The Human Rights League ( '' t du citoyen' or LDH) is a

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

NGO association whose mission includes to observe, defend and promulgate human rights within the French Republic in all spheres of public life. The LDH is a member of the

International Federation of Human Rights Leagues The International Federation for Human Rights (; FIDH) is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the third oldest international human rights organization worldwide after Anti-Slavery International a ...

(FIDH).

History

The League was founded on 4 June 1898 by the republican Ludovic Trarieux to defend captain

Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French Army officer best known for his central role in the Dreyfus affair. In 1894, Dreyfus fell victim to a judicial conspiracy that eventually sparked a major political crisis in the Fre ...

, a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

wrongly convicted for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

– this would be known as the Dreyfus Affair. Dissolved by the

anticommunist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...

regime of

Vichy Vichy (, ; ) is a city in the central French department of Allier. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789. Known f ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it was clandestinely reconstituted in 1943 by a central committee including Pierre Cot, René Cassin and

Félix Gouin Félix Gouin (; 5 October 1884 – 25 October 1977) was a French Socialist politician who was a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). Personal life Félix Gouin was born in Peypin, Bouches-du-Rhône, the son of ...

. The LDH was refounded after the Liberation.

Paul Langevin Paul Langevin (23 January 1872 – 19 December 1946) was a French physicist who developed Langevin dynamics and the Langevin equation. He was one of the founders of the '' Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes'', an anti-fascist ...

, who had recently joined the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

(PCF), became its president. Opposed to the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

and the massive use of torture by the French Army, the LDH called for demonstrations against the 1961

Algiers putsch The Algiers putsch (; or ), also known as the putsch of the generals (), was a failed coup d'état intended to force French President Charles de Gaulle not to abandon French Algeria, the resident European community and pro-French Algerians. Orga ...

Today

The LDH has opposed itself to the 23 February 2005 law on the "positive role of

colonisation 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

", which has been accused of being part of a revisionist discourse. President

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

finally had the law, which had been voted by his UMP majority, repealed start of 2006. The LDH also took position in favor of the recognition of foreigners' right to vote in local elections end of December 2005. Besides, it took part in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

ers' movement organized since 1970 by the GIP (', Group of Information on Prisons), founded by

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French History of ideas, historian of ideas and Philosophy, philosopher who was also an author, Literary criticism, literary critic, Activism, political activist, and teacher. Fo ...

and

Daniel Deferre Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the acti ...

. The LDH also supports Italian former activist Cesare Battisti and American

Ira Einhorn Ira Samuel Einhorn (May 15, 1940 – April 3, 2020), known as "The Unicorn Killer", was an American environmental activist and murderer. His moniker, "the Unicorn", was derived from his surname; Einhorn means "unicorn" in German. As an envi ...

. The LDH has also opposed itself to

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

's policies, which it deems "repressive". In its 2003 report, it declared that "since the

we had never seen such a strong rollback of human rights in France". The LDH has filed a complaint end of 2005 concerning a CIA flight which landed in Le Bourget airport in the frame of the so-called " war on terror" (see March 2006 in Europe). End of 2004, the LDH counted 7,487 members, organized into 309 local sections and 57

federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

s. In 1932, it could boast 170,000 members.

Cultural references

* In his 1970 autobiographical book ''Papillon'', Henri Charriere angrily laments the lack of interest shown in the treatment of prisoners sent to the

penal colonies A penal colony or exile colony is a Human settlement, settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colony, colonial territory. Although the te ...

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

, citing LDH in particular,

I trampled the organisation of the Ligue des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen that never spoke out and said, "stop killing people as surely as if they were guillotined: abolish the mass sadism among the employees of the prison service." I trampled the fact that not a single organisation or association ever questioned the top men of this system to find out how and why eighty per cent of the people who were sent away every two years vanished.

List of presidents

* Ludovic Trarieux (1898–1903) * Francis de Pressensé (1903–1914) *

Ferdinand Buisson Ferdinand Édouard Buisson (; 20 December 1841 – 16 February 1932) was a French educational public servant, pacifist, and Radical-Socialist (left liberal) politician. He presided over the League of Education from 1902 to 1906 and over the Hum ...

(1914–1926,

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

in 1927, along with the German Ludwig Quidde) * Victor Basch (1926–1944) *

(1944–1946) * Sicard de Plauzoles (1946–1953) *

Émile Kahn Emile Joseph Kahn (born 21 December 1876 in Paris – died on 21 January 1958 in Montpellier) was the president of the Human Rights League (France) from 1953 to 1958. Biography Secretary-General of the League of Human Rights from 1932 to 1953, E ...

(1953–1958) * Daniel Mayer (1958–1975) * Henri Noguères (1975–1984) * Yves Jouffa (1984–1991) * Madeleine Rebérioux (1991–1995) * Henri Leclerc (1995–2000) *

Michel Tubiana Michel Tubiana (24 November 1952 – 2 October 2021) was a French jurist and lawyer. He served as President of the Human Rights League (France), Human Rights League of France from 2000 to 2005. Biography Born in Algiers in 1952, Tubiana's famil ...

(2000–2005) * Jean-Pierre Dubois (2005–2011) * Pierre Tartakowsky (2011–2015) * Françoise Dumont (2015–2017) * Malik Salemkour (2017–2022) * Patrick Baudouin (since 2022)

Notes

External links