Programme of the conference
Accompanying events
24 February 2010, 18.30 - 20.00
Milan Svoboda Jazz Quartet
Musical evening with jazz standards by one of the finest Czech jazz ensembles
Location: Czech Museum of Music, Prague 1, Karmelitská 2/4
Entrance free & exclusive for conference participants
25 February 2010, 15.30 - 17.30
Screening of the film “The Living“ (“Zhivi“) by Sergiy Bukovsky (Ukraine 2008)
Location: Polish Cultural Center, Malé Nám. 144/1, Prague 1
Entrance free to the public
22 February – 7 March, 2010
Exhumations of victims of Securitate
Exhibition within the festival MENE TEKEL (see below)
Author: Institute for the investigation of communist crimes in Romania
Location: historical building of the Charles University, Prague 1, Ovocný trh
Entrance free to the public
22 February – 7 March, 2010
Festival MENE TEKEL
festival against totalitarianism and violence
4th annual event, this year’s topic: Intellectual resistance
Location: various events, programme will be published on www.menetekel.cz
Entrance free to the public
24 February 2010 – THE CRIMES COMMITTED
Venue: Main Hall of the Senate, Parliament of the Czech Republic
8.00 - 8.30 registration
8.30 Opening of the conference
Jiří Liška (Czech Republic), Vice-President of the Senate
Pavel Žáček (Czech Republic), Director, Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes
9.00 – 9.30 Inaugural Address
Harry Wu (USA), former dissident and political prisoner in China, Director, Laogai Research Foundation, Washington, D.C.
9.30 – 10.30
I. Communist regimes and crimes against humanity
Crimes committed by communist governments against their own citizens in the 20th century.
Twenty years since the fall of communism in Europe. Definition of crimes against humanity. The nature of communist crimes from the point of view of international legislation. Our commitment to justice. International treaties and resolutions.
Host: Jiří Liška, Vice-President of the Senate
Naděžda Kavalírová (Czech Republic), Chairwoman, Confederation of political prisoners of the Czech Republic, Chairwoman, Council of the ISTR
Martin Mejstřík (Czech Republic), former student leader of the Velvet Revolution, former Senator
Dainius Žalimas (Lithuania), Head of the Institute of International and European Union Law, Faculty of Law, Vilnius University
Discussion
10.30 – 11.00 coffee break
11.00 – 13.00
II. Crimes committed by communist regimes in the former Soviet Union, the new EU member states, Germany and the Balkans - studies of individual states I
Host: Alexandr Vondra, Senator, former dissident, former Deputy Prime Minister of European Affairs
Russia – Nikita V. Petrov, Vice-chairman, Memorial
Estonia – Toomas Hiio, Member of the Board, Institute of Historical Memory, and Research Director, Estonian War Museum
Latvia – Valters Nollendorfs, Director of External Affairs, Museum of the Occupation of Latvia 1940-1991
Lithuania – Emanuelis Zingeris, Chairman, International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania
Ukraine – Igor Yukhnovsky, Director, Institute of National Memory of Ukraine;
Vlodymyr Viatrovych, Director of the Branch state archive, the Security Service of Ukraine
Discussion
13.00 – 14.00 lunch
14.00 – 15.30
III. Crimes committed by the communist regimes - studies of individual states II
Host: Zuzana Vittvarová (Czech Republic), founder, Association Enemy’s Daughters
Belarus – Zianon Pazniak, former leader of the Belarusian opposition
Poland – Władysław Bułhak, Head, Division of Research, Expertise, Documentation and Library Holdings at the Public Education Office, Institute of National Remembrance
Slovakia – Lubomír Morbacher, Nation’s Memory Institute
Hungary –Janos M. Rainer, Director, Institute for the history of the 1956 Hungarian revolution
Germany – Hans Altendorf, Director, Federal office for the records of the national security services of the former GDR
Discussion
15.30 – 16.00 coffee break
16.00 – 17.30
IV. Crimes committed by the communist regimes - studies of individual states III
Host: Zdeněk Křivka (Czech Republic), Member, Confederation of political prisoners of the Czech Republic
Slovenia – Andreja Valič, Director, Study Centre for National Reconciliation
Romania – Marius Oprea, President, Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania
Bulgaria – Vasil Kadrinov, Director, Hannah Arendt Centre
Serbia – Marina Jelić, Executive Director, Center for Peace and Democracy Development
18.30-20.00
Reception and Concert at the Czech Museum of Music
25 February 2010 – THE JUSTICE (TO BE) DONE
Venue: Main Hall of the Senate, Parliament of the Czech Republic
8.00 - 8.30 registration
8.30 Welcome
Hubert Gehring (Germany), Director, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Prague
8.35 Opening
Miroslava Němcová (Czech Republic), First deputy chairwoman, Chamber of Deputies, Parliament of the Czech Republic
9.00 – 10.10
V. Case study: Communist crimes in Czechoslovakia and their prosecution.
Czechoslovakia as an example: classification of crimes committed in 1948-1989 and their prosecution after the fall of the communist regime.
Host: Milan Hulík, lawyer, member of the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted (VONS)
Miroslav Lehký, 1st deputy director, Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes
Pavel Gregor, former Head of investigation, UDV (Office for the Documentation and Investigation of Communist Crimes)
Eduard Stehlík, head of the education department and of the military library, Institute for Military History
Discussion
10.15-11.45
VI. Sentencing of communist criminals – country studies.
Germany, Poland – countries with long experience in prosecution of communist crimes. Shootings at the Berlin wall, other sentences of criminals from the former GDR. Experiences of the Institute of the Nation’s Memory. The Jaruzelski trial? Slovenia - legal responses to totalitarian communist crimes.
Romania – the road to justice and problems with application of international law. Was international law ever applied or considered?
Host: Göran Lindblad (Sweden), President, Political Affairs Committee, Vice-President, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Christoph Schäfgen (Germany), former General prosecutor, Berlin
Witold Kulesza (Poland), Professor of criminal law, University of Łódz
Jernej Letnar Černič (Slovenia), researcher in international human rights law, European University
Institute, Firenze, Italy
Raluca Grosescu (Romania), Head of the Research and Documentation Office, Institute for the
Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania
Discussion
11.45 - 12.30 refreshments
12.30 – 14.00
VII. Thick lines, limited justice and the consequences.
Why has the road to justice been so unsatisfactory? The “thick line” (gruba kreska) - an explicit or unspoken phenomenon and its consequences. The rights of the victims. The role of law and the judiciary in post-totalitarian countries. What happened to the communist regime‘s judges, prosecutors and police? Were the approaches different in the post-communist countries? What are the consequences in today’s societies in Central and Eastern Europe?
Host: László Tökés (Romania), Bishop, former dissident, MEP
Joachim Gauck (Germany), former Federal Commissioner for the records of the Stasi, chairman, association ‘Against oblivion – for democracy‘
Vytautas Landsbergis (Lithuania), former dissident and President of Lithuania, MEP
Discussion
26 February 2010 – THE SOLUTION?
Venue: Office of the Government of the Czech Republic
8.00 - 8.30 registration
8.30 Opening
Jana Hybášková, (Czech Republic), former MEP
9.00-10.30
VIII. Crimes of Communism and Nazism – what have we learned?
Can we compare the crimes committed by the two dictatorships of the 20th century? The similarities, the differences. What did Western democracies know about the extent of human rights violations in the communist bloc? The Nazi crimes have been documented and prosecuted. Should we try to achieve the same for the communist crimes, and how?
Host: Sandra Kalniete (Latvia), former dissident, MEP
Anders Hjemdahl (Sweden), founder, Institute for Information on the Crimes of Communism
Petr Brod (Czech Republic), journalist, former head of BBC Czech Republic
Milan Zver (Slovenia), political scientist, sociologist, Member of the European Parliament
Discussion
10.30-11.00
IX. European Union and Human Rights.
The role of the European Union. How to achieve progress in integration in a Europe in which severe violations of fundamental rights remain unpunished?
Introduction: Heidi Hautala (Finland), Chairwoman, Human Rights Subcommittee, European Parliament
Discussion
11.00 - 11.30 coffee break
11.30 – 13.00
X. International justice: UN tribunals, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Transitional justice at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries. Can parallels be found with the situation in Central and Eastern Europe? How to deal with communist crimes in the former communist countries?
Host: Tunne Kelam (Estonia), former dissident, MEP
Ivana Janů (Czech Republic), Justice of the Constitutional Court, former judge of the International criminal tribunal on former Yugoslavia
Alexandra Mihalcea (Romania), lawyer, former collaborator of the International criminal tribunal for Rwanda
Ntsiki Sandi (South Africa), lawyer, former member of the Amnesty Committee, Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Boris Burghardt (Germany), lawyer, Department of ciminal law, Humboldt University, Berlin
Discussion
13.00-14.00 lunch
14.00-16.00
XI. How to attain justice in post-communist societies, notably in the new EU member states?
The lessons drawn. How to overcome the non-action of national courts?
Host: Pavel Žáček (Czech Republic), Director, Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes
Roundtable discussion
with Sandra Kalniete, László Tökés, Joachim Gauck, Harry Wu, Milan Zver, Vytautas Landsbergis, Tunne Kelam, Göran Lindblad and other speakers and VIP guests of the conference
16.00 – 16.30 coffee break
16.30-16.45 Conclusion of the conference
17.00-17.30
Press conference
