BULGARIAN HELSINKI COMMITTEE (BHC)
http://www.bghelsinki.org
Mission/Mandate:
“The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee is an independent non-governmental organisation for the protection of human rights.” (BHC Website, http://www.bghelsinki.org/index.php?lg=en, accessed on 16 December 2008)
“The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee was established on 14 July 1992 as an independent non-governmental organisation for the protection of human rights. In 1993 it became a member of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.” (BHC Website, http://www.bghelsinki.org/index.php?module=pages&lg=en&page=about, accessed on 16 December 2008)
Despite a close-down of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights due to bankruptcy as of 27 November 2007, the IHF General Assembly, including its national societies and committees, on 18 November 2007, “unanimously expressed its commitment to the movement and the obligation of its members to continue their work to safeguard human rights in a situation characterized by violations in many OSCE countries, both in the East and in the West. The Helsinki Movement will continue to act as a watchdog for human rights, democracy and the rule of law and as a promoter of civil society in OSCE member states, in co-operation with the relevant international institutions.” (IHF – International Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights: Statement of the IHF General Assembly on the Current Financial Crisis of the IHF and the Future of the Helsinki Movement, 18 November 2007, www.ihf-hr.org/viewbinary/viewdocument.php?doc_id=7663, accessed on 16 December 2008)
Target group:
Governments, civil society, victims of human rights violations, local and international media.
Objective:
“The objectives of the committee are to promote respect for the human rights of every individual, to stimulate legislative reform to bring Bulgarian legislation in line with international human rights standards, to trigger public debate on human rights issues, to carry out advocacy for the protection of human rights, and to popularise and make widely available human rights instruments.” (BHC Website, http://www.bghelsinki.org/index.php?lg=en, accessed on 16 December 2008).
“The main spheres of activities of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee are: monitoring the human rights situation in Bulgaria in several priority fields, pro bono legal assistance to victims of human rights violations, raising public awareness to human rights problems, and training in international human rights standards and protection mechanisms. The activities of the BHC are implemented in the framework of four main programmes and one legal protection project, carried out in partnership with MDAC: Programme for Institutional Support of the BHC […]; Legal Defence Programme […]; Closed Institutions Programme […]; Refugees and Migrants Legal Protection Programme [and] Programme for Protection of the Rights of Children in Institutions.” (BHC Website, http://www.bghelsinki.org/index.php?module=pages&lg=en&page=activities, accessed on 16 December 2008)
Funding:
The BHC is financed through grants. Upon others, the following institutions provide financial support: Constitutional and Legislative Policy Institute – Budapest; CordAid; Democracy Commission; PHARE Democracy Programme of the EU; German Marshal Fund of the United States; Human Rights Without Frontiers; Open Society Institute (Budapest, New York, Sofia); UNDP, UNHCR; US Agency for International Development; Westminster Foundation for Democracy (cf. BHC Website, http://www.bghelsinki.org/index.php?module=pages&lg=en&page=funding, accessed on 16 December 2008)
Scope of reporting:
Geographic focus: Mainly Bulgaria; single reports on issues in other countries and international legislation in cooperation with other Helsinki Committees.
Thematic focus: Human rights, protection of ethnic and religious minorities, prisons, judicial system, criminal justice system, civil society, children with special needs, juvenile justice, freedom of expression. The BHC also reports on the situation of refugees and asylum-seekers, protection from torture and ill-treatment and freedom of expression and association.
Reporting methodology:
Systematic monitoring of the human rights situation. Information is gathered through networks, fact-finding missions and interaction with legal entities and natural persons in Bulgaria and abroad (BHC Website, http://www.bghelsinki.org/index.php?module=pages&page=statute&lg=en, accessed on 16 December 2008).
Publication cycle:
Annual reports on human rights in Bulgaria since 1993; human rights magazine Obektiv published monthly in Bulgarian and quarterly in English; special reports on single issues published infrequently
Languages:
English, Bulgarian.
Navigation of website:
COI to be found via the links Obektiv and BHC reports under the heading Publications in the menu on the left-hand side of the homepage. The link Human rights resources under the heading standarts [sic] leads to reports on Bulgaria by international organisations
Additional references:
IHF – International Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights: Statement of the IHF General Assembly on the Current Financial Crisis of the IHF and the Future of the Helsinki Movement, 18 November 2007
www.ihf-hr.org/viewbinary/viewdocument.php?doc_id=7663 (accessed on 16 December 2008)