- Public hearing in the European Parliament based on the Prague Declaration: the Greens/The European Free Aliance held a public hearing in the European Parliament titled "Totalitarian Regimes and the opening of the secret files archives in
Central and Eastern Europe".
- The Bulgarian Senate supports the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism
- Global Virtual Museum on Communism: The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in the United States will launch Global Virtual Museum on Communism in early 2009
- Tribute To Liberty: Canadian Communities
Unite to Remember Victims of Crimes
of Communism. The non-profit organization Tribute To Liberty will establish a memorial in Ottawa to the Victims of the Crimes of Communism
International coalition at the Swedish book fair concerning the Crimes of Communism. The IICC/UOK-organized international coalition presence at
the Nordic Book Fair in Sweden was a resounding success! Films, books, websites, seminars, publications, author interviews and book
signings were all presented in a focused, informative setting at the
IICC/UOK stall.
The IICC/UOK in Sweden organized over thirty
of the main organizations, publishers, institutes, embassies and museums from nine countries dealing with the crimes of Communism to be presented unitedly at the book fair
for the first time.
The exhibition stall generated a lot of attention and a sometimes near overwhelming amount of visitors. The IICC/UOK stall was also visited by some prominent guests, including former Foreign Minister of Latvia and world renowned author Mrs. Sandra Kalniete, who signed copies her acclaimed book "With dancing shoes in Siberian snows". The former President of Latvia Mrs. Vaire Vike-Freiberga gave an hour-long interview about the history of Latvia, the future of Europe,
and the need for a united assessment of the crimes of Communism.
Swedish Ambassador Lars Peter Fredén signed his fascinating and popular books about the dramatic behind-the-scenes processes during the struggle to regain indepence for the Baltic Countries, and Swedish historian Mrs. Kaa Eneberg held a seminar about her decades-spanning work and books dealing with the tragic fates of the Swedish emigrants to Soviet Karelia.
The IICC/UOK would like to give a warm thanks our
partners from Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, the United States and Sweden. Thank you all for your support and dedication!
The IICC/UOK exhibition stall was located next to the stalls of this year's focus country, Latvia.
International
support for the
PRAGUE DECLARATION on
European Conscience and Communism
The Prague Declaration has received letters of support from President Nicolas
Sarkozy of France, Lady Margaret Thatcher of the UK, Canadian
Secretary of State Jason Kenney, and from Zbigniew Brzezinski, national
security advisor to former US-President Jimmy Carter and to
Presidential candidate Barack Obama, in support of the Prague
Declaration on European Conscience and Communism
In its preamble, the Prague declaration states the urgent need to
come to terms with the communist ideology and with past and present
communist regimes on a European and international scale. It stipulates
i.a. that the Communist ideology is directly responsible for crimes
against humanity, that there are substantial similarities between
Nazism and Communism, that many perpetrators of Communist crimes have
not been brought to justice yet, that many Communist parties have not
apologized for Communist crimes and that millions of victims of
Communism are entitled to the same recognition enjoyed by the victims
of Nazism. It also stresses that one fifth of mankind still suffers
under hard living conditions imposed by different Communist
dictatorships.
The Prague Declaration, which is addressed to all nations of Europe,
all European political institutions including national governments,
parliaments, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the
Council of Europe and other relevant international bodies, formulates
nineteen demands.
Founding Signatories:
Václav Havel,former dissident and President of Czechoslovakia / the Czech Republic, Czech Republic
Joachim Gauck, former Federal Commissioner for the Stasi archives, Germany
Lee Edwards, Chairman of the Victims of Communism Foundation,
Vytautas
Landsbergis,Member of the
European Parliament, former dissident and President of Lithuania,
Göran
Lindblad, Vice-president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Sweden,
Tunne Kelam, Member of the European Parliament, former dissident, Estonia
Christopher Beazley, Member of the European Parliament, United Kingdom
Emanuelis Zingeris, Member of Parliament, Lithuania,
Chairman, International commission for the assessment of crimes of the
Nazi and Soviet occupation regimes in Lithuania,
Ivonka
Survilla,Exile President of Belorussia, Canada,
Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa,
Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Geneva, Tibet, Switzerland,
Jana Hybášková, Member of the European Parliament, Czech Republic
Jiří Liška, Senator, Vice-chairman of the Senate, Parliament of the Czech
Republic, ,
Martin
Mejstřík,Senator, Parliament of the Czech Republic
and others
Please show your support and the sign the Declaration online at the international website:
www.praguedeclaration.orgUOK/IICC the one first international partners and started the Facebook cause: Please join:
http://apps.new.facebook.com/causes/93496?h=shb&m=46ce5&recruiter_id=7630856
Czech Republic seeks EU institute on
totalitarianismEUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Czech Republic, sitting at the EU's helm from January 2009, is to
seek the
establishment
of a new European body that could serve as a research institute into totalitarianism and a museum of victims of totalitarian regimes.
"The institution could
cover our totalitarian past from Portugal through Greece to the Baltic States," Pavel
Zacek from the Prague-based Institute for Totalitarian Studies, said onThursday.
Speaking at a public hearing on the issue in the European Parliament, Mr Zacek stressed the idea was to deal with all totalitarian regimes, not just Communism. "Europe as a whole has not come to terms with its own past," he said.
The goal to set up a pan-European body is part of the so-called Prague declaration on European conscience and Communism adopted by the Czech Senate in June
2008.
Read more:
http://euobserver.com/18/26773 by Renata Goldirova
European Parliament: Public hearing based on the Prague Declaration
European Parliament:
Public hearing based on the Prague
Declaration,
The Greens/The European Free Aliance held a public hearing in the
European Parliament called "Totalitarian Regimes and the opening of the
secret files archives in Central and Eastern Europe".
Read more:
http://www.gisela-kallenbach.de/index.php?id=885
The Bulgarian Senate supports the Prague DeclarationThe
Bulgarian Parliament officially endorsed Thursday, during their
regularly scheduled meeting, the "Prague Declaration" titled "European
Conscience and Communism."
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=97091
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in the US launches Virtual museum in
early 2009
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in the US launches Virtual museum in
early 2009.
The Global Museum on Communism is the first
museum on the Internet dedicated to telling the complete story of
communism. Our foundation works to honor the more than one hundred
million victims of communist regimes while educating the public about
communism’s crimes against humanity and the heroes who successfully
resisted it.
The Global Virtual Museum on Communism is a project of the non-profit,
non-partisan Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, established by
an Act of Congress on December 17, 1993. Representative Dana
Rohrabacher, and Senators Claiborne Pell and Jesse Helms co-sponsored
legislation that passed unanimously and was signed into law by
President Bill Clinton.
Read more :
http://www.globalmuseumoncommunism.org/
Tribute To LibertyTORONTO, September 26,
2008—Representatives from Canada’s ethno-cultural communities have created a non-profit organization, Tribute to Liberty, to establish a memorial in Ottawa to the Victims of the Crimes of Communism.
“Because of this project Canadians will have an opportunity to learn about the Crimes of Communism, and how they have affected the lives of so many Canadians. Public awareness is very low in terms of the huge number of Canadians who have suffered under Communism in the
countries they came from, and this memorial will change that,” says Philip Leong, Tribute to Liberty Board Chair.
“Ambassadors and their delegates from 14 countries have written to the Prime Minister calling for the creation of a memorial,” says Leong. “We hope to build on that broad international endorsement with comparable support from Canadians coast to coast to coast.”
Proponents of the project are engaging with representatives from a range of
communities in Canada including Afghan, Armenian, Chinese, Cuban, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Mennonite, Polish, Russian, Slovakian, Tibetan, Ukrainian and Vietnamese, among others.
The members of the Tribute to Liberty Board of Directors are Philip Leong, Chair; Alide Forstmanis, Treasurer; Reet Marten-Sehr, Secretary; Alexandra Chyczij; and Wladyslaw Lizon.
About the
IICC/UOK - the Institute for
Information on the
Crimes of CommunismThe Institute
for Information on the Crimes of
Communism (IICC/UOK)
is a
non-profit, non-governmental, politically
independent organization with the purpose of spreading essential information about Communism; its background, ideology and its consequences, and to promote vigilance against totalitarian and antidemocratic movements.Homepage:
www.crimesofcommunism.org Online Education Center / Virtual Museum on the Crimes of Communism:
www.aboutcommunism.comContact:
IICC -The
Institute
for
Information on the Crimes of Communism/
UOK -Föreningen för upplysning om
kommunismen
Box 3037, 103 61 Stockholm, Sweden
Telefon: + 46 8 - 442 09 40
E-mail:
info@crimesofcommunism.orgUnsubcribe Newsletter 
