WUNRN
http://www.osce.org/yerevan/182541
HENSINKI FINAL ACT OF 1975 BASIS OF OSCE & DIALOGUE ON SECURITY
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WHEN WE AS WOMEN LOOK THROUGH THE LANDMARK HELSINKI ACT, WE MIGHT WONDER HOW MANY WOMEN WERE PRESENT AT ITS DRAFTING AND SIGNING, WHY MORE ATTENTION WAS NOT GIVEN TO GENDER AS A PIVOTAL THEME IN SECURITY AND COOPERATION, WHY WHEN THERE IS REFERENCE TO TRUE AND LASTING PEACE, ARE WOMEN NOT DESIGNATED AS ESSENTIAL IN THE PEACE PROCESS. 40 YEARS LATER, WE WOMEN STILL ARE CHALLENGED TO HAVE VOICE, PRESENCE, AND AGENCY IN ALL DIMENSIONS OF PEACE, THROUGHOUT THIS COMPLEX & VOLATILE WORLD. WUNRN
Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, the founding document of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The Helsinki Final Act, signed by presidents and prime ministers from 35 countries on 1 August 1975, was seen as a major step in reducing Cold War tensions and led to the formation of a permanent forum for dialogue on security the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, now the OSCE. The OSCE Director of the Conflict Prevent Centre. The foundations of the security system which served us for so long are now in jeopardy. We need to look for creative ways to overcome growing divisions, to engage in a meaningful dialogue to address the old and new security challenges. Armenia can and should play an important role in this process.
CONFERENCE ON SECURITY & CO-OPERATION
IN EUROPE FINAL ACT HELSINKI 1975
Direct Link to Full 62-Page 1975 Helsinki Act: https://www.osce.org/mc/39501?download=true
Contents
Preamble
Questions relating to Security in Europe
1. (a) Declaration on Principles Guiding
Relations
between Participating States
I. Sovereign equality, respect for the
rights
inherent in sovereignty
II. Refraining from the threat or use of
force
III. Inviolability of frontiers
IV. Territorial integrity of States
V. Peaceful settlement of disputes
VI. Non-intervention in internal affairs
VII. Respect for human rights and
fundamental
freedoms, including the freedom of
thought,
conscience, religion or belief
VIII. Equal rights and self-determination
of peoples
IX. Co-operation among States
X. Fulfilment in good faith of obligations
under international law
(b) Matters related to giving effect to
certain of the above Principles
2. Document on confidence-building
measures and certain
aspects of security and disarmament
I. Prior notification
of major military manoeuvres
Prior notification of other military
manoeuvres
Exchange of observers
Prior notification of major military
movements
Other confidence-building measures
II. Questions relating to disarmament
III.General considerations
Co-operation in the Field of Economics, of
Science and
Technology and of the Environment
1. Commercial Exchanges
General provisions
Business contacts and facilities
Economic and commercial information
Marketing
2. Industrial co-operation and projects of
common interest
Industrial co-operation
Projects of common interest
3. Provisions concerning trade and
industrial co-operation
Harmonization of standards
Arbitration
Specific bilateral arrangements
4. Science and technology
Possibilities for improving co-operation
Fields of co-operation
Agriculture
Energy
New technologies, rational use of
resources
Transport technology
Physics
Chemistry
Meteorology and hydrology
Oceanography
Seismological research
Research on glaciology, permafrost
and problems of life under conditions of
cold
Computer, communication and information
technologies
Space research
Medicine and public health
Environmental research
Forms and methods of co-operation
5. Environment
Aims of co-operation
Fields of co-operation
Control of air pollution
Water pollution control and fresh water
utilization
Protection of the marine environment
Land utilization and soils
Nature conservation and nature reserves
Improvement of environmental conditions in
areas
of human settlement
Fundamental research, monitoring,
forecasting
and assessment of environmental changes
Legal and administrative measures
Forms and methods of co-operation
6. Co-operation in other areas
Development of transport
Promotion of tourism
Economic and social aspects of migrant
labour
Training of personnel
Questions relating to Security and
Co-operation in the
Mediterranean
Co-operation in Humanitarian and Other
Fields
1. Human Contacts
(a) Contacts and regular meetings on the
basis of family ties
(b) Reunification of families
(c) Marriage between citizens of different
states
(d) Travel for personal or professional
reasons
(e) Improvement of conditions for tourism
on
an Individual or collective basis
(f) Meetings among young people
(g) Sport
(h) Expansion of contacts
2. Information
(a) Improvement of the circulation of,
Access to, and exchange of information
(i) Oral information
(ii) Printed information
(iii) Filmed and broadcast information
(b) Co-operation in the field of
information
(c) Improvement of working conditions for
journalists
3. Co-operation and Exchanges in the Field
of Culture
Extension of relations
Mutual knowledge
Exchanges and dissemination
Access
Contacts and co-operation
Fields and forms of co-operation
National minorities or regional cultures
4. Co-operation and Exchanges in the Field
of Education
(a) Extension of relations
(b) Access and exchanges
(c) Science
exact and natural sciences
medicine
the humanities and social sciences
(d) Foreign languages and civilizations
(e) Teaching methods
National minorities or regional cultures
Follow-up to the Conference
About
the text of the Helsinki Final Act
Signatures
A selection of contemporary photographs
appears between pages 66 and 67.
Copyrights: AKG Photo Berlin (A, B and C);
Votava Bilddienst, Vienna (D, E and F);
Lehtikuva Oy, Helsinki (G).
The Conference on Security and
Co-operation in Europe, which opened at Helsinki
on 3 July 1973 and continued at Geneva
from 18 September 1973 to 21 July 1975, was
concluded at Helsinki on 1 August 1975 by
the High Representatives of Austria, Belgium,
Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia,
Denmark, Finland, France, the German
Democratic Republic, the Federal Republic
of Germany, Greece, the Holy See, Hungary,
Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics, the United
Kingdom, the United States of America and
Yugoslavia.
During the opening and closing stages of
the Conference the participants were
addressed by the Secretary-General of the
United Nations as their guest of honour. The
Director-General of UNESCO and the
Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe addressed the
Conference during its second stage.
During the meetings of the second stage of
the Conference, contributions were
received, and statements heard, from the
following non-participating Mediterranean States on
various agenda items: the Democratic and
Popular Republic of Algeria, the Arab Republic of
Egypt, Israel, the Kingdom of Morocco, the
Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia.
Motivated by the political will, in the
interest of peoples, to improve and intensify
their relations and to contribute in
Europe to peace, security, justice and cooperation as well
as to rapprochement among themselves and
with the other States of the world,
Determined, in consequence, to give full
effect to the results of the Conference and to
assure, among their States and throughout
Europe, the benefits deriving from those results
and thus to broaden, deepen and make
continuing and lasting the process of dιtente,
The High Representatives of the
participating States have solemnly adopted the
following:
Questions relating to Security in Europe
The States participating in the Conference
on Security and Co-operation in Europe,
Reaffirming their objective of
promoting better relations among themselves and
ensuring conditions in which their people
can live in true and lasting peace free from any
threat to or attempt against their
security;
Convinced of the need to
exert efforts to make dιtente both a continuing and an
increasingly viable and comprehensive
process, universal in scope, and that the
implementation of the results of the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe will
be a major contribution to this process;
Considering that solidarity
among peoples, as well as the common purpose of the
participating States in achieving the aims
as set forth by the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe, should lead to the
development of better and closer relations among
them in all fields and thus to overcoming
the confrontation stemming from the character of
their past relations, and to better mutual
understanding;
Mindful of their common history and
recognizing that the existence of elements
common to their traditions and values can
assist them in developing their relations, and
desiring to search, fully taking into
account the individuality and diversity of their positions
and views, for possibilities of joining
their efforts with a view to overcoming distrust and
increasing confidence, solving the
problems that separate them and cooperating in the interest
of mankind;
Recognizing the indivisibility
of security in Europe as well as their common interest
in the development of cooperation throughout
Europe and among selves and expressing their
intention to pursue efforts accordingly;
Recognizing the close link
between peace and security in Europe and in the world as a
whole and conscious of the need for each
of them to make its contribution to the
strengthening of world peace and security
and to the promotion of fundamental rights,
economic and social progress and
well-being for all peoples;
Have adopted the following:
(a) Declaration on Principles Guiding
Relations between Participating States
The participating States,
Reaffirming their commitment
to peace, security and justice and the continuing
development of friendly relations and
co-operation;
Recognizing that this
commitment, which reflects the interest and aspirations of
peoples, constitutes for each
participating State a present and future responsibility,
heightened by experience of the past;
Reaffirming, in conformity with
their membership in the United Nations and in
accordance with the purposes and
principles of the United Nations, their full and active
support for the United Nations and for the
enhancement of its role and effectiveness in
strengthening international peace,
security and justice, and in promoting the solution of
international problems, as well as the
development of friendly relations and cooperation
among States;
Expressing their common
adherence to the principles which are set forth below and
are in conformity with the Charter of the
United Nations, as well as their common will to act,
in the application of these principles, in
conformity with the purposes and principles of the
Charter of the United Nations;
Declare their determination to respect and
put into practice, each of them in its
relations with all other participating
States, irrespective of their political, economic or social
systems as well as of their size,
geographical location or level of economic development, the
following principles, which all are of
primary significance, guiding their mutual relations:
I.
Sovereign equality, respect for the rights inherent in
sovereignty
The participating States will respect each
other's sovereign equality and individuality
as well as all the rights inherent in and
encompassed by its sovereignty, including in
particular the right of every State to
juridical equality, to territorial integrity and to freedom
and political independence. They will also
respect each other's right freely to choose and
develop its political, social, economic
and cultural systems as well as its right to determine its
laws and
regulations.
Within the framework of international law,
all the participating States have equal
rights and duties. They will respect each
other's right to define and conduct as it wishes its
relations with other States in accordance
with international law and in the spirit of the present
Declaration. They consider that their
frontiers can be changed, in accordance with
international law, by peaceful means and
by agreement. They also have the right to belong or
not to belong to international
organizations, to be or not to be a party to bilateral or
multilateral treaties including the right
to be or not to be a party to treaties of alliance; they
also have the right to neutrality.
II.
Refraining from the threat or use of force
The participating States will refrain in
their mutual relations, as well as in their
international relations in general, from
the threat or use of force against the territorial
integrity or political independence of any
State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the
purposes of the United Nations and with
the present Declaration. No consideration may be
invoked to serve to warrant resort to the
threat or use of force in contravention of this
principle.
Accordingly, the participating States will
refrain from any acts constituting a threat of
force or direct or indirect use of force
against another participating State.
Likewise they will refrain from any
manifestation of force for the purpose of inducing
another participating State to renounce
the full exercise of its sovereign rights. Likewise they
will also refrain in their mutual
relations from any act of reprisal by force.
No such threat or use of force will be
employed as a means of settling disputes, or
questions likely to give rise to disputes,
between them.
III.
Inviolability of frontiers
The participating States regard as
inviolable all one another's frontiers as well as the
frontiers of all States in Europe and
therefore they will refrain now and in the future from
assaulting these frontiers.
Accordingly, they will also refrain from
any demand for, or act. Accordingly, they will also
refrain from any demand for, or act of, seizure
and usurpation of part or all of the territory
of any participating State .