IHF

The International Helsinki Federation, celebrating its 15th anniversary, has donated its historically important collection of documents documenting its existence and operations to the Open Society Archives. The exhibition 23 Years of the International Helsinki Movement presents the history of the struggle for human rights in Eastern Europe from 1975, the year of the Helsinki Final Act, to the present day, using the most interesting documents donated by the Federation.

The exhibition was edited by the archivists of the Open Society Archives.

About the International Helsinki Federation
The first “Helsinki” human rights monitoring committee the Moscow Helsinki Group was founded 22 years ago. In the years to come, the Moscow example was followed in a number of other countries. By the beginning of eighties, a number of human rights organizations had been established, ready to face and risk communist persecution in order to fight for universal values and compliance with international agreements.

Fifteen years ago International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) was founded as a supportive network to foster communication and collaboration among national Helsinki committees and to provide a framework for cooperation between East and West. The IHF was and still is a mechanism by which voices of concern on the national level are raised in European and international form. Today, the Federation has 34 member organizations in 32 countries in Europe, the former Soviet Union and North America. Through their international Secretariat in Vienna, the Helsinki Committees carry on an extensive program of human rights advocacy in the OSCE, Council of Europe, and the United Nations.