History

Liga's roots go back to the turn of the millennium, when its future founders began developing activities within the Human Rights sphere, and set up a partnership with the non-profit organisation Environmental Law Service, run by a group of lawyers. Under this umbrella organisation, a pilot project was launched, known as the Civil Legal Observers. Their aim was to monitor the course of protests during the Congress of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Prague, September 2000. The Civil Legal Observers, consisting of lawyers and law students as well as other professions, played an important role during this Congress, adopting the position of independent third party, noting and documenting potential street incidents, inappropriate repressive measures and violence at police stations, in addition to other human rights infringements which were taking place.

It was in 2002 that Liga Lidskych Prav was born and on the 7^th August the same year, it was officially registered as an NGO in the Czech Republic. From this date, Liga immediately began to develop a wide range of projects, conducting them from its offices in Brno and Prague. In particular, Liga focused on the observance of human rights by the police, protection of children's rights, and the rights of the victims of domestic violence.

Liga Lidskych Prav has gradually been cultivating its main goals throughout the period between 2004 and 2007, and this has aided in guiding it towards its further development. However, Liga's predominant aim has always been to urge the public authorities to be consistent in the application and enforcement of their human rights obligations. Liga aims to ensure a society where everybody is aware of their rights, and where each individual has the knowledge of how to enforce such rights, and hence, to establish a society in which everyone respects the rights of one another as equals.

In Spring 2004, Liga Lidskych Prav, by a unanimous vote, became an associate member of the International Federation for Human Rights, at their 35^th Annual Congress in Quito, Ecuador. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) is the oldest international organization campaigning for the protection of human rights worldwide, and spans across all five continents. FIDH also has a Deliberative, or Observer status, at the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the African Union, as well as permanent delegates in Brussels, Haag, Geneva, New York, Cairo and Nairobi. In December 2004, the U.S. Embassy in Prague awarded the Alice Masaryk Prize to Jiří Kopal, a Czech citizen, for the first time. Jiří was awarded the Prize for Courage, by dealing with and alleviating a dispute concerning police violence, asserting the principles of open civil society in the Czech republic, and for his key role in founding Liga.

The following year, Liga began developing a systém of legal aid for illegal sterilization cases, and begun a collaboration with the Mental Disability Advocacy Center; a significant milestone in its process of further development. As a result of this collaboration, Liga´s lawyers are continuously active in promoting the observance of human rights in health services sector, and this has become one of Liga's main pillars, up to the present day.

After three years as an associate member, Liga became a full member of the International Federation for Human Rights, with full voting rights, at the FIDH Lisbon congress in April 2007. Liga's Chairman, Jiří Kopal, was appointed to the international executive body of the FIDH as the deputy secretary general for Europe and Central Asia.

With a continuously expanding base of permanent and external lawyers, the areas which Liga deals with within the Czech Republic, have also expanded. To date, Liga deals with questions concerning respecting human rights in the health services (including the rights of patients, the protection of mentally disabled people and compensations for victims of illegal sterilizations); the rights of children (such as the segregation of Roma children at primary schools, reduction of the number of children in nursing homes and institutes and the protection of the best interests of the children); and increased police observance of human rights, such as enhanced protection for victims of abuse and of violent crimes, as well as other legal questions connected with re-codifications in the sphere of penal justice.