The idea of HURIDOCS was born three years before its official founding in 1982. In 1979, the Ford Foundation called a meeting near Paris of some key human rights organisations. The meeting participants noted that information and communication technologies were being used by commercial companies and government agencies.

They saw that the community of non-governmental human rights organisations needed to familiarise themselves with these tools. If this were done collaboratively, resources could be pooled.

An international volunteer working group was formed to create a network-type of organisation. In 1982, the HURIDOCS founding assembly met in Strasbourg and approved the organisational elements of the network: a Council to serve as governing body; members (organisations taking part in the activities of the network on a voluntary basis); and a Permanent Unit composed of fulltime staff to coordinate activities in the network. The HURIDOCS founding president was Martin Ennals (1927-1991), a dedicated human rights activist who had been the first Secretary-General of Amnesty International.

The second HURIDOCS General Assembly was held in 1986 in Rome. A small “Continuation Committee” replaced the large Council as the policy making body and executive board. The Council itself continued in an important international advisory capacity. The Permanent Unit was renamed the HURIDOCS Secretariat. The future strategy calls for this secretariat to become a full-fledged Centre of Excellence as a resource for the network.

Also read:

• "A biased history of HURIDOCS, as seen by one of the founders", by Hans Thoolen
• Martin Ennals biography