HUMAN RIGHTS | Defending human dignity
24 July 2008
Human Rights – Useful Links
Amnesty International – USA
This organization investigates and exposes human rights abuses and works to educate people in the United States and around the world in the need to protect human rights for every person, regardless of race religion gender or ethnicity.
Freedom House
Founded in 1941, this nonprofit, nonpartisan organization works with U.S. policymakers, international institutions, and the governments of established democracies to adopt policies that advance human rights and democracy around the world.
Global Governance Watch (GGW)
A joint project of the American Enterprise Institute and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policies Studies, GGW assesses human rights proponents in addition to addressing issues of transparency and accountability at the United Nations, in nongovernmental organizations and related organizations.
Human Rights First
Based in New York and Washington, this nonprofit, nonpartisan international human rights organization works to protect refugees fleeing persecution and victims of human rights abuses and to seek justice through the courts.
Human Rights Watch
Originally begun in 1978 as the “Helsinki Watch” to monitor Soviet bloc countries’ compliance with the human rights provisions of the Helsinki Accords, Human Rights Watch grew to cover other regions. Today it is the largest human rights organization based in the United States, conducting fact-finding investigations into human rights abuses worldwide.
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Founded in 1952 in Berlin, ICJ provides legal expertise at international and national levels to ensure developments in international law adhere to human rights principals and that international standards are implemented at the national level.
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
Headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, this OSCE office is dedicated to election observation, democratic development, human rights, tolerance and non-discrimination, and rule of law.
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)
PHR’s health professionals investigate human rights abuses and work to stop them. Their research takes them to conflict zones, prisons and detention centers; their advocacy takes them to national and international policymakers.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR)
This U.N. agency works to promote and protect human rights guaranteed under international law as detailed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.
United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Adopted in 1948, this U.N. declaration took effect as international law in 1976; it consists of 30 articles detailing the rights and freedoms of individuals everywhere.
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), U.S. Department of State
DRL investigates country conditions regarding human rights, promotes accountability and “preventative diplomacy” to protect human rights, and establishes partnership with organizations, governments and multilateral institutions committed to human rights.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
One of the chief products of the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, this congressionally mandated annual report collects and evaluates information about human rights conditions in hundreds of countries around the world. The report is used as a resource for shaping U.S. policy, conducting diplomacy, and making assistance, training, and other resource allocations.
