In the 20th Century, there evolved two equally inhumane totalitarian regimes – Communism and Nazism, both of which resulted in millions of victims. The defeat of Nazism in the 2nd World War allowed its crimes to be investigated and condemned, and the guilty persons to be tried. The Communist system has collapsed, but a similar international condemnation has not followed.
a) having regard to the declarations of most national parliaments in the States affected;
b) whereas nazi and fascist-totalitarianism has been rightly condemned internationally, but that totalitarian Communism has not yet been condemned from a moral perspective;
c) whereas in different parts of the world a few totalitarian Communist regimes are still clinging to power at high cost to the well-being of their people;
d) whereas the danger of totalitarian Communist regimes regaining power has not disappeared, and this ideology continues to endanger world peace and the free development of nations;
e) whereas the fight against fascism has demonstrated that the demolition of a regime does not defeat an ideology, and that the memory of the crimes committed must be maintained in order to prevent revival of totalitarian ideologies and practices.
1. Underlines the fact that totalitarian Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe murdered millions of innocent people of all nationalities and damaged many others by causing serious violations of human rights, particularly:
- deportation of millions of people to Siberia and other locations, including the old, the sick, pregnant women, children and babies;
- removal of entire populations from their countries of origin;
- persecution and unfair trials of political opponents of the dictatorship;
- fixed elections leading to illegitimate Parliaments and the usurping of power and de facto imposition of such regimes;
- inhumane treatment and torture in concentration camps, prisons and detention centres, especially of political prisoners and detainees;
- persecution based on ethnic grounds, often equal to genocide;
- persecution based on religious grounds;
- persecution based on social origin;
- total control by the security services over the lives of people and violation of their privacy;
- proclaiming and promoting an ideology of hatred;
- forbidding freedom of association and freedom of assembly;
- restriction of free movement within the state and abroad;
- serious violations of political pluralism, of freedom of conscience, and of freedom to express political views other than totalitarian Communist ideology;
- denial of access to free information and complete lack of press freedom;
- expropriation of land and other forms of private property;
- support for revolutionary communist movements which fought outside of the democratic arena;
- Export of financial resources abroad the destiny of which remains unclear to this date but which definitely belong to the people of the States concerned;
2. considers that every victim of any totalitarian regime is equal in dignity and deserves justice;
3. is concerned about the lack of proper international evaluation to date of the huge loss of human lives and the sufferings of millions of people in Central and Eastern Europe;
4. notes that after the collapse of these regimes important historical research has been done;
5. urges the complete revelation of the truth about violations of human rights during the period of totalitarian regimes as a vehicle for the moral resurgence of society in the post-totalitarian Europe;
6. urges the creation of an independent expert body for the collection and assessment of information about violations of human rights during totalitarian communism;
7. invites Member states and accession countries to set up national committees to investigate violations of human rights committed during the totalitarian communist regimes, which should report their findings to the independent body;
8. invites Member states and accession countries to lift all confidentiality, if such still exists, of documents which could illuminate the cases connected with violations of human rights committed during the communist regimes, especially those committed by the secret services and political police, and encourage citizens to come forward and bear witness to such events before the above independent body and national committees;
9. on the basis of the information collected and assessed by the independent body:
a) calls for the European Union to adopt an official declaration for the international condemnation of totalitarian communism;
b) calls for the setting up of a European research and documentation centre, to continue collecting, assessing and publishing information about totalitarian communism, and provide a focus for further study and historical research;
c) invites the designation of a “Day of Victims” of the totalitarian Communist regimes;
d) creation of a memorial museum of victims of communism.
10. calls on all those who intend to assume a political function in the EU institutions to disclose their professional and political activities in former communist states and to refrain from taking up a European post if they formed part of the repressive Communist enforcement agencies, or were involved in crimes against humanity.