"Human rights activists around the world should not lose courage; there are always new successes," said the founder of the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) in Göttingen, Tilman Zülch, calling for renewed efforts in the struggle for peace and justice. In a letter to members and supporters of the STP, the 71-year-old described his very personal reason for his own commitment: he was a refugee child himself. In the icy cold January of 1945, his family joined the horse-drawn carts trekking from east to west. Zülch was five years old at the time.

Having been driven from his home is what drives him today: working sometimes until late at night, he forges plans for making the STP campaigns against genocide, displacement and other crimes against humanity even more effective. "Just rustling papers doesn't wake people up anymore," says the human rights activist; "we have to take on a more active role."

Zülch has once again called for the protection of long-term refugees from deportation. "In particular the children who were born here or have grown up here must be spared the agony of being driven out of the country that has long since become their home," is his heartfelt plea. He is also deeply concerned about the future of Assyrian-Chaldean Christians in Iraq, whose churches are targets of deadly attacks by Islamic extremists. Hundreds of thousands have had to flee since 2003. To slow down the exodus of the Christians, the STP is calling for autonomy for their main settlement area.

"In spite of modern communications technology like the Internet, which has long been used even by many indigenous populations, people from around the world are constantly seeking help from the STP," reports Zülch. "It is not easy for them to make themselves heard by politicians. That is where they need our support." After having researched the repressed Adivasi in India, the STP 2010 accompanied a representative of this indigenous people in talks with German politicians. It was very important to get an appointment with experts on radiation protection, because several Adivasi communities are subjected to the hazards of unprotected uranium mining.

The STP, which has advisory status at the United Nations and participatory status with the Council of Europe (COE), is once again bringing charges before the UN Human Rights Council for the persecution and repression of ethnic minorities such as Tibetans, Uighurs, South Sudanese and Darfuris. This Göttingen human rights organization is of the opinion that buzzwords such as climate change, hunger for energy, mining of natural resources and counter-terrorism mask the struggle for survival of many small ethnic groups. The Amazon Indians in Brazil, for example, have asked for help in their resistance against the construction of a giant hydraulic power station on the Xingu River that would destroy their livelihood.

Around 40 people are employed full-time at the national office in Göttingen and in STP sections in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraqi Kurdistan and in New York and London. The STP has some 30,000 members, supporters, and donors.

For further information please contact Tilman Zülch: 0049 - 551 - 4990624

Translated by Elizabeth Crawford