Federico Borello, Interim Executive Director of Human Rights Watch
Thank you, President Stubb and Foreign Minister Valtonen, for the invitation to speak at this important event.
It’s wonderful to be in Helsinki and to speak in the Finlandia Hall, the very place where the Helsinki Final Act was signed 50 years ago.
I’m grateful to you, Foreign Minister Valtonen, for bringing us together to reflect on the past and think about the future. We also appreciate your steadfast focus on human rights during this year chairing the OSCE, especially - as you have said - as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues to challenge the very foundations of our common security.
This event is special for me and my colleagues at Human Rights Watch. For us, this milestone for the Helsinki Accords is not just an important reminder of a key set of principles that shape security and human rights in Europe. It is much more, as the Helsinki Accords, and what followed, are part of the very DNA of our organization.
As we know, it was the focus of the accords on human rights that drew special attention at the time. All participating states committed to, and I quote “respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief for all”.
The Soviet Union was among those that embraced the accords, at least on paper. They were published in full in two major media outlets there, Pravda and Izvestia.
Many Soviet citizens were surprised and skeptical about the Kremlin’s sincerity. Some however decided to take their governments at their word, with the simple and courageous act of standing up for their rights. Meetings were held, pamphlets written and shared. Despite the obvious dangers, activists formed into groups often using the label ‘Helsinki’ as a sign of hope and a shield for protection. The ‘Moscow Helsinki Group’ for instance, was formed only a few months after the signing in this hall, shortly followed by other Helsinki groups in Soviet Ukraine, Lithuania, and Georgia. Almost immediately, Soviet authorities started harassing and arresting group members, even driving them into exile.
Thankfully, the actions of these courageous citizens did not go unnoticed. Many in Europe and America were incensed by Soviet repression and inspired by the courage of these activists. In New York, a group of lawyers, journalists, and writers was so inspired they set up their own ‘Helsinki Watch’ to shed light on human rights abuses in the Soviet Union, put it on the agenda of the US government, and be in solidarity with the Helsinki groups there.
It is this ‘Helsinki Watch’, this group of women and men in New York, that has over almost 50 years evolved into the global organization that is Human Rights Watch.
Jeri Laber, the co-founder of Helsinki Watch, and still a dear friend of HRW, became a close ally of the Moscow Helsinki Group. She wrote around that time that Soviet citizens “saw in the Helsinki accords a guarantee of their right to speak out in defense of their beleaguered countrymen”
The idea of a ‘spirit of Helsinki’ was discussed after the conference in this hall 50 years ago. It has been mentioned again today. For me, what Jeri wrote back then is what this spirit of Helsinki still means: that the accords are a guarantee of a right to speak the facts and uphold everyone’s human rights, particularly when citizens are under pressure to do the opposite, to shut up and to not resist.
So, what does such an understanding mean in practice, today and in the future? For me, it underlines three things – the essential link between security and human rights; the universality of human rights; and the importance of the OSCE being a resilient organization able to help protect human rights in the future.
First, there is no doubt of the seriousness of the security situation in Europe. Russia commits war crimes and other violations of the laws of war on a regular basis in Ukraine. As the Finnish chairpersonship has emphasized, accountability for these crimes is vital to deter future aggression, to deliver justice for victims, and not least to bolster international humanitarian norms for the security of all in the OSCE and beyond.
The connection between security and human rights has many dimensions. Some OSCE participating states appear to be making concerning tradeoffs, prioritizing security over human rights and making deep cuts in social spending in order to increase military budgets. These are false dichotomies. As we know, the OSCE’s concept of a human dimension of security depends on respect for human rights and the democratic institutions that protect them.
In addition, at this time of heightened tensions and questions about the international political order, we need a renewed commitment to international norms and treaties, rather than a retreat from them. This includes safeguarding the standards adopted to prevent civilian suffering in war. We have followed with concern how five EU members, sadly including our host country Finland, are withdrawing from the landmark international treaty prohibiting antipersonnel landmines. While we understand the security concerns, walking away from the convention will put their own civilians and others at risk and not just in times of war, and this is why we urge these governments to reconsider this step.
Second, the focus in the Helsinki accords on the universality of human rights. The rising human rights violations across the OSCE region are alarming. I spoke about the crackdown that happened 50 years ago against courageous activists in Russia and elsewhere. In the post-Soviet era, the Kremlin’s pressure on critical voices inside Russia has never been fiercer than today. Further, in Central Asia, Belarus, and Azerbaijan, abuses of fundamental rights are widespread and, in some areas, escalating. In Georgia, government repression against the political opposition, civil society, and protesters is rapidly worsening. In Türkiye, the government is carrying out a fully-fledged assault on the political opposition, civil society, and media.
Rights are under pressure elsewhere too. Hungary’s government has hollowed out democracy, with curbs on judicial independence, media freedom, and civic space. The new US government appears to be on a similar path. Civil society space and the right to protest are under serious pressure in many parts of Western Europe, including in the UK and Germany, especially for those protesting climate change and standing up for Palestine. Media freedom faces threats too – we just published a report about the shocking interference by the Greek government in editorial decisions in public media and pressure on independent journalists. These efforts have one thing in common: they chip away at checks and balances on executive power and in turn put human rights at risk. And they send a signal to other states that such actions are acceptable, maybe even the new norm. That runs counter to the spirt of the Helsinki Final Act.
Participating states need to act decisively to stop these abuses. As part of this, they need to focus on supporting those in civil society who are standing up for rights, including the many groups across the OSCE, and here in northern Europe, that still trace their roots to the post-1975 Helsinki movement.
This means opposing legislation such as ‘foreign agents’ laws that stigmatize independent civil activism, protecting civil space and funding for civil society organizations, and valuing – not prosecuting – human rights defenders.
In this context, we thank the Finnish government for announcing that supporting civil society is a focus of the new Helsinki + 50 Fund being launched today.
Third, we need a strong OSCE to reinforce human rights protection in our region. Participating states should be bold in using the tools at their disposal to bring human rights abusers to account and to signal that the accords on which the organisation was built still apply to all.
We need the OSCE’s independent structures more than ever. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Representative on Freedom of the Media, and the High Commissioner on National Minorities have renowned and urgently needed expertise. They do vital work. And they deserve continued support.
To end, I go back to the events 50 years ago. For Jeri Laber, co-founder of Helsinki Watch, the Helsinki monitors across the region demonstrated, and I quote “a basic desire for free expression and individual rights” that could not be stifled by “totalitarianism”.
The challenges we face today are no less serious. Let’s use this occasion to pull together, to defend our rights and freedoms, to strengthen democratic institutions and norms, to be ambitious and rise to the challenge we have received from those who, in the spirit of Helsinki, responded bravely to the accords signed here 50 years ago.
Thank you.
