FRANCAISFédération internationale des ligues des droits de l’homme - History
1960-1969
-1962-1968, Algeria: after independence and the repatriation of troops and the departure of the population of European descent in 1962, the French LDH and the FIDH do not investigate on human rights violations by the new regime in power in Algiers, especially against former colonial auxiliaries, the so-called “harkis”. But in April 1968, despite initial reluctance, the LDH defends a political opponent to independence in Algeria who could not be graced as a member of the OAS (Organisation of the Secret Army), since he had denied belonging to this group during the preliminary investigation of his trial.
-From June 1964, Spain: the French LDH protests against the official visit of the minister of Foreign Affairs of General Francisco Franco’s junta. During the Burgos trials in 1970, the LDH starts a campaign in favour of six Basque secessionists who are at first sentenced to death, then to imprisonment for life. In 1972, the LDH also struggles against the deportation of several Basque militants from France to Spain.
-From November 1966, South Africa: the French LDH condemns the apartheid system and denounces the diplomatic and military support of Paris to the racist regime in Pretoria.
-1966-1968, Vietnam: in October 1966, the LDH protests against the American military intervention in the south. In 1968, the League takes part, along with CIMADE, the CCFD, the French Communist Party, the CGT and the MRAP (Movement Against Racism and for Friendship amongst Peoples), in chartering a ship bound for the north. Some will say that this ship brought logistics to the communist fighters in the south.
-26th of September 1967, Bolivia: the French LDH sends an observer to the village of Camiri where Régis Debray is tried. Captured while he was coming back from Che Guevara’s guerrillas, Régis Debray, a French philosopher, is sentenced to jail for thirty years by a military court, and is finally released on the 23rd of December 1970, after José Torrès’s coup.
-1968, Czechoslovakia: the French LDH condemns the repression of the opposition in Prague and the military intervention of the Soviet Union.
-1969, France: the LDH sends an observer to New Caledonia and manages to have Henri Nidoische Naisseline released. A Kanak, Henri Nidoische Naisseline was accused of being the author of the “red tracts” denouncing the Caldoche (New Caledonian of European descent) colonisation, and of the 2nd of September demonstration in front of the police station where he was kept under custody.
