International Helsinki Association
The International Helsinki Association was a human rights organization that was founded in Switzerland in 1978 by prominent personalities to monitor and object to human rights violations in the Eastern Bloc countries . The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF, 1982) and the Swiss Helsinki Association (1986) emerged from the International Helsinki Association .
aims
The International Helsinki Association monitored the observance of human rights in accordance with the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), which was signed on August 1, 1975 in Helsinki . At the stubborn demand of the Western European countries, the Eastern bloc countries recognized respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms as a principle and an agreement on cooperation on this basis between East and West in humanitarian areas (so-called 3rd basket of the Helsinki Final Act).
This included better travel and contact options for citizens, in particular visits to relatives and family reunions, easier exchange of information and ideas across the block border ( Iron Curtain ), among other things better working conditions for foreign journalists and broader cultural exchange.
management
The President of the International Helsinki Association was the Russian opposition activist and civil rights activist Andrei Sakharov ( Nobel Peace Prize 1975), who was prevented from working by the KGB .
Elisabeth Kopp , Swiss FDP - National Council , headed from 1983 to 1984 in fact the association as executive president until her election as Federal Councilor .
activity
The Helsinki International Association reminded the governments of the signatory states of the agreed commitments and often intervened in the case of harassment, arrest or other obstruction of human rights defenders by the Eastern bloc countries. It is also thanks to him that these activists there were no longer subjected to total arbitrariness by the state security apparatus .
The International Helsinki Association coordinated the exchange of information (1983 to 1986 as the main activity) with the national civil rights movements and Helsinki committees, which were founded in several countries after the CSCE conference in Helsinki to monitor human rights violations in the Eastern Bloc countries:
- Moscow Helsinki Group , 1976, Russia , founder: Juri Orlow (head 1976 to 1982), Lyudmila Alexejewa (head from 1996), Pjotr Grigorenko and others. a.
- KOR , 1976, Poland , founders: Jacek Kuroń , Adam Michnik u. a.
- Ukrainian Helsinki Group , 1976, founder Mykola Rudenko u. a.
- Lithuanian Helsinki Group, 1976, founder: Tomas Venclova u. a.
- Charter 77 , 1977, Czechoslovakia , founders: Václav Havel , Jiří Hájek , Jiří Dienstbier u. a.
- Georgian Helsinki Group, 1977, founder: Swiad Gamsachurdia u. a.
- Norwegian Helsinki Committee , 1977
- Helsinki Watch (later Human Rights Watch ), 1978, USA .
- Danish Helsinki Committee, 1985, founder: Erik Siesby (head 1985-1999)
- Hungarian Helsinki Committee, 1989, founder: Ferenc Kőszeg u. a.
Successor organizations
At the end of 1982 representatives of several western Helsinki committees ( Belgium , France , Canada , the Netherlands , Norway , Austria , Sweden , USA ) founded a joint umbrella organization in Bellagio , the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), based in Vienna . The International Helsinki Association transferred part of its activities to her in 1983 and, after its dissolution in 1986, completely; afterwards the association was formed into a national member organization of the IHF under the name Schweizerische Helsinki-Vereinigung .
literature
- OSCE Vademecum. An introduction to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe , EDA , Bern, 1999 (PDF file; 5 kB)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Ukrainian Helsinki Group employees , accessed March 24, 2015