crimes committed by totalitarian regimes - Ministrstvo za pravosodje

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.
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