The British Helsinki Human Rights Group is an Oxford-based non-governmental organization which monitors human rights in the 57 member states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Despite its name, the organisation is not affiliated to the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights. Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a non-profit group or association that acts outside of institutionalized political structures and pursues matters of interest to its members by lobbying, persuasion, or direct action. ... The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is an international organization for security. ... Helsinki Committees for Human Rights exist in many European countries (the OSCE region) as volunteer, non-profit organizations devoted to human rights and presumably named after the Helsinki Accords. ...

The group also uses the name OSCEwatch, indicating that it sees part of its mission as scrutinising the activities of the OSCE. The OSCEwatch and BHHRG websites are identical, and both websites openly refer to each other.

Membership and funding

The BHHRG was founded in 1992. It is run from the Oxford home of historian Professor Norman Stone, who has on occasion taken part in BHHRG activities, and was co-founded by his wife Christine Stone and fellow Oxford historian Mark Almond (who is also its chairman). Its trustees comprise Mark Almond, Anthony Daniels (who writes for the Daily Telegraph under the pseudonym Theodore Dalrymple), John Laughland, Christine Stone and Mary Walsh. Almond, Daniels, Laughland and Stone are members of Britain's conservative intelligentsia and are regular contributors to British newspapers. Chad Nagle, an American lawyer who frequently contributes to the libertarian isolationist antiwar.com website, is also associated with the group. Noel Malcolm, a prominent Balkans specialist, appeared on a 1994 list of founders and spoke on its behalf as recently as 1999 but has apparently since left the group. Norman Stone (1941-) is a British historian of modern Europe, especially Central and Eastern Europe. ... Jon Mark & Johnny Almond Mark–Almond was an English band of the late 1960s and early 1970s, who worked in the territory between rock and jazz. ... Anthony (A.M.) Daniels (1949-) is an English writer and retired physician (prison doctor and psychiatrist), who frequently uses the pen name Theodore Dalrymple. ... This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... John Laughland is a British journalist and self-avowed conspiracy theorist whose commitment to national sovereignty has led him to condemn Western support for democratic movements in the East, notably the Serbian opposition to Slobodan Milosevic, as well as the November 2003 revolution in Georgia as a coup détat... See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ... Antiwar. ... Noel Robert Malcolm (born 26 December 1956) is an English writer, historian and journalist, known for his polymathy, and his polyglottism. ...

The BHHRG is not an "official" Helsinki Committee, as it is not affiliated with the Helsinki Committees' umbrella organisation, the International Helsinki Federation (IHF). The United Kingdom's representative in the IHF is the British Helsinki Subcommittee of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group, established in 1976. This led to the BHHRG being mistakenly labelled the British Helsinki Committee, which prompted the British Helsinki Subcommittee to ask visitors to its website to Helsinki Committees for Human Rights exist in many European countries (the OSCE region) as volunteer, non-profit organizations devoted to human rights and presumably named after the Helsinki Accords. ... The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights is a self-governing group of non-governmental, not-for-profit organizations that act to protect human rights throughout Europe, North America and Central Asia. ...

"PLEASE NOTE that the so-called British Helsinki Group is NOT affiliated with the IHF" [1].

For its part, the BHHRG website says nothing on the subject.

The membership, management and funding of the BHHRG are somewhat obscure. These aspects do not appear to be discussed at all on its website, and the details of its trustees are given only in its legally required returns to the UK's Charity Commission. Its published accounts state that it received £417,332 in income between 1997-2003 and spent £449,086 in the same period. The organisation appears to have fallen on hard times recently, with its funding falling by nearly 99% after 2001. A possible reason is suggested by The Economist, which reports that The Economist is a weekly news and international affairs publication of The Economist Newspaper Ltd edited in London, UK. It has been in continuous publication since September 1843. ...

"the group lost almost all its supporters when it threw its weight behind people like Mr Milošević." [2]

The identity of its backers is also unclear. Still with them in 1999, Noel Malcolm explained that the group does not disclose its donors Slobodan MiloÅ¡ević Slobodan MiloÅ¡ević   (IPA Serbian Cyrillic: Слободан Милошевић) (20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was President of Serbia and of Yugoslavia. ... Noel Robert Malcolm (born 26 December 1956) is an English writer, historian and journalist, known for his polymathy, and his polyglottism. ...

"for obvious reason[s]: they [critics] would then start to campaign [against the group] with the financial backers." [3]

Only a few contributors are known by name. Material that the BHHRG issued in 1992 cited the Tory peer Lord Pearson of Rannoch and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation as donors. The BHHRG's "About Us" page states that it "does not receive funding from any government" but, according to a Foreign Office source, it did receive money from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for an election observer mission in 1995 [4]. The source said funding was cut off because they found the group prejudiced, and partial and unreliable [5]. 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Malcolm Everard MacLaren Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch (20 July 1942— ) is a businessman and independent Conservative member of the House of Lords. ... The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private foundation that provides grants to not-for-profit organizations. ... The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Whitehall, seen from St. ...

It has received no funding from this source since then [6] and its advocates now say this proves the group is independent of governments.

Activities and achievements

The BHHRG website states as the main activities of the Group:

• Monitoring the conduct of elections in OSCE member states.
• Examining issues relating to press freedom and freedom of speech
• Reporting on conditions in prisons and psychiatric institutions
• Covering asylum and immigration issues

The BHHRG publishes reports from first-hand observers, concentrating particularly on election monitoring in central and eastern Europe, as well as publishing frequent unsigned commentaries (just like the Economist does) about ongoing events in the region. A common theme in many of its publications has been a critical view of Western "meddling in the internal affairs" of central and east European countries, notably the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (now Serbia and Montenegro) and Belarus. Official language Serbian written in Cyrillic alphabet1 Capital Belgrade2 President3 Svetozar Marović Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 105th 102,350 km² 0. ...

Among its achievements the BHHRG's website states:

• 1992 - BHHRG was the first NGO to expose the human rights situation in the former Soviet republic of Georgia
• 1993 - BHHRG exposure of fraud in the conduct of Russia's constitutional referendum was later admitted by the authorities.
• 1996 - BHHRG report of election fraud in Armenia's presidential election was only acknowledged in 1998
• 1998 - BHHRG predicted war in Kosovo in late February (after US envoy Robert Gelbard called the Kosovo Albanian separatist KLA a 'terrorist group')
• 1999 - BHHRG was the first human rights group to visit the notorious Sangatte camp for asylum seekers in France
• 2001 - BHHRG exposed the scandal of trafficking in women from Moldova

Most controversial aspects

The media connections of some of BHHRG members (especially John Laughland, a self-avowed conspiracy theorist and passionate advocate of "national sovereignty") has enabled it to propagate its views through a number of major newspapers in Britain and the US. Yet it did not really become famous until publicly denouncing what were widely perceived as democratic movements against authoritarian former Communist rulers. John Laughland is a British journalist and self-avowed conspiracy theorist whose commitment to national sovereignty has led him to condemn Western support for democratic movements in the East, notably the Serbian opposition to Slobodan Milosevic, as well as the November 2003 revolution in Georgia as a coup détat...

Among actions critics of the BHHRG find ill-advised:

• The BHHRG based part of a Latvia report on an interview with Alfreds Rubiks, the Communist who led the "National Salvation Committee" which would have co-ordinated repression had the coup against Gorbachev not failed in 1991 [7].

• In March 1997, BHHRG member Anthony Daniels wrote an article for the Sunday Telegraph: "The Media Back the Communists as Usual", in which he claimed that British journalists Miranda Vickers and James Pettifer, were "supporters of the former Stalinist regime of the late Enver Hoxha", the former communist dictator of Albania. They sued the paper for libel and settled out of court, with the Telegraph paying £10,000 to each and printing an apology.

• Another leading member, Christine Stone, has also written approvingly of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. [8]

Other statements by the BHHRG include: This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... Enver Hoxha, (IPA , October 16, 1908–April 11, 1985) was the paramount leader of Albania from the end of World War II until his death in 1985, as the First Secretary of the Communist Albanian Party of Labour. ... Robert Gabriel Mugabe (born February 21, 1924) is a Zimbabwean politician. ...

• Being the first to denounce the Milo Djukanovic regime in Montenegro as anti-democratic and run by gangsters, denouncing the elections there as worse than in Milosevic-era Serbia. Later, some of these facts became accepted even by Djukanovic's supporters in the West.

• denouncing as a "coup d'état" staged by his former protégés the November 2003 "Rose Revolution" in Georgia which deposed president Eduard Shevardnadze, whose torture of political prisoners they themselves boast had denounced (this is cited by them as an example of how the Western powers use and then dispose of their agents in the so-called Euro-Atlantic space).
• claiming that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia should not be prosecuting Slobodan Milošević for his alleged crimes because they find fault with its procedures (there is such a thing as a fiar trial in normal countries) and
• that NATO should be prosecuted instead for bombing Yugoslavia on behalf of Kosovo Albanian separatists [9].
• proving that elections in Belarus "met democratic standards", unlike the OSCE that could not back up its contrary claim, because it did not - in fact - observe the elections.
• that Latvia was not occupied by the Soviet Union but was "incorporated" into the USSR,
• that the Roma people of the Czech Republic do not suffer racism as generally reported,
• that Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian authorities acted correctly in the Beslan hostage crisis.
• that concern for the massacres in the Sudan was driven by a lust for oil, and
• that the second round of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election was "generally representative of genuine popular will" and not falsified by the authorities, so that the December rerun election was illegitimate.

John Laughland (who said that reports of mass graves in Iraq were exaggerated for political purposes) characterised some supporters of Ukraine's Viktor Yushchenko as "neo-Nazis" and many of those backing him on the streets as "druggy skinheads from Lvov" whereas principal elements of the Jewish community supported Yushchenko. A coup détat (pronounced ), or simply coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government through unconstitutional means by a part of the state establishment — mostly replacing just the high-level figures. ... Mikheil Saakashvili and his supporters marched on the parliament carrying roses as a symbol of nonviolence The Rose Revolution (Georgian: ვარდების რევოლუცია) refers to a peaceful 2003 revolution in the country of Georgia that displaced president Eduard Shevardnadze. ... Eduard Amvrosiyevich Shevardnadze (Georgian: ედუარდ შევარდნაძე, Russian: Эдуа́рд Амвро́сьевич Шевардна́&#1076... The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), is a body of the United Nations (UN) established to... Slobodan MiloÅ¡ević Slobodan MiloÅ¡ević   (IPA Serbian Cyrillic: Слободан Милошевић) (20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was President of Serbia and of Yugoslavia. ... This article is becoming very long. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian: ) (born October 7, 1952) is a Russian politician, and the current President of Russia. ... The Republic of North Ossetia in Russia The Beslan school hostage crisis (also referred to by the media as the Beslan school siege) began when armed multinational terrorists took hundreds of schoolchildren and adults hostage on September 1, 2004 at School Number One in the Russian town of Beslan in... (Redirected from 2004 Ukrainian presidential election) The presidential election held in November and December 2004 in Ukraine was mostly a political battle between Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and former Prime Minister and opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko. ... John Laughland is a British journalist and self-avowed conspiracy theorist whose commitment to national sovereignty has led him to condemn Western support for democratic movements in the East, notably the Serbian opposition to Slobodan Milosevic, as well as the November 2003 revolution in Georgia as a coup détat... Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko (Ukrainian: ) (born February 23, 1954) is the current President of Ukraine. ...

These last claims prompted the publication of well-documented articles "exposing" the BHHRG's exploits. The British weekly The Economist published "Yanukovich's friends: A human-rights group that defends dictators" [10]. (Without a byline about who wrote the story). The daily Guardian published "PR man to Europe's nastiest regimes" [11], written by David Aaronovitch, to which John Laughland, the subject of the article, objected [12], saying that it was "almost identical to" an article on a web site carrying "virulently antisemitic articles about the Jewish proclivity for rape, and about how the gas chambers at Auschwitz could not have existed". The controversy attracted many comments on the internet. The BHHRG's advocates reply by quoting one Aleksandr Tsinker, "Head of the Observer Mission from the Institute for East European and CIS Nations" — an organization publicly known for nothing else — as saying that the Ukrainian election "was a free expression of the voters' will". [13] The Economist is a weekly news and international affairs publication of The Economist Newspaper Ltd edited in London, UK. It has been in continuous publication since September 1843. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... David Aaronovitch (born July 8, 1954) is a British journalist, broadcaster, and author. ... John Laughland is a British journalist and self-avowed conspiracy theorist whose commitment to national sovereignty has led him to condemn Western support for democratic movements in the East, notably the Serbian opposition to Slobodan Milosevic, as well as the November 2003 revolution in Georgia as a coup détat...

Some of the BHHRG's statements have been favorably quoted by the isolationist right in the US, by opponents of US foreign policy, as well as governments regarded by Western authorities as authoritarian and criminal, such as that of Belarus.

Its critics have accused the BHHRG of taking a predetermined ideological line while observing elections. A British Foreign Office official quoted by Jeremy Druker said of them:

"It was very clear that they had their own agenda. They also monitored the elections in Georgia in 1995, and it would appear Almond and his people had made up their minds about the election report even before the election had taken place. People at the time were not happy with the way that they monitored the election… they didn't set out in an impartial spirit." [14]

The BHHRG is almost always more critical of social-democratic than nationalist rulers. The Economist characterises the BHHRG's opinion as "an intense dislike of liberal internationalism." Tom Palmer of the libertarian Cato Institute summarizes their position as being that The Economist is a weekly news and international affairs publication of The Economist Newspaper Ltd edited in London, UK. It has been in continuous publication since September 1843. ... See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ... The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C.. The Institutes stated mission is to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets, and peace by seeking greater involvement of the...

the mass movements to unseat [governments in eastern Europe] are nothing but stooges for the west, out to integrate those brave little authoritarian-socialist regimes into the 'New World Order,' privatize their state industries, and strip them of their assets. [15]

The BHHRG's commentaries indeed allege that Western governments and international organisations are seeking to implement a "New World Order" in central and eastern Europe [16]. Its supporters claim that the organisation exposes matters which Western governments and biased international organisations such as the UN and the OSCE had rather remained unknown. The term new world order has been used to refer to a new period of history evidencing a dramatic change in world political thought and the balance of power. ... This article is about the United Nations, for other uses of UN see UN (disambiguation) Official languages English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic Secretary-General Kofi Annan (since 1997) Established October 24, 1945 Member states 191 Headquarters New York City, NY, USA Official site http://www. ...

For instance, it claims it denounced human rights abuses committed in Georgia while these were ignored by the OSCE and the Council of Europe. Mark Almond, who has written on Balkan matters [17], has criticised the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia on behalf of Albanian separatists in Kosovo as a "violation of international law" which resulted in "cultural genocide" against Serbs. [18] As self-proclaimed monitors of Human Rights in the countries concerned, they accuse other, intergovernmental organisations of being undemocratic, unelected, unaccountable, non-transparent meddlers in their internal affairs. For other uses of the name Kosovo, see Kosovo (disambiguation). ...

The OSCE has criticized the BHHRG for letting its journalists pose as impartial election monitors while publishing partisan polemics in newspapers, and for relying on short-term observer missions with a handful of people, an approach the OSCE abandoned as open to manipulation in 1996. (The OSCE now uses large-scale long-term missions of four to six weeks with dozens of experts and hundreds of observers. [19]) The BHHRG dismisses the OSCE's position as an attempt to stifle legitimate criticism and independent reporting.

Name issues

The BHHRG has also been denounced for failing to mention that it enjoys no recognition from the International Helsinki Federation, but has been quite at odds with other organizations with similar names, at least since 1996. The International Helsinki Federation (IHF) felt the need to issue a public statement disclaiming any connection with the group. The Greek National Committee of the said Federation, which has been effective throughout the Balkans, also published a press release to denounce what it felt was the BHHRG's impostures, while others accused it of "nam[ing] itself so as to usurp the prestige of its elder". [20] Monika Horaková, a Roma member of the Czech parliament, said in an open letter condemning a BHHRG's report in 1999: The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights is a self-governing group of non-governmental, not-for-profit organizations that act to protect human rights throughout Europe, North America and Central Asia. ...

"I had thought that the Helsinki Group was a non-partisan body interested in exposing and helping to solve human rights abuses in the world. This report caused me to question my previously held beliefs. However, I have since learned that the BHHRG has no connection to the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights in Vienna. It is a disgrace that the BHHRG is using the good Helsinki name to mislead the public into thinking that their racist propaganda is somehow affiliated with the well-respected Helsinki Group." [21]

Supporters of the BHHRG reply that the name "Helsinki" is not trademarked anywhere and no official imprimatur is needed for any group wishing to monitor the implementation of the Helsinki Accords. They note that the European Commission established a "Helsinki Group on Women and Science" [22] in Helsinki in 1999, with no connection with the monitoring of Helsinki Accords. The Helsinki Accords is the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe held in Helsinki in 1975 between the United States and Canada, the Soviet Union and the countries of Europe, including Turkey but not Albania and Andorra. ... The Helsinki Accords is the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe held in Helsinki in 1975 between the United States and Canada, the Soviet Union and the countries of Europe, including Turkey but not Albania and Andorra. ...

Links and references

Articles by the BHHRG

• British Helsinki Human Rights Group official website
• BHHRG records and accounts, Charity Commission

• BHHRG 1992 report exposing torture in Shevardnadze's Georgia
• BHHRG 1999 report on Roma in the Czech Republic
• BHHRG opinion piece regarding Vladimir Putin,23 September 2004 .
  • reply in letters page, The Guardian (UK), 2 December 2004

This article is becoming very long. ... Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian: ) (born October 7, 1952) is a Russian politician, and the current President of Russia. ... September 23 is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 2 is the 336th day (337th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Articles by others about the BHHRG

• International Helsinki Federation's statement on the status of the BHHRG.
• "'Helsinki' Doesn't Guarantee Faithfulness To Human Rights", Greek Helsinki Monitor, 3 August 1997.
• "War of the Monitors" , Jeremy Druker, Transitions Magazine, 15 February 1999.
• criticism of 1999 report on Roma in Czech, by a member of the European Roma Rights Center.
• "Can a lobbyist for dictators work as a journalist?", Lubomyr Prytulak, 19 November 2004.
• "PR man to Europe's nastiest regimes", The Guardian (UK), 30 November 2004.
• "Yanukovich's friends: A human-rights group that defends dictators", The Economist (UK), 2 December 2004.
• "Something Is Rotting at the Periphery of the Libertarian Movement.....", Tom Palmer, 11 December 2004.