Prosecution of Communist Crimes Against
Humanity: Platform Commends Romania
and welcomes Estonian EU-initiative
Bucharest / Prague, 27 July 2015. The Platform of European Memory and Conscience congratulates its Romanian Member, IICCMER, on the first sentencing of a pre-1989 Communist perpetrator, Alexandru Visinescu. The Platform’s call to the international community to prosecute Communist crimes against humanity is being responded to by an Estonian EU-wide initiative.
The sentencing of Alexandru Visinescu for crimes against humanity is a milestone for the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile (IICCMER). “This is only a first victory and by far not the necessary justice for the crimes of Communism. The chain of command must be reconstructed and the political leadership brought to court, not only from the first years of Communism but also all the way until the end of the Ceausescu regime. Plenty of perpetrators are still alive,“ says Radu Preda, Director of IICCMER.
In May 2015, the Platform launched a call to the international community to bring perpetrators of international crimes of Communism to court. The Estonian Minister of Justice is now convening an EU – wide roundtable on the occasion of 23 August, the European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarianism. It will deal with the responsibility for the Communist crimes. An international working group is to be established which should plan possible criminal proceedings.
The Platform welcomes the Estonian initiative and will participate in it.
– The Platform of European Memory and Conscience
