International Society for Human Rights

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International Society for Human Rights
(ISHR)
logo
purpose Human rights organization
Chair: Edgar Lamm
Establishment date: 1972
Number of members: 30,000 to 35,000 (international)
3000 (German section)
Seat : Frankfurt am Main
Website: www.menschenrechte.de
Former ISHR office at Borsigallee 9 in Frankfurt am Main

The International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) is a human rights organization .

The ISHR works as a non-governmental organization on the basis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights documents, such as the European Convention on Human Rights and the Helsinki Final Act . Its roots go back to a strong commitment against human rights violations in the then Soviet sphere of influence .

After the end of the Cold War in 1989, she was subject to profound changes and significantly expanded her field of work. The ISHR is a member of the German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR) , the Human Rights Forum and the Union of Victims' Associations of Communist Tyranny (UOKG e.V.). She supports them in reparation matters for the victims of the GDR dictatorship.

organization

On April 8, 1972, the Society for Human Rights (GfM) was founded in Frankfurt am Main by 13 people, including Cornelia Gerstenmaier and Gleb Rahr . The initiator was born Russian Iwan Iwanowitsch Agrusow (1924–2012). The ISHR took over the structures and model from Amnesty International and other non-governmental organizations founded in the 1960s and is recognized as charitable and benevolent in the Federal Republic of Germany . A more conservative orientation was also expressed by prominent members such as Otto von Habsburg , Gerhard Löwenthal and the former Federal Chancellor Ludwig Erhard .

In 2010, the ISHR had around 3000 members in Germany and a total of 30,000 to 35,000 members in 26 national sections worldwide.

The organization is based in Frankfurt am Main . Since November 1, 2019, the office has been at Edisonstrasse 5.

The ISHR has observer status in the Council of Europe and in the Organization of African States . In 2003 the ISHR received simple consultative status with the Economic and Social Council ( ECOSOC ) of the UN .

The German section is represented by Edgar Lamm (chairman), Heinz Josef Ernst (treasurer), Martin Lessenthin (board spokesman ), Carmen Jondral-Schuler , Hubert Körper , Gunter Goebel , Peter Schmitt (assessor). Honorary chairmen are Katrin Bornmüller .

The International Council of the ISHR is headed by Thomas Schirrmacher (President), Karl Hafen (Treasurer), Marie Gerrard , René Gomez Manzano , Haydee Marin , Simone Schlegel (Vice President) and Marat Zachidow (Secretary General).

Members of the board of trustees include Joseph Coutts , Freya Klier , Emily Lau Wai-hing , Harry Wu , Vytautas Landsbergis , Nasrin Sotudeh , Siegmar Faust , Konrad Löw , Rudolf Grulich , Alfred de Zayas .

activity

During the Cold War , the ISHR particularly addressed human rights violations in the GDR and the Eastern European countries.

The ISHR advocates freedom of belief in communist countries such as China and Vietnam and Islamic countries such as Iran and Egypt , especially with regard to Christians, but also for other oppressed groups such as Falun Gong and the Baha'i . In addition, the ISHR campaigns specifically for women's rights in the Islamic world, against the practice of torture and other human rights violations in various countries. The engagement of the ISHR with regard to China is significantly strengthened by the membership of the board of trustees of the Chinese dissident and human rights activist Harry Wu .

In Germany, local working groups conduct human rights information work. In 2005, the organization collected signatures for the Cuban dissident Oscar Elías Biscet at a stand at the German Evangelical Church Congress in Hanover . Furthermore, the organization is committed to humanitarian aid in Eastern European countries with the aim of improving the situation of children, old people and conscripts there.

After the prohibition of the book German Justice by the author Roman Grafe in 2006, the ISHR launched an appeal against the restriction of press freedom. 45 scientists, lawyers, police officers and authors (including Wolf Biermann and Ralph Giordano ) signed. In October 2007, the former GDR border officer Sven Hüber's complaint against his naming was dismissed.

History of the ISHR

Commitment to human rights in the communist dictatorships in Eastern Europe

Joachim Gauck at an ISHR press conference in 2002

According to its own information, the ISHR handled over 10,000 cases of political persecution in the GDR from 1972 to 1990, including over 1,500 political prisoners. The others were mostly cases of requests to leave the country. 220 fates of political prisoners in the GDR were presented in the ISHR magazine Menschenrechte, some with pictures. Over 500 cases were submitted in writing to the Follow-up Conferences on Security and Cooperation (CSCE) between 1980 and 1989; The UN Human Rights Commission received numerous cases of unlawful detention for political reasons, forced adoptions and other emigration cases in two UN complaints following the 1503 procedure . The ISHR supported Jutta Gallus in her fight for the transfer of custody of her daughters from the father to herself. On the occasion of the visit of the GDR State Council Chairman Erich Honecker to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1987, 16 files with a total of 1,657 petitions from GDR citizens were handed over to the Permanent Mission of the GDR in Bonn and accepted there by employees of the GDR representation.

In 1982 the ISHR campaigned against the German-Soviet natural gas pipe business, which was controversial between the USA and the Federal Republic of Germany, and pointed out the use of forced labor in the Soviet Union.

Supporting anti-communist rebels and dictatorships

The ISHR took a one-sided and belittling position , particularly on the apartheid regime in South Africa . The ANC's biennial report from 1985/1986 highlighted the potential for violence and stated that Nelson Mandela was imprisoned as a "terrorist"; the reasons for black resistance to the racist dictatorship and the violence with which whites ruled over blacks remained underexposed.

In 1987 the Greens accused the ISHR of taking sides with the US-sponsored contra rebels and their close political opposition alliance and of unilaterally criticizing the ruling Sandinista as violators of human rights.

In 1986, the ISHR took up allegations that a parents' committee founded in Namibia in 1985 had raised against SWAPO , namely that in the 1980s SWAPO had internally pursued a quasi-Stalinist cleansing policy , put people under pressure, imprisoned and tortured them. Because the ISHR passionately exploited the committee's concerns in line with the South African government, the solidarity movement dismissed the reports as propaganda. On November 6, 1987, the ISHR was named by the UN General Assembly as the “stooge” of the “racist regime of South Africa” when it condemned its “disinformation campaign” against the Namibian struggle for independence.

The President of the Board of Trustees of the ISHR Ludwig Martin and the member of the Board of Trustees Lothar Bossle were regarded as "tried and tested friends" by Augusto Pinochet's military regime . In 1987 they warned the Chilean government that the discovery of the crimes in the Colonia Dignidad could lead to a deterioration in relations between Germany and the Pinochet regime.

In 1987, at the Evangelical Church Congress, the ISHR was destroyed by left-wing demonstrators. At the church convention in 1989, left-wing demonstrators also prevented a panel discussion in which the ISHR was supposed to be involved.

In 1990 the city of Frankfurt am Main stopped its financial support for the ISHR at the request of the SPD and the Greens because of alleged involvement with the right-wing extremist scene due to the allegations of the journalist and former ISHR employee Günter Platzdasch.

Repositioning after 1989

After the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the ISHR opened up a new field of work: the support and critical accompaniment of the Eastern European states on their way to democracy and human rights. Russia in particular is heavily criticized by the ISHR.

The work of the ISHR remained unchanged in relation to the still existing communist countries of Cuba (the ISHR has been supporting the civil rights organization Damen in Weiß there since it was founded in 2003 ), the People's Republic of China and North Korea . Then there was the subject of Tibet , which is mainly at home with the Munich working group.

The discussion about human rights violations in Islamic countries and regions moved more to the fore .

Social positioning

After the Cold War and the collapse of Real Socialism , the profile was realigned and expanded, particularly with regard to religiously based human rights violations such as stoning , especially in Islamic countries. With its own program, the organization fills in gaps that other large aid organizations pay less attention to.

39 members of state parliaments, the Bundestag and the European Parliament from the parties CDU, CSU, FDP, SPD and Alliance 90 / Greens took part in a sponsorship program for political prisoners in Cuba .

Combat by the state security and its processing

On September 17, 1975, Erich Mielke declared the ISHR to be a public enemy of the GDR and initiated operational measures against them by the State Security Service.

The then Frankfurt city council and unofficial employee of the GDR State Security Diether Dehm provided the State Security with information about the ISHR. The allegation of systematic support for dictatorships, such as structural networking and personal ties with right-wing extremist groups, was forbidden by a court in 1997 at the request of the ISHR.

The machinations of agents provocateurs of the communist secret services have become known. "When the society founded a branch in West Berlin, its first chairman was a Stasi agent who was supposed to provoke internal quarrels." Bernd Moldenhauer , a former member of the ISHR and later the Association of Victims of Stalinism , was West Berlin Stasi employee Aribert Freder murdered. According to the ISHR, “forgeries (e.g. letterheads, signatures) were made, forged letters and press releases were sent on behalf of board members, rumors and lies were spread, rumors and lies mixed with truths and half-truths, timelines were deliberately shortened or misrepresented To put ISHR in a bad light and to discredit their work. Since about 1984 attempts have been made to push the ISHR into a right-wing extremist corner, which also allegedly cooperates with secret services and supports dictatorships. In 1989 more than 30 Stasi officers worked on the ' disintegration ' of the ISHR, which was uncomfortable for them. ”In total, over 100 Stasi informers were used to infiltrate human rights groups. The KGB also took part in the fight against the ISHR.

The ISHR rejects the accusation of being a "cover organization of the NTS ". Individual discredits can be traced back to campaigns by the Ministry of State Security . Aspects of the discrediting and falsification allegations were presented, among others, by the Federal Government Commissioner for Stasi Records, Joachim Gauck , the Federal Government Spokesman for Human Rights Issues Günter Nooke and Siegmar Faust at central ISHR events.

Internal conflicts

In 1980, the Berlin ISHR member Wolfgang Mleczkowski , who left the GDR in 1976 and had previously been spied on by the GDR State Security , raised allegations of financial irregularities and disappeared files against the ISHR. Mleczkowski split off from the ISHR with a group.

In 1989 the board of the Munich working group of the ISHR resigned due to a “deficient understanding of democracy” at the headquarters. The behavior of the head office “no longer corresponds to the goals and moral standards of a human rights organization”. In the same year, Erhard Göhl from Darmstadt and Gontard Jaster from Munich resigned from the ISHR because of “a lack of internal democracy and repeated violations of the law at the top of the ISHR”. The criticism was directed particularly against the ISHR founder and then managing chairman Ivan Agrusov and led to several criminal charges against him by former employees. In 1995, after two strokes, he retired from active work for the ISHR and was honorary chairman and advisor of the organization until his death in 2012. At the beginning of 2015, Rainer Rothfuß was elected as the new managing chairman, due to controversial media appearances, both internally and externally. a. at NewsFront, recalled the management of the Rothfuß association from office in May 2015.

Political sponsorships

Political sponsorships of the ISHR have u. a. Dorothee Bär , Kristina Schröder , Ulla Schmidt , Rainer Arnold , Omid Nouripour and Alexander Alvaro took over.

Media attention

In 1982, the ISHR elected the Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov as its honorary president. Although the latter refused the election, the ISHR now included him on their letterhead, which led to critical reporting.

A report from the ISHR from April 1984 about the GDR officer Klaus-Dieter Rauschenbach, who initially defected to West Germany and then returned to the GDR, according to which he had been driven to suicide in the GDR, reached nationwide on April 26 and 27, 1984 in the daily press. This report turned out to be false and led to a parliamentary question in the Bundestag.

On February 26, 2016, the German Bundestag elected the spokesman of the ISHR, Martin Lessenthin , to the board of trustees of the German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR) as a representative of civil society on the proposal of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group .

Chairpersons and Presidents (incomplete)

Executive chairmen

Honorary President

International President

Board spokesman

Stephanus Foundation

The non-denominational “Stephanus Foundation for Persecuted Christians” supports persecuted Christians in need with a subsidy for living expenses and legal fees. It also makes Bibles and Christian literature available to Christian communities. Once a year, it awards the Stephanus Prize, endowed with 1000 euros, for steadfast Christians in persecuted states and a special prize for institutions that report on persecuted Christians and their living conditions. The Stephanus Foundation is administered in trust by the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR). The award is named after the deacon of the early Christian community, Stephanus , who was the first martyr to be stoned for his confession of Jesus Christ. The founder of the foundation is Wolfgang Link, Gengenbach .

Among the winners of the past years were the Eritrean Patriarch Abuna Antonios , lawyer Nguyen Van Dai in Vietnam, Archbishop Louis Sako and the Egyptian Jesuit Father Samir Khalil Samir . Institutions such as CLAAS in Pakistan and the Protestant news agency Idea were honored with the special prize . In 2015, the award went posthumously to the murdered Armenian Catholic Archbishop of Mardin, Ignatius Maloyan .

In September 2016 it became known that the Stephanus Foundation will no longer be managed in trust by the ISHR, but by the foundation and estate management of Frankfurter Sparkasse.

literature

  • Jürgen Wüst: Human rights work in the twilight. Between State Security and Antifascism , (Publication Series Extremism and Democracy, 13), Bouvier, Bonn 1999, ISBN 3-416-02861-9
  • Jürgen Wüst: "Imperialist human rights cry". The fight of the MfS against the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) and Amnesty International (AI) , in: Germany Archive , No. 3/1998, pp. 418–427

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from March 19, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ http://www.igfm.de/ueber-uns/igfm-gestern-heute/kleine-chronik/
  3. ^ Statutes of the ISHR http://www.igfm.de/index.php?id=195#content729 § 2 Purpose of the company, III & IV
  4. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from February 20, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ^ Member organizations in the Human Rights Forum ( Memento from March 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), as of March 31, 2013
  6. ↑ Information on membership in the UOKG ( Memento from November 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 142 kB), page 4, paragraph 3
  7. ↑ a b Wikipedia used for misinformation , checked December 21, 2013
  8. ↑ a b "Who" is the ISHR archived copy ( Memento from February 21, 2011 on WebCite )
  9. ↑ International website of ISHR & structures ( memento of September 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), last checked on October 8, 2010.
  10. ↑ a b c d e ISHR at a glance , accessed on March 15, 2019
  11. ↑ Contact. In: International Society for Human Rights (ISHR). Accessed December 19, 2019 (German).
  12. ↑ Hannah Horschke: ISHR at a glance. In: International Society for Human Rights (ISHR). Accessed December 23, 2018 (German).
  13. ↑ IGFM project selection http://www.igfm.de/?id=28
  14. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of May 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ↑ a b https://web.archive.org/web/20080626114355/http://www.igfm.de/Kuba-IGFM-Patenschaftsprogramm-Aboptere-etzen-sich-fuer-pol.1021.0.html
  16. ↑ http://www.cras-legam.de/HHZ05RG.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20080603215629/http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/0,1518,453763, 00.html
  17. ↑ Former political officer is subject to the BGH. In: sueddeutsche.de. May 10, 2010, accessed March 18, 2018 .
  18. ↑ http://www.igfm.de/eMail-Rundbrief-Jutta-Gallus.990.0.html
  19. ↑ Dirty lie. Forced laborers on the new gas pipeline - object of propaganda for East and West . In: Der Spiegel . No. 33 , 1982, pp. 94 ( Online - Aug. 16, 1982 ).
  20. ↑ Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk : The International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) and the Ministry for State Security. In: Ole Giec u. Frank Willmann (Ed.): Wall Warriors. Actions against the Wall in West Berlin in 1989 . Ch.links, Berlin 2014, p. 115.
  21. ↑ Support for the UN-FDN-Contra in the Federal Republic of Germany (PDF; 422 kB), Major inquiry by MP Ludger Volmer and the Green Group in the German Bundestag from March 20, 1987, accessed on July 19, 2012
  22. ^ Susanne Timm: Partial educational cooperation. The Bellin children's home for Namibian refugee children in the GDR . Waxmann, Münster 2007, p. 116.
  23. ↑ Justine Hunter: “If too much truth divides, how much truth is enough?” Dealing with the recent past in Namibia. In: Sigmar Schmidt et al. (Ed.): Amnesia, amnesty or work-up? To deal with authoritarian pasts and human rights violations. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2009, p. 234.
  24. ^ UN General Assembly of November 6, 1987, Resolution 42/14, Section 35: "Strongly condemns also the sinister and slanderous campaign of disinformation by the racist regime of South Africa and its agents, including the so-called International Society for Human Rights , against the just struggle of the Namibian people for self-determination and national independence. " Visible online
  25. ↑ Mauricio Weibel: Colonia Dignidad: What did Pinochet's friends on the Rhine know? Südwest-Presse, October 29, 2012.
  26. ↑ Hubertus Knabe , Die unterwanderte Republik , Propylaen 1999, p. 336
  27. ↑ http://www.igfm.de/ueber-uns/igfm-gestern-heute/kleine-chronik/
  28. ↑ http://www.tendenzen.de/archiv/archiv2001/archiv0401_4.html
  29. ↑ http://www.einsicht-aktuell.de/index.php?svar=5&artikel_id=1587&searchkey=Schoonbroodt
  30. ↑ Gerhard Besier: Evangelical Church: Changing the Climate , in: Focus from November 3, 1997, accessed on July 19, 2012
  31. ↑ Klaus Pokatzky: Tumult in Halle 25 , in: Die Zeit from June 16, 1989, accessed on July 19, 2012
  32. ↑ SPD budget request in 1982; FAZ March 16, 1990
  33. ^ Günter Platzdasch: The so-called International Society for Human Rights. A right gray area organization published in 1990 by the office of the Wiesbaden city council
  34. ↑ http://latina-press.com/news/126191-kuba-buergerrechtlerin-und-dame-in-weiss-im-gefaengnis-misshandelt/
  35. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from May 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  36. ↑ https://www.die-tagespost.de/politik/pl/Verhaftungen-und-Schikanen;art315,196277
  37. ↑ https://www.idea.de/menschenrechte/detail/china-pfarrer-nach-gespraech-mit-religionsbehoerde-verschwunden-106730.html
  38. ↑ https://www.idea.de/menschenrechte/detail/heftige-kritik-an-malaysia-als-partnerland-der-reisemesse-itb-108396.html
  39. ↑ https://www.idea.de/menschenrechte/detail/iran-langjaehrige-haftstrafe-und-peitschenhiebe-fuer-einen-christen-108313.html
  40. ↑ https://www.idea.de/menschenrechte/detail/menschenrechtler-europa-ignoriert-schreckensherrschaft-im-iran-106414.html
  41. ↑ https://www.idea.de/menschenrechte/detail/menschenrechtler-kritisiert-den-bundespraesidents-108234.html
  42. ↑ https://www.idea.de/menschenrechte/detail/trotz-lebensgefahr-anwalt-bereut-verteidigung-von-asia-bibi-nicht-108190.html
  43. ↑ https://www.idea.de/menschenrechte/detail/aeggypt-christen-haben-verhaben-und-bedroht-106915.html
  44. ↑ http://www.igfm.de/?id=626
  45. ↑ The ISHR in the sights of the Stasi , on the ISHR website, last checked on October 14, 2011
  46. ↑ He who raises his hand in hatred. From the secret speech of the Stasi Minister Mielke . In: Der Spiegel . No. 9 , 1979, pp. 30-31 ( Online - Feb. 26, 1979 ).
  47. ↑ “Let's not put up with that” , in: Focus from May 13, 1996, accessed on July 20, 2012
  48. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, May 13, 1996, No. 111/20, p. 1 ( Memento of December 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  49. ↑ Oberlandesgericht Oldenburg, 1997, (AZ. 13 U 62/97) quoted in http://www.igfm.de/ueber-uns/oft-rechte-fragen/wikipedia-fuer-falschinformationen-benutzt/
  50. ^ A b Dennis Kuck: Review of: Wüst, Jürgen: Human rights work in the twilight. Between state security and anti-fascism. Bonn 1999, in: H-Soz-u-Kult, August 15, 2000
  51. ↑ Liquidieren the object , in: Der Spiegel from June 8, 1992, accessed on July 19, 2012
  52. ↑ http://www.igfm.de/ueber-uns/oft-rechte-fragen/die-igfm-im-visier-der-stasi/
  53. ↑ Infiltrated by the Stasi . In: Der Spiegel . No. 26 , 1992, pp. 16 ( Online - June 22, 1992 ).
  54. ↑ Ping-pong for spies. Previously unknown documents show how closely the Stasi and KGB worked together worldwide. Among the targets: the IOC, the Pen Club and the Pope . In: Der Spiegel . No. 8 , 1992, pp. 96-97 ( Online - Feb. 17, 1992 ).
  55. ↑ http://www.igfm.de/ueber-uns/chronik-der-igfm/2007/jhv-2007/gastvortrag-von-guenter-nooke/
  56. ↑ http://www.tagesspiegel.de/zeitung/wann-hoert-das-zittern-endet-auf/447990.html
  57. ↑ Human Rights No. 3–4 / 1980; German daily mail August 29, 1980
  58. ^ Frankfurter Rundschau , July 29, 1989
  59. ^ Frankfurter Rundschau, October 11, 1989
  60. ^ Iwan I. Agrusow, founding father of the ISHR, deceased ( Memento of May 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), message on the ISHR homepage, accessed on July 19, 2012
  61. ↑ https://www.dresdengespraeche.de/veranstaltungen/2017/07-03-17-prof-rothfu%C3%9F/
  62. ↑ Why I took on a political sponsorship. In: International Society for Human Rights (ISHR). Retrieved April 27, 2019 (German).
  63. ↑ Sakharov cancels , in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of November 18, 1982, quoted from Platzdasch (see web links)
  64. ^ Ivan Agrusow: Sakharov's rejection , in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of December 22, 1982, quoted from Platzdasch (see web links)
  65. ↑ Report in Die Welt on April 26, 1984; Returned GDR officer allegedly committed suicide , in: Süddeutsche Zeitung of April 26, 1984; or also, East Berlin: Rauschenbach is in the best of health in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of April 27, 1984, the last two quoted from Platzdasch (see web links)
  66. ↑ Printed matter 10/1440, German Bundestag, 10th electoral period, May 11, 1984, p. 16.
  67. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from February 20, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  68. ↑ http://www.institut-fuer-menschenrechte.de/ueber-uns/struktur/kuratorium
  69. ↑ Prof. Rainer Rothfuss elected as executive chairman of the ISHR. German Evangelical Alliance , March 14, 2015, archived from the original on April 15, 2016 ; accessed on April 15, 2016 .
  70. ↑ https://www.fnp.de/frankfurt/dienst-menschenrechte-10485980.html
  71. ↑ Schirrmacher elected President of the International Society for Human Rights , igfm.de, report from April 2014.
  72. ↑ Stephanus Foundation for Persecuted Christians: Profile , frankfurt.de, accessed on October 9, 2016.
  73. ↑ Information on the founder of the foundation , pro-medienmagazin.de, notification from September 22, 2014.
  74. ↑ Stephanus Prize 2013 to aid organization of the Jesuits in Homs ( Memento from June 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), igfm.de, message from September 21, 2013.
  75. ↑ Stephanus Prize for the murdered archbishop , idea.de, message from June 15, 2015.
  76. ↑ Michaela Koller: Change at the Stephanus Foundation for Persecuted Christians , idea.de, message from October 1, 2016.