From: Finrosforum Info [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
FINROSFORUM 2009 | Helsinki 25-26 May 2009
The Finnish-Russian Civic Forum will hold its third annual seminar, FINROSFORUM 2009, in Helsinki on 25-26 May 2009. The event organisers include our partner organisations in both Finland and Russia, including the Human Rights Group of the Finnish Parliament. The seminar will receive major backing from the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The main themes of the two-day seminar will be the rights of ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities and the question of political prisoners in today's Russia. The venue of the seminar will be the Annex to the Parliament House in the city centre of Helsinki. The languages to be used will be Russian and English with simultaneous interpretation.
Mikhail Borzykin, lead singer of the St Petersburg-based rock band, Televizor, and Alexey Nikonov, leader of the Vyborg-based punk group, PTVP ("Last Tanks in Paris"), will perform for the public in the evening of 25 May 2009. The performance will take place in Restaurant Yläkerho in Suomenlinna: http://www.slpy.fi/?cat=3.
Prior registration for the seminar is required by 19 May 2009 at the latest at http://www.finrosforum.fi/?page_id=2612. Please answer each question carefully. You can post any additional remarks in the comments field. Please note that without prior registration, you will not be allowed to enter the Parliament House.
We will inform about the seminar in more detail on our website: http://finrosforum.fi/. You can follow the course of the seminar on Twitter: http://twitter.com/finrosforum. You can also join the Finnish-Russian Civic Forum's Facebook group: http://bit.ly/finrosbook.
After the seminar, you will have an opportunity to view Russian journalist Grigory Pasko's documentary film, "Buried at Sea," about the Russian-German gas pipeline project, Nord Stream. The event, organised by the Greens, will take place on Tuesday 26 May 2009 at 15:00-16:30 in the Annex to the Parliament House.
The Finnish-Russian Civic Forum was established in January 2007 by a group of people concerned about the erosion of democracy and human rights in Russia. The organisation strives to promote cooperation between the peoples of Finland and Russia by supporting civic initiatives for democracy, human rights, and freedom of speech.
FINROSFORUM 2009
Date: 25-26 May 2009
Venue: Auditorium, Annex to Parliament House, Helsinki, Finland
"Minority Rights in Russia"
Programme
Sunday, 24 May 2009
19:00 . Informal Programme for Invited Guests
Monday, 25 May 2009
08:30 . Registration
09:30 . Opening Words by Organisers
* Heidi Hautala (Finnish-Russian Civic Forum, Helsinki)
* Johanna Suurpää (Ombudsman for Minorities, Helsinki)
* Knut Vollebaek (OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, The Hague) (*
10:00 . Presentation: Minority Rights in Russia
* Galina Kozhevnikova (SOVA Centre, Moscow)
11:00 . Pause
11:15 . Panel: Rights of Ethnic Minorities and Xenophobia in Russia
* Yevgeni Chetvergov (Erzyan Mastor, Saransk)
* Svetlana Gannushkina (Civic Assistance, Moscow)
* Eilina Gusatinsky (Spektr, Helsinki)
* Vladimir Linderman (For Homeland, Riga)
* Albina Tavadze (Iberia, St Petersburg) (*
* Fatima Tlisova (Nieman Foundation for Journalism, Harvard) (*
12:30 . Lunch
14:00 . Panel: Rights of Religious Minorities in Russia
* Leokadiya Frenkel (Jewish Community Centre, St Petersburg)
* Yuri Ignatiev (Mari Ushem, Yoshkar-Ola)
* Yelena Ryabinina (Civic Assistance, Moscow)
* Geidar Dzhemal (Islamic Committee of Russia, Moscow) (*
15:15 . Pause
15:30 . Panel: Rights of LGBT Community in Russia
* Nikolay Alexeyev (GayRussia, Moscow)
* Maxim Anmeghichean (ILGA-Europe, Brussels)
* Outi Hannula (SETA, Helsinki)
* Igor Kochetkov (Russian LGBT Network, Moscow)
* Gulya Sultanova (Coming Out, St Petersburg)
* Nina Tagankina (Moscow Helsinki Group, Moscow)
16:45 . Conclusions
* Heidi Hautala (Finnish-Russian Civic Forum, Helsinki)
17:00 . End of Day One
19:00 . Cultural Programme (Restaurant Yläkerho/Klubi 20, Sveaborg)
* Mikhail Borzykin (Televizor, St Petersburg)
* Alexey Nikonov (PTVP, Vyborg)
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
10:00 . Presentation: Political Repression in Russia
* Yelena Sannikova (Right to Life, Moscow)
10:30 . Panel: Political Prisoners in Today's Russia
* Sergey Aksenov (Russian Union of Prisoners, Moscow)
* Oksana Chelysheva (Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, Helsinki)
* Vyacheslav Feraposhkin (Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, Moscow)
* Yelena Maglevannaya (Svobodnoe Slovo, Volgograd)
* Mikhail Trepashkin (Commission on Fight Against Corruption, Moscow)
12:00 . Pause
12:30 . Panel: Final Conclusions
* Heidi Hautala (Finnish-Russian Civic Forum, Helsinki)
* Olga Kurnosova (United Civic Front, St Petersburg)
* Oleg Kozlovsky (Oborona, Moscow)
13:00 . End of Day Two
*) TBC
We reserve the right to changes.
Prior registration: http://www.finrosforum.fi/?page_id=2612
Finnish-Russian Civic Forum
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