OSCE Chairperson says human rights are basis for democratic society

VILNIUS, 12 May 2011 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Audronius Ažubalis, celebrating today's 35th anniversary of the Moscow Helsinki Group, underlined its invaluable contribution to the development of civil society that inspired democratic changes in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

“I strongly believe that the moral principles and profound respect for universal values and liberties implanted by the movement of Helsinki groups world-wide have eventually led people and peoples towards a secure and free Europe.”

“I have always admired the courage and devotion of each and every member of the Moscow Helsinki Group for the ideals of democracy, human rights and  ‘for  the service of truth and the service of liberty’,” Ažubalis said.

He stressed that the creation of the Group in 1976 inspired the international Helsinki movement, namely, the launch of the similar groups in Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia in the end of 1970s, and thus brought about positive changes in the OSCE region.

Lithuania, which holds the OSCE Chairmanship, places primary emphasis on the observance of human rights commitments, especially in the field of media freedom and fostering tolerance through education.

Ažubalis underlined that the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, “contributed greatly to the development of democratic institutions and non-governmental organizations in the OSCE area, has always stood at the side of those facing mistreatment and misjudgement, for freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and other fundamental rights”.

The Helsinki Final Act, signed by presidents and prime ministers from 35 countries on 1 August 1975, was seen as a major step in reducing Cold War tensions and led to the formation of a permanent forum for dialogue on security - the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, now the OSCE - and motivated the establishment of Helsinki groups.

The Moscow Helsinki Group, the oldest human rights organization working in the Russian Federation, was established on 12 May 1976 by a small circle of human rights activists upon the initiative of Professor Yury Orlov, who was also the Group’s first Chairperson. Its goal was to monitor, promote and facilitate the implementation by the Soviet Union of the human rights commitments under the 1975 Helsinki Final Act. The Group stopped its activities in 1982 and restarted them in 1989. Since 1996, the Moscow Helsinki Group is chaired by Lyudmila Alexeyeva, one of the Group’s founding members.