the rights-based strategy of dissent soon merged with the idea of human rights. the years following the soviet union's signing of the international covenant on civil and political rights in 1968 saw the emergence of a soviet human rights movement. it included figures such as valery chalidze, yuri orlov, and lyudmila alexeyeva. special groups were founded such as the initiative group for the defense of human rights in the ussr (1969), the committee on human rights in the ussr (1970) and the helsinki watch groups in moscow, kiev, vilnius, tbilisi, and erevan (1976–77).