Today Ukraine celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Ukrainian Public Group of Assistance to Implementation of the Helsinki Agreements, which was the first legal human rights organisation in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, that played one of key roles in the liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people and started a nonviolent, legal and rightful way to achieve independence of Ukraine, to establish democracy and respect for human rights.

The human rights activists signed the Declaration of the Ukrainian Public Group of Assistance to Implementation of the Helsinki Agreements and the Memorandum No. 1. on the 09th  day of November, 1976.

The Declaration proclaimed the establishment of Human Rights Organization and promulgated its tasks and objectives, chief among which is acquaintance the governments of member countries of the Helsinki Meeting and world community with the facts of human rights violation in Ukraine and with the rights of the Ukrainians who live in other republics of the Soviet Union.

The crimes of the Communist Regime were revealed in the program of Memorandum No.1: genocide and ethnocide, dekulakization, Famine-Genocide (“Holodomor”) of the 1932 -1933s, political repressions of the 1930s, liquidation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, destruction of civilians, in particular, by the “chekists” disguised as “insurgents”, total russification, and prosecution of sixtiers. A constitutional legitimacy of withdrawal of Ukraine from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was mentioned too.

Celebrating the anniversary date of establishment of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, we honour a power and majesty of moral superiority of the Ukrainian human rights activists over the totalitarian regime, who were not afraid and signed documents indicating their names, openly demonstrated their position and demands, appealing to the Soviet law and international legal instruments signed by the USSR.

Today, Ukraine makes efforts to protect the rights and freedoms of its compatriots who are forced to live in the conditions of temporary occupation.

Ukraine submitted a draft of resolution to the United Nations General Assembly, which has to become an impartial assessment of situation connected with human rights at the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

This document suggests condemning the violations of human rights, discriminatory measures and practices of persecution of residents of the temporarily occupied Crimea on the part of the Russian occupying authorities.