Hearing in the European Parliament on the Crimes of Communism

canton_rights

From:
http://www.ustrcr.cz/en/hearing- ... crimes-of-communism

PRAGUE March 13, 2009 – The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, in cooperation with the Office of the Government and a group of twelve MEPs from around Europe, are holding the hearing 「European Conscience and Crimes of Totalitarian Communism: 20 Years After」 in the European Parliament headquarters on Wednesday, March 18.

The goal of the hearing, which takes place during the period of the Czech presidency of the Council of the EU, is to present how the individual post-Communist states have reconciled with their totalitarian legacy. Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and subsequently the Iron Curtain, it is high time to draw attention to the often marginalized crimes of communism. 「In this period of the Schengen Agreement, which is a symbol of European integration, awareness of the crimes of communism, especially on the part of the young generation in ‘western Europe,’ is minimal. At the same time, these crimes make up an inseparable part of our common European history, much as the crimes of Nazism, which are much more often spoken about,」 said Miroslav Lehký, First Deputy Director of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes.

The hearing begins at 2:30 p.m. in the building of the European Parliament in Brussels. In addition to Miroslav Lehký and the Institute’s director Pavel Žáček, representatives of partner organizations from Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, France, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will attend. From among politicians, the following have promised their attendance: Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra, European Commisar Ján Figeľ, Deputy Chairman of the European Parliament Alejo Vidal-Quadras, and MEPs Jana Hybášková, Jan Zahradil, László Tokés and former commissar Sandra Kalniete of Lithuania.

The European Hearing is the third step leading towards the establishment of a European platform of memory and conscience which would support the activities of institutions engaged in reconciling with totalitarian regimes in Europe. The platform should also ensure the presentation of the work of individual institutions not only in Europe, but also overseas, through coordinated research projects offering faster transfer of new knowledge throughout Europe than exists today. The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes will also present at the hearing the pilot version of its English-language magazine, Behind the Iron Curtain, which is expected to become a professional medium featuring contributions by historians from throughout Europe.

The first two steps towards the European hearing were taken last year in Prague. The first took place at the June international conference 「European Conscience and Communism」 in the Senate of the Czech Parliament, where the Prague Declaration was born. That declaration has to date been signed by almost 50 MEPs. The second step was the preparation workshop in November, at which representatives of 18 states of Europe met and agreed on the fundamental outlines of the aforementioned platform and the necessity of international cooperation on the elucidation of the crimes of totalitarian regimes that reigned in Europe. The European hearing, initiated by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, follows on this workshop. The idea for the hearing was first presented in 2007 in the proposal for hearing placements in the program of Czech activities within the scope of the Czech Republic’s presidency of the EU Council.


[ 本帖最後由 canton_rights 於 2009-3-23 11:48 編輯 ]

dulp

good news