Citizens' Forum

FINNISH-RUSSIAN CITIZENS' FORUM ESTABLISHED

A group worried about the undemocratic development and the state of human rights in Russia has established a non-governmental organisation, Finnish-Russian Citizens' Forum.

The organisation is to "help citizens and peoples in Finland and the Russian Federation to cooperate, and to support non-governmental organisations in their effort to strengthen democracy, human rights, and freedom of speech in Russia".

The active team-work of people concerned about Russia's current development started soon after the murder of Russian journalist and civil rights activist Anna Politkovskaya. Several appeals were sent to the governments of Finland and Russia, and public discussions, and demonstrations for human rights were organised in autumn 2006.

The Citizens' Forum supports Russian non-governmental organisations, which are now facing difficulties in their work due to Russia's new draconian law on NGOs. The Citizens' Forum will invite representatives of Russian organisations to Finland, organise visits to Russia, and distribute information about the situation in Russia.

The Citizens' Forum will soon open its web site at www.finrosforum.fi.

The name of the new organisation translates into Swedish as "Finsk-ryska medborgarforumet". The Citizens' Forum carries an unofficial name in Russian: "Finsko-rossiyskiy grazhdanskiy forum".