The 2009 CIA World Factbook

Part 326

Chapter 3263,034 wordsPublic domain

Germany other: business associations and employers' organizations; religious, trade unions, immigrant, expellee, and veterans groups

Ghana Christian Aid (water rights); Committee for Joint Action or CJA (education reform); National Coalition Against the Privatization of Water or CAP (water rights); Oxfam (water rights); Public Citizen (water rights); Students Coalition Against EPA [Kwabena Ososukene OKAI] (education reform); Third World Network (education reform)

Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce; Gibraltar Representatives Organization; Women's Association

Greece Civil Servants Confederation or ADEDY [Spyros PAPASPYROS]; Federation of Greek Industries or SEV [Dimitris DASKALOPOULOS]; General Confederation of Greek Workers or GSEE [Ioannis PANAGOPOULOS]

Greenland other: conservationists; environmentalists

Grenada Committee for Human Rights in Grenada or CHRG; New Jewel Movement Support Group; The British Grenada Friendship Society; The New Jewel 19 Committee

Guam Guam Federation of Teachers' Union; Guam Waterworks Authority Workers other: activists; indigenous groups

Guatemala Agrarian Owners Group or UNAGRO; Alliance Against Impunity or AAI; Committee for Campesino Unity or CUC; Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, and Financial Associations or CACIF; Mutual Support Group or GAM

Guernsey Stop Traffic Endangering Pedestrian Safety or STEPS; No More Masts [Colin FALLAIZE]

Guinea National Confederation of Guinean Workers-Labor Union of Guinean Workers or CNTG-USTG Alliance (includes National Confederation of Guinean Workers or CNTG [Rabiatou Sarah DIALLO] and Labor Union of Guinean Workers or USTG [Dr. Ibrahima FOFANA]); National Council of Civil Society Organizations of Guinea or CNOSCG [Ben Sekou SYLLA]; Syndicate of Guinean Teachers and Researchers or SLECG [Dr. Louis M'Bemba SOUMAH]

Guinea-Bissau NA

Guyana Amerindian People's Association; Guyana Bar Association; Guyana Citizens Initiative; Guyana Human Rights Association; Guyana Public Service Union or GPSU; Private Sector Commission; Trades Union Congress

Haiti Autonomous Organizations of Haitian Workers or CATH [Fignole ST-CYR]; Confederation of Haitian Workers or CTH; Federation of Workers Trade Unions or FOS; General Organization of Independent Haitian Workers [Patrick NUMAS]; Grand-Anse Resistance Committee, or KOREGA; National Popular Assembly or APN; Papaye Peasants Movement or MPP [Chavannes JEAN-BAPTISTE]; Popular Organizations Gathering Power or PROP; Protestant Federation of Haiti; Roman Catholic Church

Holy See (Vatican City) none (exclusive of influence exercised by church officers)

Honduras Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras or CODEH; Confederation of Honduran Workers or CTH; Coordinating Committee of Popular Organizations or CCOP; General Workers Confederation or CGT; Honduran Council of Private Enterprise or COHEP; National Association of Honduran Campesinos or ANACH; National Union of Campesinos or UNC; Popular Bloc or BP; United Confederation of Honduran Workers or CUTH

Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (pro-China); Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong; Confederation of Trade Unions or CTU (pro-democracy) [LAU Chin-shek, president; LEE Cheuk-yan, general secretary]; Federation of Hong Kong Industries; Federation of Trade Unions or FTU (pro-China) [CHENG Yiu-tong, executive councilor]; Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China [Szeto WAH, chairman]; Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Union Council (pro-Taiwan); Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce; Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union [CHEUNG Man-kwong, president]; Neighborhood and Workers' Service Center or NWSC [LEUNG Yiu-chung, LegCo member] (pro-democracy); Civic Act-up [Cyd HO Sau-lan, LegCo member] (pro-democracy)

Hungary Air Work Group (works to reduce air pollution in towns and cities); Company For Freedom Rights (Tarsasag a Szabadsagjogokert) or TASZ (personal data protection); Danube Circle (protests the building of the Gabchikovo-Nagymaros dam); Green Future (protests the impact of lead contamination of local factory on health of the people); environmentalists: Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society (Magyar Madartani Egyesulet)or MME; Green Alternative (Zold Alternativa)

Iceland People's Voices [Hordur TORFARSON]; New Times; Civic Action Association [Gunnar SIGURDSSON]; The Association of Military Opponents [Stefan PALSSON]

India All Parties Hurriyat Conference in the Kashmir Valley (separatist group); Bajrang Dal (religious organization); National Socialist Council of Nagaland in the northeast (separatist group); Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (religious organization); Vishwa Hindu Parishad (religious organization other: numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations; various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional autonomy

Indonesia Indonesian Women's Coalition (Koalisi Perempuan - human rights group); Islamic Defenders Front or FPI; National Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Faith; Oil Palm Watch (environmental)

Iran groups that generally support the Islamic Republic: Ansar-e Hizballah-Islamic Coalition Party (Motalefeh); Followers of the Line of the Imam and the Leader; Islamic Engineers Society; Tehran Militant Clergy Association (Ruhaniyat); active pro-reform student group: Office of Strengthening Unity (OSU); opposition groups: Baluchistan People's Party (BPP); Freedom Movement of Iran; Marz-e Por Gohar; National Front; and various ethnic and Monarchist organizations; armed political groups that have been repressed by the government: Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI); Jundallah; Komala; Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO); People's Fedayeen; People's Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK)

Iraq Sunni militias; Shia militias, some associated with political parties

Ireland Families Acting for Innocent Relatives or FAIR [Brian McCONNELL] (seek compensation for victims of violence); Families Against Intimidation and Terror or FAIT (oppose terrorism); Gaeltacht Civil Rights Campaign (Coiste Cearta Sibhialta na Gaeilge) or CCSG (encourages the use of the Irish language and campaigns for greater civil rights in Irish speaking areas); Irish Republican Army or IRA (terrorist group); Keep Ireland Open (environmental group); Midland Railway Action Group or MRAG [Willie ALLEN] (transportation promoters); Rail Users Ireland (formerly the Platform 11 - transportation promoters); 32 Country Sovereignty Movement or 32CSM (supports a fully sovereign Ireland); Ulster Defence Association or UDA (terrorist group)

Isle of Man Alliance for Progressive Government or APG (a government watchdog); Mec Vannin (political party advocating a sovereign state and environment policies); note - has only had one member elected to the Tynwald

Israel B'Tselem [Jessica MONTELL, Executive Director] monitors human rights abuses; Peace Now [Yariv OPPENHEIMER, Secretary General] supports territorial concessions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; YESHA Council of Settlements [Danny DAYAN, Chairman] promotes settler interests and opposes territorial compromise

Italy manufacturers and merchants associations - Confcommercio; Confindustria; organized farm groups - Confcoltivatori; Confagricoltura; Roman Catholic Church; three major trade union confederations - Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro or CGIL [Guglielmo EPIFANI] which is left wing; Confederazione Italiana dei Sindacati Lavoratori or CISL [Raffaele BONANNO], which is Roman Catholic centrist; Unione Italiana del Lavoro or UIL [Luigi ANGELETTI] which is lay centrist)

Jamaica New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists)

Japan other: business groups; trade unions

Jersey Institute of Directors, Jersey branch (provides business support); Jersey Hospitality Association [Robert JONES] (trade association); Jersey Rights Association [David ROTHERHAM] (human rights); La Societe Jersiaise (education and conservation group); Progress Jersey [Darius J. PEARCE, Daren O'TOOLE, Gino RISOLI] (human rights); Royal Jersey Agriculture and Horticultural Society or RJA&HS (development and management of the Jersey breed of cattle); Save Jersey's Heritage (protects heritage through building preservation)

Jordan Anti-Normalization Committee [Ali Abu SUKKAR, president vice chairman]; Jordan Bar Association [Saleh al-ARMUTI, chairman]; Jordanian Press Association [Sayf al-SHARIF, president]; Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood [Dr. Hamam SAID, controller general]

Kazakhstan Adil-Soz [Tamara KALEYEVA]; Almaty Helsinki Group [Ninel FOKINA]; Confederation of Free Trade Unions [Sergei BELKIN]; For Fair Elections [Yevgeniy ZHOVTIS, Sabit ZHUSUPOV, Sergey DUVANOV, Ibrash NUSUPBAYEV]; Kazakhstan International Bureau on Human Rights [Yevgeniy ZHOVTIS, executive director]; Pan-National Social Democratic Party of Kazakhstan [Zharmakhan TUYAKBAI]; Pensioners Movement or Pokoleniye [Irina SAVOSTINA, chairwoman]; Republican Network of International Monitors [Dos KUSHIM]; Transparency International [Sergei ZLOTNIKOV]

Kenya Council of Islamic Preachers of Kenya or CIPK [Sheikh Idris MOHAMMED]; Kenya Human Rights Commission [L. Muthoni WANYEKI]; Muslim Human Rights Forum [Ali-Amin KIMATHI]; National Convention Executive Council or NCEC, a proreform coalition of political parties and nongovernment organizations [Ndung'u WAINANA]; National Muslim Leaders Forum or NAMLEF [Abdullahi ABDI]; Protestant National Council of Churches of Kenya or NCCK [Canon Peter Karanja MWANGI]; Roman Catholic and other Christian churches; Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims or SUPKEM [Shaykh Abdul Gafur al-BUSAIDY] other: labor unions

Kiribati NA

Korea, North none

Korea, South Federation of Korean Industries; Federation of Korean Trade Unions; Korean Confederation of Trade Unions; Korean National Council of Churches; Korean Traders Association; Korean Veterans' Association; National Council of Labor Unions; National Democratic Alliance of Korea; National Federation of Farmers' Associations; National Federation of Student Associations

Kosovo Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedom (human rights); Humanitarian Law Centre (human rights); Movement for Self-Determination; Serb National Council (SNV)

Kuwait other: Islamists; merchants; political groups; secular liberals and pro-governmental deputies; Shia activists; tribal groups

Kyrgyzstan Adilet Legal Clinic [Cholpon JAKUPOVA]; Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society [Dinara OSHURAKHUNOVA]; Interbilim [Asiya SASYKBAEVA]

Laos NA

Latvia Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia [Peteris KRIGERS], Employers' Confederation of Latvia [Elina EGLE], Farmers' Parliament [Juris LAZDINS]

Lebanon Hizballah military wing other: Palestinian militias; Maronite Christians; Sunnis and their militias; Shias and their militias

Lesotho Media Institute of Southern Africa, Lesotho chapter [Thabang MATJAMA] (pushes for media freedom)

Liberia other: demobilized former military officers

Libya other: Arab nationalist movements; anti-QADHAFI Libyan exile Movement; Islamic elements

Liechtenstein NA

Lithuania Europe House (promotes the EU); European Movement (promotes the EU); Lithuanian Future Forum (promotes the EU)

Luxembourg ABBL (bankers' association); ALEBA (financial sector trade union); Centrale Paysanne (federation of agricultural producers); CEP (professional sector chamber); CGFP (trade union representing civil service); Chambre de Commerce (Chamber of Commerce); Chambre des Metiers (Chamber of Artisans); FEDIL (federation of industrialists); Greenpeace (environment protection); LCGP (center-right trade union); Mouvement Ecologique (protection of ecology); OGBL (center-left trade union)

Macau Civic Power [Agnes LAM Lok-fong]; Macau Society of Tourism and Entertainment or STDM [Stanley HO]; Macau Worker's Union [HO Heng-kuok]; Roman Catholic Church; Union for Democracy Development [Antonio NG Kuok-cheong]

Macedonia Federation of Free Trade Unions [Svetlana PETROVIC]; Federation of Trade Unions [Vanco MURATOVSKI]; Trade Union of Education, Science and Culture [Dojcin CVETANOSKI]; World Macedonian Congress [Todor PETROV]

Madagascar Committee for the Defense of Truth and Justice or KMMR; Committee for National Reconciliation or CRN [Albert Zafy]; National Council of Christian Churches or FFKM

Malawi Agri-Ecology Media (agriculture and environmental group); Council for NGOs in Malawi or CONGOMA (human rights, democracy, and development); Human Rights Consultative Committee or HRCC (human rights); Malawi Law Society (human rights and law reform); Malawi Movement for the Restoration of Democracy or MMRD (acts to restore and maintain democracy); Public Affairs Committee or PAC (promotes democracy, development, peace and unity)

Malaysia Bar Council BERSIH (electoral reform coalition); PEMBELA (Muslim NGO coalition) other: religious groups; women's groups; youth groups

Maldives other: various unregistered political parties

Mali other: the army; Islamic authorities; rebels in the northern region; state-run cotton company CMDT; tuaregs

Malta Alleanza Liberal-Demokratika Maltra or ALDM (for divorce, abortion, gay marriage, the rights existent in other EU member states); Alleanza Nazzionali Repubblikana or ANR (for traditional values, anti-immigration); Alternattiva Demokratika (pro-environment); Azzjoni Nazzjonali or AN (freedom to participate in democratic government); Flimkien Ghal-Ambjent Ahjar (pro-environment); Ghazdatal-Konsumaturi (consumer rights) other: environmentalists

Marshall Islands NA

Mauritania General Confederation of Mauritanian Workers or CGTM [Abdallahi Ould MOHAMED, secretary general]; Independent Confederation of Mauritanian Workers or CLTM [Samory Ould BEYE]; Mauritanian Workers Union or UTM [Mohamed Ely Ould BRAHIM, secretary general] other: Arab nationalists; Ba'thists; Islamists

Mauritius other: various labor unions

Mayotte NA

Mexico Broad Progressive Front or FAP; Businessmen's Coordinating Council or CCE; Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic or COPARMEX; Confederation of Industrial Chambers or CONCAMIN; Confederation of Mexican Workers or CTM; Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce or CONCANACO; Coordinator for Foreign Trade Business Organizations or COECE; Federation of Unions Providing Goods and Services or FESEBES; National Chamber of Transformation Industries or CANACINTRA; National Peasant Confederation or CNC; National Small Business Chamber or CANACOPE; National Syndicate of Education Workers or SNTE; National Union of Workers or UNT; Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca or APPO; Roman Catholic Church

Micronesia, Federated States of NA

Moldova NA

Monaco NA

Mongolia other: human rights groups; women's groups

Montserrat NA

Morocco Democratic Confederation of Labor or CDT [Noubir AMAOUI]; General Union of Moroccan Workers or UGTM [Abderrazzak AFILAL]; Moroccan Employers Association or CGEM [Hassan CHAMI]; National Labor Union of Morocco or UNMT [Abdelslam MAATI]; Union of Moroccan Workers or UMT [Mahjoub BENSEDDIK]

Mozambique Mozambican League of Human Rights (Liga Mocambicana dos Direitos Humanos) or LDH [Alice MABOTE, president]

Namibia Earthlife Namibia [Berthchen KOHRS] (environmentalist group); National Society for Human Rights or NSHR; The World Information Services of Energy or WISE (group against nuclear power)

Nauru Woman Information and News Agency (women's issues)

Nepal other: several small armed Madhesi groups along the southern border with India; a variety of groups advocating regional autonomy for individual ethnic groups

Netherlands Christian Trade Union Federation or CNV [Rene PAAS]; Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers or VNO-NCW [Bernard WIENTJES]; Federation for Small and Medium-sized businesses or MKB [Loek HERMANS]; Netherlands Trade Union Federation or FNV [Agnes JONGERIUS]; Social Economic Council or SER [Alexander RINNOOY KAN]; Trade Union Federation of Middle and High Personnel or MHP [Ad VERHOEVEN]

Netherlands Antilles Employers Association (VBC); Unions (AVBO)

New Caledonia NA

New Zealand Women's Electoral Lobby or WEL other: apartheid groups; civil rights groups; farmers groups; Maori; nuclear weapons groups; women's rights groups

Nicaragua National Workers Front or FNT (a Sandinista umbrella group of eight labor unions including: Farm Workers Association or ATC, Health Workers Federation or FETASALUD, Heroes and Martyrs Confederation of Professional Associations or CONAPRO, National Association of Educators of Nicaragua or ANDEN, National Union of Employees or UNE, National Union of Farmers and Ranchers or UNAG, Sandinista Workers Central or CST, and Union of Journalists of Nicaragua or UPN); Permanent Congress of Workers or CPT (an umbrella group of four non-Sandinista labor unions including: Autonomous Nicaraguan Workers Central or CTN-A, Confederation of Labor Unification or CUS, Independent General Confederation of Labor or CGT-I, and Labor Action and Unity Central or CAUS); Nicaraguan Workers' Central or CTN (an independent labor union); Superior Council of Private Enterprise or COSEP (a confederation of business groups)

Niger The Nigerien Movement for Justice or MNJ, a predominantly Tuareg rebel group

Nigeria Academic Staff Union for Universities or ASUU; Campaign for Democracy or CD; Civil Liberties Organization or CLO; Committee for the Defense of Human Rights or CDHR; Constitutional Right Project or CRP; Human Right Africa; National Association of Democratic Lawyers or NADL; National Association of Nigerian Students or NANS; Nigerian Bar Association or NBA; Nigerian Labor Congress or NLC; Nigerian Medical Association or NMA; the Press; Universal Defenders of Democracy or UDD

Niue NA

Norfolk Island none

Northern Mariana Islands NA

Norway Norwegian Aid Committee or NORWAC; Norwegian Association of the Disabled; Pure Salmon Campaign; The Consumer Council (consumer advocacy group) other: environmental groups; media; reform movements

Oman none

Pakistan other: military (most important political force); ulema (clergy); landowners; industrialists; small merchants

Palau NA

Panama Chamber of Commerce; National Civic Crusade; National Council of Organized Workers or CONATO; National Council of Private Enterprise or CONEP; National Union of Construction and Similar Workers (SUNTRACS); Panamanian Association of Business Executives or APEDE; Panamanian Industrialists Society or SIP; Workers Confederation of the Republic of Panama or CTRP

Papua New Guinea Ahora [Andrew MAMOKO] (represents local tribes); Centre for Environment Law and Community Rights or Celcor [Damien ASE]; Community Coalition Against Corruption

Paraguay Ahorristas Estafados or AE; National Coordinating Board of Campesino Organizations or MCNOC [Luis AGUAYO]; National Federation of Campesinos or FNC [Odilon ESPINOLA]; National Workers Central or CNT [Secretary General Juan TORRALES]; Paraguayan Workers Confederation or CPT; Roman Catholic Church; Unitary Workers Central or CUT [Jorge Guzman ALVARENGA Malgarejo]

Peru General Workers Confederation of Peru (Confederacion General de Trabajadores del Peru) or CGTP [Mario HUAMAN]; Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) or SL [Abimael GUZMAN Reynoso (imprisoned), Victor QUISPE Palomino (top leader at-large)] (leftist guerrilla group)

Philippines ABONO [Robert ESTRELLA]; AKBAYAN [Anna Theresia BARAQUIEL]; An Waray [Florencio NOEL]; Anak Mindanao [Mujiv HATAMIN]; ANAKPAWIS [Rafael MARIANO]; ARC [Narciso SANTIAGO III]; Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC) [Ernesto PABLO and Edgar VALDEZ]; A TEACHER [Mariano PIAMONTE]; Bayan Muna [Satur OCAMPO and Teodoro CASINO, Jr.]; Black and White Movement [Vicente ROMANO]; BUHAY [Rene VELARDE, Carissa COSCOLLUELLA, and William TIENG]; BUTIL [Leonila CHAVEZ]; CIBAC [Emmanuel Joel VILLANUEVA]; COOP-NATCO [Jose PING-AY]; GABRIELA [Liza MAZA and Luzviminda ILAGAN]; Kilosbayan [Jovito SALONGA]; YACAP [Carol LOPEZ]

Pitcairn Islands none

Poland All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ (trade union) [Jan GUZ]; Roman Catholic Church [Cardinal Stanislaw DZIWISZ, Archbishop Jozef MICHALIK]; Solidarity Trade Union [Janusz SNIADEK]

Portugal the media; labor unions

Puerto Rico Boricua Popular Army or EPB (a revolutionary group also known as Los Macheteros); note - the following radical groups are considered dormant by Federal law enforcement: Armed Forces for National Liberation or FALN, Armed Forces of Popular Resistance, Volunteers of the Puerto Rican Revolution

Qatar none

Romania other: various human rights and professional associations

Russia All-Russian Confederation of Labor; Baikal Environmental Wave; Federation of Independent Labor Unions of Russia; Freedom of Choice Interregional Organization of Automobilists; Glasnost Defense Foundation; Golos Association in Defense of Voters' Rights; Greenpeace Russia; Human Rights Watch (Russian chapter); Institute for Collective Action; Memorial (human rights group); Movement Against Illegal Migration; Pamjat (preservation of historical monuments and recording of history); Russian Orthodox Church; Russian-Chechen Friendship Society; SOVA Analytical-Information Center; Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers; World Wildlife Fund (Russian chapter)

Rwanda IBUKA (association of genocide survivors)

Saint Barthelemy The Marine Reserve (protection of fish); Rotary Club

Saint Helena other: private sector; unions

Saint Kitts and Nevis NA

Saint Lucia NA

Saint Martin NA

Saint Pierre and Miquelon NA

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines NA

Samoa NA

San Marino NA

Sao Tome and Principe Association of Sao Tome and Principe NGOs or FONG other: the media

Saudi Arabia Ansar Al Marah (supports women's rights) other: gas companies; religious groups

Senegal other: labor; students; Sufi brotherhoods, including the Mourides and Tidjanes; teachers

Serbia NA

Seychelles Roman Catholic Church other: trade unions

Sierra Leone other: student unions; trade unions

Singapore none

Slovakia Association of Towns and Villages or ZMOS; Confederation of Trade Unions or KOZ; Entrepreneurs Association of Slovakia or ZPS; Federation of Employers' Associations of the Slovak Republic; National Union of Employers or RUZ; Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry or SOPK; The Business Alliance of Slovakia or PAS

Slovenia Democratic Party of Slovenian Pensioners or DeSUS (protecting the rights of the older generation); Slovenian Roma Association [Jozek Horvat MUC] other: Catholic Church

Solomon Islands Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM); Malaita Eagle Force (MEF); note - these rival armed ethnic factions crippled the Solomon Islands in a wave of violence from 1999 to 2003

Somalia other: numerous clan and sub-clan factions exist both in support and in opposition to the transitional government