Helsinki Watch was an independent NGO created in mid-1970s to monitor compliance to the Helsinki Accords (signed 1975). The basis for their work was in the civil rights portion of the Helsinki agreement.

The Helsinki Watch activities in the then Soviet Union began as early as 1976. On May 12, 1976, Yuri Orlov and ten other people founded the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, aiming to uphold USSR's commitment in implementing the Helsinki Accords.

In 1982, representatives of a number of the Helsinki Watch committees held an International Citizens Helsinki Watch Conference and formed the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.

In 1988, one group of Helsinki Watch organizations was renamed to Human Rights Watch.