Society for Threatened Peoples
Encyclopedia
Society for Threatened Peoples is an international NGO and human rights
organization based in Göttingen
, Germany
. It seeks to create awareness of and protect minority peoples around the world who are threatened by oppressive governments. The group states on its website that it "campaigns against all forms of genocide and ethnocide". It has advisory status at the United Nations
, participatory status with the Council of Europe
and has sections and offices in Germany, Austria
, Switzerland
, Luxembourg
, Italy
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
, and Iraqi Kurdistan
.
The Secretary General of the Society is Tilman Zülch
.
and Klaus Guerke during the Biafra War to draw attention of the world to the occurrences within Biafra
in present day Nigeria and to stop the hunger and genocide going on there. Zülch even went to the area to witness the atrocities and eventually wrote a book with Klaus Guerke. The experience campaigning for the protection of the victims and refugees encouraged campaigns for other minorities transforming Aktion Biafra-Hilfe into the Society for Threatened Peoples.
In 1978 the headquarters of the Society for Threatened Peoples moved from Hamburg to Göttingen
. Up until today, Zülch is the President of the Society for Threatened Peoples International and the General Secretary of Society for Threatened Peoples Germany. The motto of the organization is “not turning a blind eye”.
Since 1993 the STP has advisory status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council
. The STP is also a Member organization of Committee for a Democratic UN
. Since January 2005 the STP also has participant status at the Council of Europe
.
Prominent supporters of STP include: the writer and futurologist Robert Jungk
, the author Günter Grass
, former German Chancellor Willy Brandt
, current President of East Timor
José Ramos-Horta, and Marek Edelman
a leader in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
A main focus of the human rights work of the STP since the founding has been the African continent where the STP is however not represented by a section. Since the Yugoslav wars
the STP has been disproportionately active in Bosnia and Herzegovina
as well as Kosovo
. In Kosovo the STP pays for a team that under the direction of the human rights worker Paul Polansky
works for the interests of the Roma. In Bosnia and Herzegovina the support of the survivors of the Srebrenica Massacre
is particularly important. Another main focus of the STP is indigenous peoples
. The STP organized the first large European trip of an Indian Delegation from 16 American countries. In the Middle East the Kurds play an important role for the STP: This pushed the STP to open a STP office in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq. Israel and the conflict with Palestinians appear under represented in the activities of the STP measured by the prevailing German public.
, forced migration
, racism
, all forms of minority oppression, and deportation
of refugees in their country of origin as the center of their work. Their themes include the cultural and religious groupings like the Falun Gong
in China, the Christian minorities in Iran, or ethnic groups like the Roma or Chechen
. The STP lobbys politicians and uses letter writing campaigns to apply pressure for its causes. The STP also uses its publications to draw attention to issues that are misrepresented or unreported in the press.
The STP has always maintained that forced migration of people is wrong even when the victims belong to a group of people who were the perpetrators of a war or another grave infringement of international law. In connection with this the STP has advocated for a Centre against Expulsions
and thereby has incurred the same criticism as the project of such a center itself .
Unlike other human rights organizations the STP has in special situations supported military interventions and invasion/intrusion. Much criticism has been given to the STP for its advocacy of the NATO intervention in Kosovo War
in 1999. In 2006 the STP supported the protection of elections in the Congo by the German military.
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organization based in Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It seeks to create awareness of and protect minority peoples around the world who are threatened by oppressive governments. The group states on its website that it "campaigns against all forms of genocide and ethnocide". It has advisory status at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, participatory status with the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
and has sections and offices in Germany, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, and Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr...
.
The Secretary General of the Society is Tilman Zülch
Tilman Zülch
Tilman Zülch is a German human rights activist. He is the founder and general secretary of the Society for Threatened Peoples.- Life :...
.
History
The Society for Threatened Peoples emerged in 1970 from the Hamburg based “Aktion Biafra-Hilfe”. Aktion Biafra-Hilfe was founded in June 1968 by Tilman ZülchTilman Zülch
Tilman Zülch is a German human rights activist. He is the founder and general secretary of the Society for Threatened Peoples.- Life :...
and Klaus Guerke during the Biafra War to draw attention of the world to the occurrences within Biafra
Biafra
Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970, taking its name from the Bight of Biafra . The inhabitants were mostly the Igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious...
in present day Nigeria and to stop the hunger and genocide going on there. Zülch even went to the area to witness the atrocities and eventually wrote a book with Klaus Guerke. The experience campaigning for the protection of the victims and refugees encouraged campaigns for other minorities transforming Aktion Biafra-Hilfe into the Society for Threatened Peoples.
In 1978 the headquarters of the Society for Threatened Peoples moved from Hamburg to Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
. Up until today, Zülch is the President of the Society for Threatened Peoples International and the General Secretary of Society for Threatened Peoples Germany. The motto of the organization is “not turning a blind eye”.
Since 1993 the STP has advisory status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council
United Nations Economic and Social Council
The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations constitutes one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and it is responsible for the coordination of the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, its functional commissions and five regional commissions...
. The STP is also a Member organization of Committee for a Democratic UN
Committee for a Democratic UN
The Committee for a Democratic UN, or KDUN , is a nongovernmental organization based in Berlin and founded in 2003 that advocates the "democratization and strengthening of the United Nations and other international organizations" .-Goal:KDUN's mandate includes the goal "to facilitate a cosmopolitan...
. Since January 2005 the STP also has participant status at the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
.
Prominent supporters of STP include: the writer and futurologist Robert Jungk
Robert Jungk
Robert Jungk , also known as Robert Baum and Robert Baum-Jungk, was an Austrian writer and journalist who wrote mostly on issues relating to nuclear weapons....
, the author Günter Grass
Günter Grass
Günter Wilhelm Grass is a Nobel Prize-winning German author, poet, playwright, sculptor and artist.He was born in the Free City of Danzig...
, former German Chancellor Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm , was a German politician, Mayor of West Berlin 1957–1966, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1964–1987....
, current President of East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
José Ramos-Horta, and Marek Edelman
Marek Edelman
Marek Edelman was a Jewish-Polish political and social activist and cardiologist.Before World War II, he was a General Jewish Labour Bund activist. During the war he co-founded the Jewish Combat Organization. He took part in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, becoming its leader after the death of...
a leader in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Organization and Areas of Work
The STP is one of the largest minority rights organizations in Europe. In April 2006 the organization had more than 6,000 members and more than 25,000 patrons, most of whom are in Germany. The activities of the German organization are primarily coordinated from the national office in Göttingen. Regional groups support the work in a few German cities, including Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Münster and Nuremberg. The STP publishes press releases, organizes public demonstrations and rallies, arranges post card campaigns, prepares reports for court hearings, produces educational materials fo teachers, and publishes the journal pogrom, which is very respected as a source of information about the situation of ethnic and religiuos minorities.A main focus of the human rights work of the STP since the founding has been the African continent where the STP is however not represented by a section. Since the Yugoslav wars
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
the STP has been disproportionately active in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
as well as Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
. In Kosovo the STP pays for a team that under the direction of the human rights worker Paul Polansky
Paul Polansky
Paul Polansky is an American author and activist working for the rights of the Roma people in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. He has also lived with Roma for the past ten years in Eastern Europe, collecting their oral histories and writing several books about their lives in the Czech republic and...
works for the interests of the Roma. In Bosnia and Herzegovina the support of the survivors of the Srebrenica Massacre
Srebrenica massacre
The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, refers to the July 1995 killing, during the Bosnian War, of more than 8,000 Bosniaks , mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of...
is particularly important. Another main focus of the STP is indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
. The STP organized the first large European trip of an Indian Delegation from 16 American countries. In the Middle East the Kurds play an important role for the STP: This pushed the STP to open a STP office in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq. Israel and the conflict with Palestinians appear under represented in the activities of the STP measured by the prevailing German public.
Political Goals and Stategies
The STP places the fight against genocideGenocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
, forced migration
Forced migration
Forced migration refers to the coerced movement of a person or persons away from their home or home region...
, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, all forms of minority oppression, and deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
of refugees in their country of origin as the center of their work. Their themes include the cultural and religious groupings like the Falun Gong
Falun Gong
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline first introduced in China in 1992 by its founder, Li Hongzhi, through public lectures. It combines the practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercises with the moral philosophy...
in China, the Christian minorities in Iran, or ethnic groups like the Roma or Chechen
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
. The STP lobbys politicians and uses letter writing campaigns to apply pressure for its causes. The STP also uses its publications to draw attention to issues that are misrepresented or unreported in the press.
The STP has always maintained that forced migration of people is wrong even when the victims belong to a group of people who were the perpetrators of a war or another grave infringement of international law. In connection with this the STP has advocated for a Centre against Expulsions
Centre Against Expulsions
The Centre Against Expulsions was a planned German documentation centre for expulsions and ethnic cleansing, particularly the expulsion of Germans after World War II. Since March 19, 2008 the name of the project is Sichtbares Zeichen gegen Flucht und Vertreibung...
and thereby has incurred the same criticism as the project of such a center itself .
Unlike other human rights organizations the STP has in special situations supported military interventions and invasion/intrusion. Much criticism has been given to the STP for its advocacy of the NATO intervention in Kosovo War
Kosovo War
The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
in 1999. In 2006 the STP supported the protection of elections in the Congo by the German military.