Suchergebnisse

It is argued that the Helsinki Accords of 1975 contributed to widespread global interest in human rights during the second half of the 1970s. In the USSR alone, five Helsinki watch committees emerged during 1976 & 1977, reporting a wide array of human rights violations. The interrelationships between the Helsinki process & nationality dynamics in the USSR are discussed, particularly how an international act unexpectedly served to stimulate dissident activity, which was quickly made international in scope through sympathetic official bodies & the political activism of well-organized emigre communities in the West. The emergence of these five groups is described, & the important link they established between human rights & nationality rights is noted. Their activity in the Ukraine, Lithuania, Georgia, & Armenia is found important for documenting human rights violations in particular regions among particular groups of people in the USSR, which otherwise might not be adequately covered by the more universalistic Moscow group. The five Helsinki monitor groups are felt to have left an important imprint, both practical & conceptual, on the Soviet scene. Modified AA.