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Description
The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR) is one of the oldest and largest Polish human rights organisations. HFHR''s mission is to defend human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
HFHR helps people whose fundamental rights and freedoms have been violated. HFHR provides legal assistance (including strategic litigation), monitors the lawmaking process and the activities of public institutions in terms of respect for human rights, undertakes advocacy, monitoring and educational activities.
In its current strategy, the HFHR focuses primarily on the rule of law, the right to a court and a fair trial, freedom of civil society and the media, equal treatment, the rights of migrants, the right to life and freedom from torture, and human rights in the face of the environmental crisis.
Among other things, HFHR lawyers represent foreigners who have been subjected to push-backs, assist journalists and civil society activists facing legal proceedings in relation to their activities, and assist judges facing disciplinary charges. In addition, the HFHR assists human rights defenders from countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus region.
Among other things, the HFHR handles around 100 cases per year in strategic proceedings and has assisted almost 200 human rights defenders from countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus region since 2020.
Thanks to the institutional grant, the HFHR will, inter alia, carry out a fundraising campaign (1% PIT), continue its work to protect the rule of law and seek to raise the level of protection of activists and journalists from intimidation (using, for example, SLAPP-type lawsuits), as well as expand its support for victims of torture and inhuman treatment.
Summary of project results
The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR) is one of the oldest and largest Polish human rights organisations. HFHR''s mission is to defend human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
HFHR helps people whose fundamental rights and freedoms have been violated. HFHR provides legal assistance (including strategic litigation), monitors the lawmaking process and the activities of public institutions in terms of respect for human rights, undertakes advocacy, monitoring and educational activities.
In its current strategy, the HFHR focuses primarily on the rule of law, the right to a court and a fair trial, freedom of civil society and the media, equal treatment, the rights of migrants, the right to life and freedom from torture, and human rights in the face of the environmental crisis.
Among other things, HFHR lawyers represent foreigners who have been subjected to push-backs, assist journalists and civil society activists facing legal proceedings in relation to their activities, and assist judges facing disciplinary charges. In addition, the HFHR assists human rights defenders from countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus region.
Among other things, the HFHR handles around 100 cases per year in strategic proceedings and has assisted almost 200 human rights defenders from countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus region since 2020.
Thanks to an organisational grant, the HFHR, among other things, prepared a report ‘Judge or non-judge’ (on the principles and standards of restoring the rule of law using the example of the status of judges appointed at the request of the National Council of the Judiciary after 2018) and conducted monitoring of the legislative process (prepared 13 legal opinions on draft laws crucial for the protection of human rights). The Foundation supported 180 human rights defenders, activists and journalists fleeing from Eastern European, Asian and Caucasus countries to Poland, and provided legal assistance to 20 activists from Poland. It also ran its first ever 1.5% fundraising campaign in 2023.
The main resulat of the use of the organisational grant is strengthening the freedom of civil society (including independent media) by: strengthening the stability of the human rights movement in Eastern European and Central Asian countries and increasing the level of protection and security of civil society activists in Poland.