About the Netherlands Helsinki Committee
The NHC co-operates with a number of partners in the Netherlands as well as in Central and Eastern Europe, such as the Council of Europe, NGOs, organisations representing legal professionals, Ministries and others.
The NHC office is located in The Hague. The staff of the NHC are responsible for the development and implementation of its activities.
The activities of the NHC are financed by Dutch and International donor organizations. See Funders.
The NHC implements the following activities:
- Research and monitoring
- Public relations and lobbying
- Projects
Monitoring field
In the field of monitoring and promoting the OSCE and compliance with commitments by participating states, the NHC undertakes a diverse range of activities. In the first place, the NHC monitors compliance, in the Netherlands and in other OSCE member states, with the commitments of the OSCE and other human rights standards. The NHC does not systematically follow up human rights developments in the Netherlands. The NHC contributes to the IHF Yearbook on human rights situations in the Netherlands. This contribution is based on studies and reports by specialist organisations such as the Netherlands Committee of Jurists for Human Rights (NJCM), the Refugee Council, and the National Ombudsman.
The NHC has undertaken, in co-operation with the IHF, several monitoring missions to conflict areas. The NHC reported on the findings of these missions to the OSCE, its member states, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the media.
Finally
Finally the NHC employs projects concerning European integration. Since 1989 the countries in Central and Eastern Europe have been transforming themselves from state-planned economies to free-market economies. This development has been parallel to a democratisation process as well as the development towards strengthening the rule of law. Notable events marking this development are the memberships of these countries to the Council of Europe in the beginning of the 1990s and the accessions of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to the NATO in 1999. Another notable event was the announcement by Mr Romano Prodi, then Chairman of the European Commission, at the Helsinki summit of December 1999, that the European Union would commence accession negotiations with no less than 13 countries, including 10 from Central and Eastern Europe. The European Union has also decided that it is willing to accept Turkey as a new member state in the near future.
In 1993 at the Copenhagen Summit the member states elaborated the EU membership criteria, which need to be attained before accession is possible. From time to time the European Commission reports on the progress made by the countries in question. The first criterion is to attain stability in institutions which guarantee democracy, respect for the rule of law and human rights, as well as respect for and the protection of minorities. It is in this process of development that the NHC (in co-operation with a number of other organisations, some of which are mentioned on this website) takes part. Subsidised by the European Commission (and the Netherlands Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs), the NHC designs and implements projects to facilitate the necessary changes in the EU candidate countries. This is in line with one of the original aims of the Helsinki Final Act, namely the promotion of democracy and respect for the rule of law and human rights.
Tags
Sponsors