On Friday, December 10, International Human Rights Day, the first public presentation of the library of the House of Human Rights named after Ranko Helebrant. The goal of the Ranko Helebrant library project is the integration of the existing libraries of the Center for Peace Studies, BaBa, Documenta and private libraries Ranka Helebranta into a unique special library dedicated to non-fiction and periodicals in the field of human rights, peacebuilding and democratization.
At the opening ceremony, the US Embassy in the Republic of Croatia, led by Ambassador H.E. James Foley is donated books, office material and financial resources for the needs of the library, and in his introductory presentation, the Ambassador offered the US Embassy's long-term cooperation on this project through the establishment of an exchange with the Embassy library and libraries of similar purpose in the USA.
It was mentioned that currently The library has 4000 titles., but only 2,000 of them have so far been recorded in the computer program for managing the library due to a lack of funds from the House of Human Rights to pay for the work of librarian (still a volunteer) Silvija Radić.
The library is named Ranka Helebranta, an activist who bravely fought against all forms of injustice for seventeen years, starting as a volunteer and continuing as a human rights activist. He selflessly advocated for the protection of all those who needed help, both with his knowledge and his warm words - first in the Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, and then very briefly in BaBama, where he provided direct assistance to people whose rights were violated. He participated in research on civilian victims of killings after military operations Flash and Storm and created and implemented many projects to advance human rights in Croatia and the region.
In 2003, he was the acting executive director of HHO. For several years, he represented HHO in the Balkan Network for Human Rights and was a member of its Board of Directors. He also led an important educational project - the Human Rights School for future decision makers. He was the co-author of a textbook on police and human rights and for several years coordinated the cooperation of HHO with the Police Academy, where human rights have been taught as part of a permanent course in recent years. He is the author or co-author of numerous reports and analyzes on human rights in Croatia and the region.
Representatives of the Human Rights House participated as keynote speakers at the presentation of the Ranko Helebrant library project. Sanja Sarnavka and Sandra Bencic , and ambassador Foley, and the event was attended by around 60 representatives of civil society, embassies, the Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia, and members of parliament.
The text is taken from the website of the Human Rights House.
