Rights activists campaigning for Russian-speaking children's rights in Finland intends to become children's ombudsman
HELSINKI. Jan 10 (Interfax) - Finnish human rights activist Johan Backman, who campaigns for the rights of Russian-speaking children, said he intends to become a children's rights ombudsman in Finland.
"Yes, I really want to run for this post now that Maria Kaisa Aula is leaving it," he told Interfax on Friday.
Aula has recently told reporters she is leaving this post in April 2014.
In the meantime, Backman said Aula has made this decision over a scandal involving a video posted on the Internet, which shows police officers forcibly seizing children from a good family.
"Formally she has announced her resignation because the ombudsman has a small staff of workers and too much work. In reality, the last straw was the scandal over the video posted on the Internet which shows police officers forcibly seizing twins from the family of Jaan-Erik Kurhela. It's a good family and no one understands why the children were seized and why the ombudsman did not stand up for the children," Backman said.
Backman said he believes this scandal "reflects the current state of the country's juvenile system."
Aula is also known for not having stood up for the Russian women from whom children were forcibly seized, and she also refused to work with the Russian authorities on this issue and ignored claims made by Russian people, Backman said.
Backman said he has good chances of becoming the new children's ombudsman.
"The Finnish juvenile system is currently in a catastrophic state. The children's ombudsman should be a person who is not politically biased, is not connected to various groups, and has the needed legal knowledge," Backman, who has a doctoral degree in socio-political sciences and is assistant professor at the Department of Sociology and Law at the Helsinki University and assistant professor at the Department of Criminology at the Universities of Turku and Eastern Finland.
Backman said he believes he is suitable for this post because he is one of the few human rights activists specializing on the protection of children's rights.