FINROSFORUM Report at OSCE Review Conference
Below, a report on behalf of the Finnish-Russian Civic Forum at the OSCE Review Conference in the Polish capital, Warsaw, on 30 September-8 October 2010. The conference in Warsaw is the first of a three-part review conference ahead of the OSCE Summit to be held in Astana on 1-2 December 2010. The second and third parts of the review conference will be held in Vienna on 18-26 October 2010 and in Astana on 26-28 November 2010. The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association are intrinsic to any democratic society. The right to assemble peacefully is an essential condition for the exercise of other human rights, such as the freedom of expression. Participation in peaceful assemblies helps ensure that all people in a society have the opportunity to express opinions that they hold in common with others. This right is also enshrined in the basic document of a democratic country which is its Constitution. In Russia, it is Article 31, which guarantees her citizens freedom of peaceful assembly, one of the basic freedoms that the authorities of the Russian Federation violate.
