About the Netherlands Helsinki Committee

The Statutes of the Netherlands Helsinki Committee define the aim of the organisation as the promotion of an  international and societal rule of law, under which human rights can be fully realised. It does so through reinforcing and supporting the activities of both governmental and non-governmental organisations, and by striving to strengthen human rights protection by inter-governmental organisations. Here, the Statutes give special mention to the work of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which covers all of North America, Europe and the former Soviet Union. The OSCE is the follow-up organisation of the 1975 Helsinki conference, which has developed an impressive array of commitments and activities on conflict prevention, promoting human rights, upholding the rule of law and promoting democracy.  

Its current (2011-2014) Policy Plan states that the NHC in particular wants to develop short- and long-term project work on strengthening legal protection and improving public policies aimed at vulnerable and disadvantaged groups such as women, immigrants, economically marginalized people, prisoners, minorities and human rights defenders. The projects are designed to achieve effect through transfer of knowledge and expertise and/or advocacy, and by employing experienced and professional project management.  The NHC focuses on the OSCE area, with an emphasis on Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

With respect to the OSCE, the NHC actively engages in coalition building aimed at pushing for a more forceful implementation of the human dimension commitments of the OSCE. The NHC is the publisher of the Security and Human Rights journal and web site, devoted to OSCE-related information and analysis. Besides its traditional focus on the OSCE, the NHC advocates for improving the implementation of the verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights, which cover almost all countries in the OSCE region. It also work to promote the highest standard of human rights protection by the European Union, both in its internal and its external policies.

The NHC was an active member of the coalitions that organized the 2010 and 2011 civil society parallel conferences  held on the eve of the yearly OSCE head of government or ministerial meetings. It is a founding member of the OSCE-wide Civic Solidarity Platform, established in December 2010. It is a member of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum and of the Fundamental Rights Platform linked to the EU's Fundamental Rights Platform.

In the Netherlands, the NHC aims at stimulating thinking and discussion about human rights developments in the OSCE area, by organizing information and debate events. The NHC is a member of the NGO Human Rights Platform, which runs coordinated advocacy activities on the Netherlands human rights foreign policy.