Communist crimes must be condemned
03.07.2008 | Mart Laar | English news
Some weeks ago the Foundation for the Investigation of Communist Crimes (FICC) was officially launched in Tallinn. The purpose of the foundation is to diffuse knowledge and increase international understanding of the crimes against humanity conducted by violent communist regimes across the globe in different times. The goal of the foundation is to do away with the shockingly ubiquitous illusion that any "semi-good" violent regimes - based on torture, the violation of human rights and a constant threat to life - ever existed or could exist. communist crimes need to be understood globally, and they must be condemned the same way Nazi crimes were. There are still people in the world who think that mass graves in former communist countries are somehow different from mass graves in former Nazi countries. The crimes of Nazism are condemned; it's time to do the same with communist crimes.
The main priority of the foundation is to inform the general public of the crimes committed by communist and socialist regimes in the name of a communist utopia.
The foundation's Web page ( www.communistcrimes.org ) serves as a multilevel database and interactive portal providing easier access to various subjects related to communist regimes, communist ideology and post-communist studies. Besides dissemination and international research activities, the FICC promotes social, educational and advisory programs and specific projects developed with the support of institutional and private-sector partners around the world. The foundation takes measures to publicize and memorialize the crimes of former and contemporary communist regimes. With a series of programs and projects, the foundation seeks to raise awareness of communist crimes and support the democratic opposition of the last remaining communist regimes, transitional societies and post-communist states.
Over the last 15 years, many former communist and socialist states have debated their communist past and established parliamentary and academic committees or commissions, research institutes or independent groups to investigate the crimes of the past. Their immediate purpose was not to organize trials but to establish and acknowledge facts about their past. Such truth commissions have assessed evidence and put together authoritative accounts of the communist past.
Knowledge of the events of history and the recent past is vital, as it constitutes a factual basis for open debate on the protection of natural liberties and the responsibilities of the political community. Common acknowledgement of historical facts has been and shall be a precondition for liberty. These facts, however, cannot be established without an open discussion of past events and injustices.
Post-communist states willing to deal with political responsibility for past abuses must also decide on lustration, rehabilitation, compensation and the reassessment of history. But reconciliation with the past is not only a matter for state institutions, legislation, courts or truth commissions. The large amount of existing communist crimes' research must be brought to light and the public message conveyed more clearly. State-funded institutes, committees and commissions are conducting inquiries, exhaustive studies and archive research but are often unable to disseminate their conclusions. In this view, the FICC's mission is to spread existing knowledge and make a difference in global awareness and understanding of the crimes of communist regimes.
When we really want to condemn communist crimes, we must work together. So our foundation is looking for partners. Send your stories, materials, studies and documents to our Web page. Our goal is to create real partnerships among the people and organizations who are interested in restoring the truth and creating a better future - not only for their own countries, but for the world.
Source: The Baltic Times
