crimes committed by totalitarian regimes - Ministrstvo za pravosodje

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Renata Uitz Instead of success: hope for truth – at best .............................................................................................................. 287 CLOSING REMARKS Jonathan Faull, European Commission, Director General, Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security .............................................................................................................................................. 297 END-NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Peter Jambrek ........................................................................................................................................................... 299 APPENDICES “United Europe – United History” Initiative of the 22 January 2006 Conference organised at the European Parliament .............................................................................................................................................. 303 Statements by the Council to be inserted in the minutes of the Council at the time of adoption of the Framework Decision (Justice and Home Affairs Council, 19–20 April 2007) ....................................................... 309 Agenda of the Hearing ..............................................................................................................................................311 Contribution of the 1 st European hearing on “Crimes committed by totalitarian regimes”, Brussels, 8 April 2008 (presented by a number of participants to the Hearing) ..................................................................... 313
Crimes committed by totalitarian regimes Preface Lovro Šturm * Europe rests on the ashes of totalitarian regimes. The area of freedom, security and justice we know today covers countries which in the 20 th century, the “century of ideologies”, bore witness to what was then the greatest political, national and ideological schism and violence in all human history. After the First World War, also known as the “primordial catastrophe of the 20 th century”, at a time which was unmistakeably marked by economic crisis, the political stage was taken by dictatorships – particularly in central and eastern European countries. This was the time that saw the rise of fascist and national socialist regimes and, from as early as the 1917 October Revolution onwards, of communist totalitarianism in the far east of Europe. With the end of the Second World War, however, and with it the demise of fascism and national socialism, communist totalitarianism seized power in the eastern and south-eastern European countries and remained there until as late as the end of the ‘80s. The totalitarian regimes experienced by Europe in the past century managed to assume and strengthen their power not only through lies but also through mass murder, or, as we would call it today, crimes against humanity. A common expression for this is “gross and systematic violation of fundamental human rights”, which, as stated by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, also includes the right to life. Many lives were taken without court proceedings and many guilty verdicts were passed by using discriminatory legislation without actual guilt being proven or a fair trial being enabled. The opponents of totalitarian authorities and of their laws were tortured and treated in an inhuman and humiliating way, and were sometimes forced to work in labour and concentration camps. What is more, totalitarian powers were also known for blatantly violating the freedom of expression, which was exposed to limitations, control and severe punishment if it criticised the system. Finally, such regimes were fundamentally characterised by discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, skin colour, language, religion, nationality, social origin and political conviction. Unfortunately, the forms of totalitarianism we just mentioned were not copied from a textbook on political philosophy or legal history. They are real and they were experienced directly or indirectly by large numbers of Europeans who were born before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Each country lived the 20 th century in its own way: while some countries never saw totalitarianism, others had one or even two such regimes. What makes Slovenia special is that it is the only EU Member State to have experienced all three European totalitarianisms. As we have seen, the 20 th century was a difficult time for many countries. While they often came to be on separate sides, they all had their fair share of victims. To respect and nurture the general fundamental right to personal dignity of all victims is to prevent discrimination amongst the latter and guarantee their equal treatment. The right to personal dignity is one of the rare, if not the only fundamental personal freedom which does not expire together with human life in a physical sense, but must be respected after death. This publication is a collection of papers from the hearing “Crimes committed by totalitarian regimes”, organised on 8 April 2008 by the Slovene Presidency of the EU Council and the European Commission, bearing in mind the framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia and the statement by the Council to organise a public European hearing on genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by totalitarian regimes. In the Europe of today, we are well aware that violence and discrimination do not belong in a free and democratic society. We need nothing more than critical knowledge of the violence and injustice caused by the past century’s totalitarian regimes in Europe to understand the present and hope the 20 th century will never happen again. History needs to be seen as it really is and not to be diminished. This is the only way for us to learn that violence, be it based on race, skin colour, religion, political conviction or nationality, cannot lead to the mutual respect and harmony that enable people to live side by side in peace. * Prof Dr Lovro Šturm, Slovenian Minister of Justice. 7
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