UHG DECLARATION AND MEMORANDUM NO. 1

 812512.11.2006

The Declaration of the Ukrainian Public Group to Promote the Implementation of the Helsinki Accords (The Ukrainian Helsinki Group - UHG), signed by its ten members on 9 November 1976, stated the aims and main direction of activity of the organization.  In view of the fact that while on the one hand, despite Ukraine being a full member of the UN, it was not represented by a separate delegation when signing any agreements, it was on the other hand  legally bound to implement them, since all international agreements signed by the USSR had legal force on the territory of Ukraine, the objective of the group was to ensure that as many citizens of Ukraine as possible became familiar with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and that Ukraine participated as a sovereign State at all meetings where issues relating to the implementation of the Helsinki Accords were discussed. The Group considered its main task to be informing the world community about instances where the humanitarian articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were being violated. The Declaration provides full details about all founding members of the UHG.

At the beginning of December 1976, Memorandum №1 was issued, giving information about typical violations of human rights in Ukraine, examples of brutal punishment meted out to dissidents, and a list of Ukrainian prisoners of conscience, including those in psychiatric hospitals.