brutal violation of human rights in Cuba, Burma, China, and Iraq ... It has championed the rights of democratic activists, religious believers, trade unionists, journalists, and proponents of free markets. In 1997, a consolidation took place whereby the international democratization training programs of the National Forum Foundation were incorporated into Freedom House."[4]

Board of Trustees

The Freedom House Board of Trustees is described as "composed of leading Democrats, Republicans, and independents; business and labor leaders; former senior government officials; scholars; writers; and journalists."[5]

R. James Woolsey, Jr., Chairman Ned W. Bandler, Vice Chairman Mark Palmer, Vice Chairman
Walter J. Schloss, Treasurer Kenneth L. Adelman, Secretary Bette Bao Lord, Chairman Emeritus
Max M. Kampelman, Chairman Emeritus Peter Ackerman J. Brian Atwood
Barbara Barrett Zbigniew Brzezinski Peter Collier
Alan P. Dye Stuart Eizenstat Sandra Feldman
Thomas S. Foley Malcolm S. Forbes, Jr. Theodore J. Forstmann
Norman Hill Samuel P. Huntington John T. Joyce
Kathryn Dickey Karol Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Anthony Lake
Mara Liasson Jay Mazur John Norton Moore
Diana Villiers Negroponte P.J. O'Rourke Orlando Patterson
Susan Kaufman Purcell J. Danforth Quayle Bill Richardson
Ruth Wedgwood Wendell Willkie II Andrew Jackson Young, Jr.
Richard Sauber
Source

Funding

Related Organizations

NB: These organizations often co-host events, there is personnel overlap, and at some point have shared offices.

Contact

New York Office

120 Wall Street, Floor 26
New York, NY 10005
Phone: 212-514-8040
FAX: 212-514-8055
URL: www.freedomhouse.org

Washington D.C. Office

1319 18th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: 202-296-5101
FAX: 202-296-5078

External Resources

  1. ^Holly Sklar, "Washington Wants to Buy Nicaragua's Elections Again: A Guide to US Operatives and Nicaraguan Parties," Z Magazine, December 1989.
  2. Freedom House Archives 1936-1999, Princeton Univ., Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library.
  3. Bill Berkowitz, "Freedom House receiving US government money "for clandestine activities inside Iran"", Media Transparency, April 4, 2006.