20 July Liudmila Alekseeva (right), the Moscow Helsinki Group Chairman, a symbol of Soviet (then Russian) human rights defenders community, celebrated her 80 anniversary. The foremost Russian opposition politicians and human rights activists, foreign states representatives gathered on the celebration. The Human Rights House Foundation staff also sent its congratulation to Liudmila Alekseeva. (25-JULY-07)


Written by HRH Moscow/Inna Komar
Sources: http://www.mhg.ru


Alekseeva 556There are some people in Russian human rights defenders community who became its symbols. One of the symbols is Liudmila Alekseeva, the Chairman of the first Soviet human rights organization the Moscow Helsinki Group. Now she`s 80 and she`s still in charge. She participated in first human rights marches in 1960s. Then there were searches, dismissal from the office, threat of arrest and forced emigration. After that she returned to the Russian Federation and continued working as a human rights activist, but it happened only when new authorities were in power, when the Soviet Union collapsed.


20 July Liudmila Alekseeva celebrated her 80 anniversary. Before the celebration began there was held a discussion on the subject of “What`s is going to happen with us and our native land?”. It reflected a great alarm which Russian human rights activists feel about strengthening of authoritarian regime in the Russian Federation, democratic standarts retreat and human rights violations. The speakers appealed to the opposition integration and emphasized a significant role of Liudmila  Alekseeva in Russian and international human rights movement development and civil society building.


Alekseeva 557The head of the movement “For human rights” Lev Ponomarev, speaking at the anniversary, called Liudmila Alekseeva “a flag of Russian human rights movement”. Liubov Vinogradova, Russian Research Center for Human Rights (RRCHR) Board member, Human Rights House Network Advisory Team member noted that Liudmila Alekseeva was a “consolidating and uniting center of Russian human rights movement, which at the present time is plural and broken to pieces”. The Human Rights House Network on behalf of all its organizations and activists, belonging to the Network, also send its best regards to Liudmila Alekseeva. Her work sets an incentive example for all of us and her “long experience in human rights movement is an important evidence that idea, supported by active consistent position, has a potential not only to surmount  insuperable obstacles, but also to extend ability and effectiveness of human rights activities”.


We sincerely celebrate Liudmila Alekseeva with her anniversary and wish her health, joy and good luck in our “hopeless” work! In her 80 she doesn`t lose optimism and is sure that in the bound future Russia becomes a real constitutional state, which is able to guarantee its citizens rights observance.