On 7 October 2015 at the Faculty of Law of University of Bucharest an international conference „Justice in Communist and Post-Communist Regimes" began. It has been organised by the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and Memory of the Romanian Exile (IICCMER) and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

The conference was inaugurated by the Romanian Minister of Justice Robert Cazanciuc, Director of IICCMER Dr. Radu Preda, and the chairman of the Scientific Council of IICCMER Dinu Zamifrescu. The introductory lecture, entitled „Is justice still possible twenty-five years after the collapse of Communism?" was delivered by the president of IPN Dr. Łukasz Kamiński. President of the IPN pointed out that when analyzing the last quarter-century, most politicians and commentators drew attention to the political and economic reforms and successes, such as the accession of individual countries into NATO and the European Union. However, the anti-Communist opposition and participants of the 1989 revolution did not demanded membership in these structures, but - freedom, dignity, truth and justice. Out of these values only freedom has been mentioned during the anniversary celebrations. Justice has been passed over in silence. The former participants of the opposition and the victims of a system feel let down, as expressed in the famous speech by Bärbel Bohley: „We expected justice – we got the rule of law”. It is understandable, given how few perpetrators of Communist crimes suffered a deserved punishment. According to Dr. Kamiński, prosecuting the perpetrators of the Communist crimes is still possible. However, it requires legal and institutional changes. The sense of justice is also achieved by other means, such as spreading truth about the past. The president of IPN ended his speech with the words: „The Communist system was built on injustice. It is our great failure that after the democratic transformation so many victims or their relatives still have a sense of injustice. Their suffering is in sharp contrast with our complacency of regained freedom. What we should use freedom for if not to provide justice? Justice is not a theoretical and abstract concept. Justice is a number of specific actions that should be taken. Justice is our common task. We can still make a difference. It is late, but still not too late.”

The conference program is available at the following link:
http://www.iiccr.ro/index.html?lang=ro&section=presa/comunicate/conferinta-internationala-organizata-de-iiccmer-pe-tema-justitiei-in-regimurile-comuniste-si-post-comuniste

Photo: Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and Memory of the Romanian Exile