Back مجموعة هلسنكي بموسكو Arabic Маскоўская Хельсінкская група Byelorussian Moskevská Helsinská skupina Czech Moskauer Helsinki-Gruppe German Moskva Helsinka unio Esperanto Grupo Helsinki de Moscú Spanish Moskovan Helsinki-ryhmä Finnish Groupe Helsinki de Moscou French קבוצת הלסינקי HE Moszkvai Helsinki Csoport Hungarian

Moscow Helsinki Group

Moscow Helsinki Group
Московская Хельсинкская группа
Formation12 May 1976 (1976-05-12)
FounderYuri Orlov and others
Dissolved25 January 2023 (2023-01-25)
TypeNon-profit, NGO
Legal statusDefunct
PurposeMonitoring and protection of human rights
Headquarters22/1 Bolshoy Golovin Lane, Moscow, Russia
Chair (1976–1982)
Yuri Orlov
Chair (1989–1994)
Larisa Bogoraz
Chair (1994–1996)
Kronid Lyubarsky
Chair (1996–2018)
Lyudmila Alexeyeva (from 2019 three co-chairs)
Parent organization
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
SubsidiariesWorking Commission to Investigate the Use of Psychiatry for Political Purposes
Websitewww.mhg.ru

The Moscow Helsinki Group (also known as the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, Russian: Московская Хельсинкская группа, romanized: Moskovskaya Khel'sinkskaya gruppa) was one of Russia's leading human rights organisations.[1] It was originally set up in 1976[2] to monitor Soviet compliance with the Helsinki Accords[3] and to report to the West on Soviet human rights abuses.[4]: 414  It had been forced out of existence in the early 1980s, but was revived in 1989[5] and continued to operate in Russia.

In the 1970s, Moscow Helsinki Group inspired the formation of similar groups in other Warsaw Pact countries and support groups in the West. Within the former Soviet Union Helsinki Watch Groups were founded in Ukraine, Lithuania, Georgia and Armenia, as well as in the United States (Helsinki Watch, later Human Rights Watch). Similar initiatives sprung up in countries such as Czechoslovakia, with Charter 77. Eventually, the Helsinki monitoring groups inspired by the Moscow Helsinki Group formed the International Helsinki Federation.

In late December 2022 the Russian Ministry of Justice filed a court order to dissolve the organization.[6] On 25 January 2023, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Moscow City Court ruled that the Moscow Helsinki Group must be dissolved citing group's activities outside of its region, Moscow.[7]

  1. ^ Bowring, Bill (2008). "European minority protection: the past and future of a "major historical achievement"". International Journal on Minority and Group Rights. 15 (2): 413–425. doi:10.1163/157181108X332686.
  2. ^ ""A new public association", Chronicle of Currents, 40.13, 20 May 1976". Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  3. ^ Selim, Jamal (2015). "Global Civil Society and Egypt's Transition: The Dynamics of the Boomerang Effect". The International Dimensions of Democratization in Egypt. Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace. Vol. 11. Springer International Publishing. pp. 105–122. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16700-8_7. ISBN 978-3-319-16699-5.
  4. ^ McMahon, Robert; Zeiler, Thomas (2012). Guide to U.S. foreign policy: a diplomatic history. CQ Press. p. 414. ISBN 978-1452235363.
  5. ^ "The Moscow Helsinki Group 30th anniversary: from the secret files (a selection of translated KGB/CPSU documents discussing MHG)". The George Washington University.
  6. ^ "Russia's Justice Ministry Seeks Dissolution of Moscow Helsinki Group". The Moscow Times. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Moscow Helsinki Group Ordered To Shut Down As Campaign Against Civil Society Continues", Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, 25 January 2023

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