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The MARANGOPOULOS FOUNDATION FOR
HUMAN RIGHTS (MFHR) came into being in December 1977, when the will of GEORGE
N. MARANGOPOULOS, President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece
(Council of State), took effect. However, the initial idea for the creation
of such a foundation in Greece
had developed some ten years earlier out of the bitter experiences of
military rule, which was imposed on the Greek people in 1967 and lasted for
more than seven long years. Soon after the junta's coup d'Etat in April 1967,
State Counsellor (as he then was) G.N. Marangopoulos resigned his office in
protest of the junta's gross interference in the administration of justice
and in 1973 made his last will and testament bequeathing half of his property
to a foundation which would have as its objective the defence and promotion
of the generally recognized fundamental human rights and freedoms.
With the restoration of democracy
in Greece
in 1974, G.N. Marangopoulos became President of the Supreme Administrative Court. He passed
away in December 1977, whereupon the MFHR was founded. Presidential Decree
No. 560 of 1978 approved the establishment of the Foundation as a non-profit
legal entity under Greek law, having its legal seat and secretariat in Athens.
In August 1978, DEMETRIUS N.
MARANGOPOULOS bequeathed all his property to the Foundation in memory of his
wife May and his brother George. This bequest enabled the Foundation to
commence its operations in 1979 with a greatly expanded and enlarged
programme of activities.
Presidential Decree No. 252 of
1980 took note of the above bequest and approved the statutes of the
Foundation, which provide the framework for its organization and activity.
The Foundation is largely self-funded, deriving its financial resources from
income accruing mainly from its property.
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The basic aims and objectives of
the Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights are the research, study,
defence, protection and promotion of the generally recognized fundamental
human rights and freedoms. Within this framework, the Foundation takes a
special interest in the advancement of human rights education and training
and the raising of public awareness in all matters affecting human rights,
peace and the development of democratic institutions.
In order to accomplish its aims
and objectives, MFHR employs a wide variety of appropriate means. Such means, include the following:
- The organizing of courses, lectures, seminars, symposia and
conferences and the representation and/or participation of MFHR in such
events in Greece and abroad.
- The granting of scholarships, financial support and sponsorship
for specialized studies in human rights, particularly to young scholars
and human rights activists.
- The conducting and/or financing of research of both a theoretical
and practical nature and the awarding of prizes.
- Co-operation with intergovernmental organizations and NGOs, both
Greek and foreign, having the same or similar objectives.
- The submission to public authorities and organizations of
reports, proposals and memoranda relating to ascertained violations of
human rights or to the need for a more effective protection of human
rights.
- The issuing of protests, appeals, press releases and statements
as well as the holding of press conferences and interviews.
- The offering of free legal aid (judicial and extra-judicial) to
persons whose fundamental rights have allegedly been violated, and the
dispatch or funding of fact-finding missions in Greece and abroad.
- Fund-raising and humanitarian aid for afflicted countries or
groups of people.
- The compiling and dissemination of information, material and
texts of human rights instruments.
- The maintaining of a specialized and continuously updated library
open to the public and containing collections of case-law, series of the
major human rights periodicals, specialized books and other relevant
material, mainly in Greek, English, French, Italian and German.
MFHR is a non-governmental
organization collaborating with various UN and Council of Europe human rights
bodies and maintains regular ties and co-operation with similar NGOs in many
parts of the world. Since 1991, the Foundation has held the status of
observer in the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. In May 1998,
the MFHR acquired consultative status with the ECOSOC. The MFHR has also been
admitted to the "Official Relations" ("Relations
Officielles") with UNESCO. It has a "special relationship"
with the United Nations Department of Public Information, New
York, and collaborates closely with the UN Information Centre in
Athens
.
Moreover, the President of MFHR Alice Yotopoulos-Marangopoulos was the President of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights since its creation until 2006. The Director of MFHR Associate Professor Linos-Alexander Sicilianos is the Vice-President of this Commission since November 2006.
Through its activities MFHR has
sought to establish a consistent record of human rights defence and promotion
in all major areas of traditional concern. In addition, the Foundation
closely monitors changing circumstances and the new challenges they pose to
human rights, with a view to providing new responses and adequate new
standards of protection. MFHR's main activities carried out or undertaken so
far are classified into different categories on separate pages.
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The Foundation is administered by
a five-member Governing Board whose current composition is as follows:
- President: Alice Yotopoulos-Marangopoulos, Professor Emerita and
former Rector, Panteion University, Athens
- Vice-President: Sotiris Moussouris, former Assistant
Secretary-General of the UN
- Secretary-General: James Farsedakis, Professor and Head of the
Sociology Department, Panteion University, Athens
- Member: George Stavropoulos, Vice-President, Supreme
Administrative Court
- Member: Evangelos Kourakos, former
Vice-Governor, Bank of Greece
The Foundation is directed by L.-A. Sicilianos, Associate Professor, School of Law, University of Athens.
The International Advisory
Committee of the Foundation is comprised of the following experts:
- Prof. A. Baka, Judge, European Court of Human Rights; Director, School of Public
Administration; Budapest,
Hungary
- Ass. Prof. Dr. W. Benedek, Institute of International Law and
International Relations, University of Graz; Austria
- Prof. D. Bindschedler-Robert, former Judge, European Court of
Human Rights; Bern, Switzerland
- Prof. T. van Boven, Director, Maastricht Centre for Human Rights,
University of Limburg; Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Prof. G. Cohen-Jonathan, University of Pantheon-Assas (Paris II); Honorary Dean of the School of Law,
University
of Strasbourg;
France
- Judge H. Danelius, Swedish Supreme Court; former Vice-President
of the European Commission of Human Rights; Stockholm, Sweden
- Prof. E. Decaux, University
of Paris-X, Nanterre; France
- Prof. M. Delmas-Marty, Institut Universitaire de France, Universite
de Pantheon-Sorbonne (Paris I); Directeur de l'Institut de Droit
Compare; Paris, France
- A. Eide, Director, Norwegian Institute of Human Rights; Member of
the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights;
Oslo, Norway
- Prof. R. Levine, School
of Medicine, University of Yale;
New Haven, USA
- L. Loucaides, Judge, European Court of Human Rights; Nicosia, Cyprus
- Prof. C. Medina, University
of Diego Portales; Member of
the ICCPR Committee; Santiago,
Chile
- Prof. W. Schabas, National
University of Ireland; Director of the Irish Centre for
Human Rights; Ireland
- Prof. P. de Senarclens, University of Lausanne; former Director
of Human Rights Division, UNESCO; President of OMCT; Geneva, Switzerland
- Prof. D. Shelton, University
of Santa Clara; California, USA
- Prof. Dr. B. Simma, Director,
Institut fur Internationales Recht-Volkerrecht, Ludwig Maximilians
University; Munich, Germany
- Prof. D. Simon, Institut Universitaire de France, Robert Schuman
University; Strasbourg, France
- Prof. L. Wiseberg, Executive Director, Human Rights Internet; Ottawa, Canada
The Foundation's staff works in
departments focused on specific fields, as follows:
- Scientific and Research
Department
- Judicial and Extra-judicial
Department
- Administrative Department, including the library section
Experts and external researchers
collaborate on a temporary basis, according to the needs of the Foundation
and on certain special issues.
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