Helsinki Watch was a private American NGO devoted to monitoring Helsinki implementation. It was created in 1978 to monitor compliance to the Helsinki Final Act (signed 1975). The group focused on the human rights and human contacts portions of the Helsinki Agreement.

The United States-based Helsinki Watch group was inspired by Eastern European efforts such as the Moscow Helsinki Group. 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, Helsinki Watch evolved into Human Rights Watch.