Movement for Defence of Human and Civic Rights (, ROPCiO) was a right-wing political and social organization formed in

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

in March 1977. It tried to resist the regime by denouncing it for violating Polish and international laws including the Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland and

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom ...

History

The declaration, issued and presented to the press on March 26, 1977, was signed by 18 people, among them Andrzej Czuma and retired General Mieczysław Boruta-Spiechowicz. It explained that the aims of the ROPCiO were to preserve and defend the

civil Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

and

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 ...

. In fact the real aim was to fight the Communist regime of the

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party (, ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other legally permitted subordinate minor parti ...

by legal means. The declaration was issued only three days after the Polish parliament had ratified the

. ROPCiO focused on preparation of open letters of protest to the communist government, organizing legal and financial support for the families of

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

s and providing members of the anti-Communist opposition with brochures explaining their rights. Among such secretly-published books were also so-called ''handbooks to arrest'', that is instructions on how to behave when arrested by the militia or the

Urząd Bezpieczeństwa The Ministry of Public Security (), was the secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage agency operating in the Polish People's Republic. From 1945 to 1954 it was known as the Security Office (, UB), and from 1956 to 1990 as the Security ...

. ROPCiO also organized a net of legal advisors and published several magazines, mostly underground. On September 16, 1978, a part of ROPCiO members led by Leszek Moczulski left the movement and established the movement, which later broke down into the

Confederation of Independent Poland Confederation of Independent Poland (KPN, ) was a Polish nationalist political party founded on 1 September 1979 by Leszek Moczulski and others declaring support for the pre-war traditions of Sanacja and Józef Piłsudski. It was the first ind ...

, and Movement of Free Democrats. The remainder of ROPCiO gradually melted into the structures of the

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

after its forming.

References

* * * Solidarity (Polish trade union) 1977 establishments in Poland Nonviolent resistance movements Human rights organisations based in Poland Anti-communist organisations in Poland Organizations established in 1977 Polish dissident organisations {{Poland-org-stub

History

See also

References