Crimes against humanity under Communist regimes

Crimes against humanity have occurred under various communist regimes. Actions such as forced deportation, terror,^[1] ethnic cleansing, and the deliberate starvation of people such as during the Holodomor and the Great Leap Forward have been described as crimes against humanity.^[2][3] In the 2008 Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism it was stated that crimes committed under communism were often crimes against humanity, according to the definition developed in the Nuremberg Trials, and that the crimes committed under communism and National Socialism were comparable.^[4] Very few people have been tried for these crimes, although Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have passed laws that have led to the prosecution of several perpetrators for crimes against the Baltic peoples. They were tried for crimes committed during the Occupation of the Baltic states in 1940 and 1941, and during the reoccupation after the war. There were also trials for attacks by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) on the Forest Brethren.^[5]

Cambodia

There is a scholarly consensus that the Genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot in what became known as the killing fields was a crime against humanity.^[6] Legal scholars Antoine Garapon, David Boyle and sociologist Micheal Mann and professor of Political Science Jacques Semelin believe the actions of the Communist Party of Kampuchea are best described as a crime against humanity rather than genocide.^[7] In 1997 the co prime ministers of Cambodia sought help from the United Nations in seeking justice for the crimes perpetrated by the communists during the years 1975 to 1979. During the month of June that same year Pol Pot was taken prisoner during an internal struggle within the Khmer Rouge and was offered to the international community. However there were no countries willing to seek his extradition.^[8] The policies enacted by the Khmer Rouge led to the deaths of one quarter of the population in just four years.^[9]

Romania

In a speech before Parliament, President of Romania Traian Băsescu stated that "the criminal and illegitimate former Communist regime committed massive human rights violations and crimes against humanity, killing and persecuting as many as two million people between 1945 and 1989"^[10][11] The speech was based on the 660 page report of a Presidential Commission headed by Vladimir Tismaneanu, a professor at the University of Maryland. The report also said that “the regime exterminated people by assassination and deportation of hundreds of thousands of people,” and highlighted the Piteşti Experiment.^[12] Gheorghe Boldur-Lăţescu has also said the Piteşti Experiment was a crime against humanity,^[13] and Dennis Deletant has described it as

An experiment of a grotesque originality .... (which) employed techniques of psychiatric abuse designed not only to inculcate terror into opponents of the regime but also to destroy the personality of the individual. The nature and the enormity of the experiment ... set of Romania apart from the other Eastern European regimes.^[14]

North Korea

Three victims of the Gulag system in North Korea with the aid of the Citizens Coalition for Human Rights of abductees and North Korean Refugees have attempted to bring Kim Jong-il to justice. In december 2010 they filed charges at The Hague.^[15] The gulag system has led to an estimated death toll of between 380,000 and over one million which would qualify as either genocide or a crime against humanity. The NGO group Christian Solidarity Worldwide has stated the gulag system appears to be designed specifically to kill a large number of the populous who are labelled as enemies or who have a differing political belief.^[16]

See also

• Mass killings under Communist regimes
• Communist terrorism
• Camp 22

References

1. ^ Kemp-Welch pp42
2. ^ Rosefielde pp6
3. ^ Karlsson pp5
4. ^ Arvanitopoulos pp245
5. ^ Naimark pp25
6. ^ Totten pp359
7. ^ Semelin pp344
8. ^ Lattimer pp214
9. ^ Jones pp188
10. ^ Shawl, Jeannie. "Romania president says Communist regime committed crimes against humanity". Jurist.. http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/12/romania-president-says-communist.php. 
11. ^ Clej, Petru (18 December 2006). "Romania exposes communist crimes". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6190931.stm. 
12. ^ Smith, Craig S. (December 19, 2006). "Romanian Leader Condemns Communist Rule". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/world/europe/19romania.html. Retrieved September 12, 2011. 
13. ^ Boldur-Lăţescu pp22
14. ^ Deletant, Dennis (1995). Ceauşescu and the Securitate: coercion and dissent in Romania, 1965-1989. pp. 424. doi:ISBN 9781563246333. http://books.google.com/books?id=XmmilITRkxYC.  pages 29-33.
15. ^ "Gulag survivors demand trial of Kim Jong-il for crimes against humanity". Asia News. 02/01/2010. http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Gulag-survivors-demand-trial-of-Kim-Jong-il-for-crimes-against-humanity-17499.html. 
16. ^ Jones pp216

Bibliography

• Kemp-Welch A. Poland under Communism: a Cold War history Cambridge University Press 2008. ISBN 978-0521711173
• Rosefielde, Steven. Red Holocaust Routledge 2009. ISBN 978-0415777575
• Karlsson, Klas-Göran. Schoenhals, Michael. Crimes against humanity under communist regimes Forum for Living History. 2008. ISBN 978-91-977487-2-8
• Arvanitopoulos, Constantine. Reforming Europe: The Role of the Centre-Right Springer 2010. ISBN 978-3642005596
• Semelin, Jacques Purify and Destroy: The Political Uses of Massacre and Genocide Columbia University Press (2009) ISBN 978-0231142830
• Lattimer, Mark. Sands, Philippe. (2003) Justice for Crimes Against Humanity Hart Publishing ISBN 978-1841134130
• Jones, Adam (2010) Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction Routledge ISBN 978-0415486187
• Totten, Samuel. Parsons, William S. Charny, Israel W. (2004) Century of genocide: critical essays and eyewitness accounts Routledge ISBN 978-0415944304
• Naimark, Norman M. {2010} Stalin's genocides Princeton University Press ISBN 978-0691147840

External links

• The Global Museum on Communism