Association for Civil Rights in Israel
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel ( Hebrew האגודה לזכויות האזרח בישראל, English The Association for Civil Rights in Israel - ACRI ) was founded as an independent and impartial organization for the protection of human and civil rights in Israel and the occupied territories .
history
The foundation stone was laid in 1972 by a group of academics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who saw a need to establish an independent and extra-parliamentary organization to protect human rights. The principles of the association are based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , which was adapted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948, and on the principles of value of the Israeli Declaration of Independence .
Today the association is the largest human rights organization in Israel and the only one in Israel that deals with the full spectrum of human rights, such as: B. the right to life, the right to freedom of expression etc.
Program, members and organization
The association protects human rights by participating in draft laws into which it incorporates its principles; in court, through hearings in various instances, but most often before the Israeli Supreme Court ; furthermore through educational measures and through public relations, e.g. B. in writing publications, in running training programs in the education system and for the Israeli security forces .
The association is composed of professional members and volunteers. Among them are central figures from the fields of law and education, the press and the academic landscape. The association is completely independent in all of its activities.
It draws its financial resources from membership fees and donations from Israel and the rest of the world. It does not receive any funding from political parties or the government.
In 2000, the association received the Israeli Bar Association's annual award for its contribution to law and society in Israel.
Since 2008 the author Sami Michael has been president of the association. Past presidents include Professor Ruth Gavison and the Supreme Court Justices Shimon Agranat and Chaim Cohn .
The association annually awards the Emil Grünzweig Human Rights Prize to an individual or a non-governmental organization in recognition of unique contributions to improving the human rights situation in Israel. The award was launched in 1981 and renamed in 1983 after Emil Grünzweig , an activist who was killed by a hand grenade thrown by a right-wing demonstrator during a peace demonstration against the Lebanon war .
Web links
- Organization website