APADOR-CH is a non-governmental organization working to raise awareness on human rights issues and promote human rights standards in Romania and the region.
The Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Romania –the Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH) is a non-governmental organization. It was established in 1990 and ever since it has been working on increasing awareness and respect towards human rights standards and the rule of law in Romania and in the region.
In reaching its goals, APADOR-CH carries out the following activities:
Legislative advocacy: APADOR-CH routinely monitors existing and proposed laws and their practical application. It writes comments, participates in parliamentary committees, public hearings and consultation meetings. APADOR-CH also seeks to inform the public of relevant legislative amendments. On particular issues, APADOR-CH may advocate for specific bills and even draft legislation, which it then promotes in relevant parliamentary committees.
Fact-finding visits: APADOR-CH carries out unannounced visits to prisons and police lock-ups. During these visits, APADOR-CH experts asses to what extent the rights prescribed by law regarding detention conditions are met in practice; they talk to inmates, staff members and look at relevant documents. They also seek to identify any cases of mistreatment and brutality and provide legal counseling to victims of such acts. APADOR-CH also carries out fact-finding visits outside of detention facilities when there are indications of gross human rights violations.
Research and monitoring: To support most of its work, APADOR-CH experts carry out extensive research on various topics. These research exercises normally include extensive desk research, interviews, FOI requests and, when appropriate, surveys. The results of these research projects usually inform particular advocacy campaigns and feed into APADOR-CH’s communication work. The research projects are usually focused on analyzing particular institutions/policies, at assessing their compliance with human rights standards and rule of law principles and suggesting concrete recommendations.
Strategic litigation: APADOR-CH collaborates with a number of experienced human rights lawyers and it takes on strategic litigation cases in its area of work. Its strategic litigation program is focused primarily on the European Court of Human Rights, but it also includes litigation before national courts, including the Constitutional Court. The strategic litigation program is accompanied by a systematic monitoring of how court decisions are being implemented in practice.
Capacity building: In order to achieve its goals, APADOR-CH seeks to empower other civil society groups and individuals to enforce their rights. To this end, it organizes trainings for civil society members on how to use access to information legislation and how to participate in public hearings. APADOR-CH also publishes reports and guides on how to exercise human rights.
You can contact us at:
Adress: 8A Nicolae Tonitza Street ,Sector 3 – Bucharest, 030113 Romania Phone/Fax: (40) (21) 312.45.28 e-mail: office@apador.org
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