Presenting a report on Communist-era crimes before parliament, Romania's President Traian Basescu became one of the first Eastern European leaders to formally condemn communism on Monday.
"As the Romanian head of state, I clearly and categorically condemn the communist system in Romania, from its beginnings as a dictatorship during 1944-1947 and up to its fall, in December1989," he said in his speech.
"Taking into account the facts presented in the Report, I declare with full responsibility: the communist regime in Romania was illegitimate and criminal."
Basescu's statement follows a 2005 condemnation of communism by the Latvian parliament and a 1997 Polish constitutional provision expressly prohibiting political parties and organizations "based upon totalitarian methods and modes of activity of…communism." Earlier this year, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly condemned the human rights violations committed by totalitarian communist regimes.
The report Basescu presented was compiled by a 19-member commission headed by political researcher Vladimir Tismaneanu. The President appointed Tismaneanu in March 2006 to "undeniably certify the communist crimes and restrictions, from the detention camps to the crimes related to abortions."
The commission reportedly found that between 500,000 and two million Romanians were killed, imprisoned or placed in labor camps by the communist regime.
"For the Romanian citizens, communism was a regime imposed by a political group self-entitled as a truth keeper, a totalitarian regime born through violence, and ended through violence," said Basescu on Monday.
The president expressed regret and compassion for the regime's victims on behalf of the Romanian state, apologizing to those who suffered, to their families and to all those who, in one way or another, saw their lives ruined by the dictatorship.
"It was an oppressive regime that expropriated the Romanian people from five centuries of modern history," he said. "It violated the law and forced the citizens to live a life of lies and fear."
Besides parliamentarians, also present in the audience were politicians and dissidents who had suffered under communism and who have since become well-known for their role in toppling other regimes in Eastern Europe. These included former Polish President Lech Walesa and his Bulgarian counterpart Jelio Jelev.
Long Time Coming
Basescu's condemnation comes 17 years after Romanian communism ended. In December 1989, an anti-communist revolution began in the western city of Timisoara. Within one week the revolt had spread to the capital Bucharest, toppling then-dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and ending decades of bloodshed and oppression.
Despite the apparent success of the revolution, Romania's democratically elected governments have been reluctant to condemn the previous regime, mostly because many current leaders had themselves been high ranking communist officials.
The most prominent among them is Ion Iliescu, a former member of the Communist Party leadership and close ally of Ceausescu's. In late 1989, he imposed himself as leader of the National Salvation Front, which immediately exercised its control over the state institutions and media.
When Romanian students protested against Iliescu and his cohorts seizing control of the revolution, he summoned police and mineworkers to violently crush the demonstrations. Despite these and other violent actions, Iliescu remained a powerful force in Romanian politics and won re-election for president three times.
This trend changed in the 2004 presidential elections, when Basescu defeated an ally of Iliescu and the old guard. Since then, democratic tendencies in Romanian society have reportedly been strengthened, with the country set to join the European Union next month.
With a more sympathetic government in office, members of civil society increased their pressure for official condemnation of the communist regime. The Association of Ex-political Detainees and the November 15, 1987 Association, among others, repeatedly raised the issue with Basescu, leading him to appoint the Tismaneanu commission earlier this year.
Next Steps
The Tismaneanu report has sparked a discussion in Romania on what steps should be taken to redress and remember the crimes it documents. In his speech on Monday, Bosescu proposed setting up a Romanian Communist Dictatorship Museum. He also suggested establishing a similar permanent exhibit within the Parliament Palace.
The President also proposed two initiatives related to education. He cited the need to adapt the Tismaneanu report so it could be taught in schools and called on parliament to establish a program to offer twelve annual grants to young researchers interested in investigating aspects of the communist dictatorship.
Speaking in a later interview, Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tacireanu cited the government's efforts to declassify secret police archives and set up an institute to investigate the crimes committed during the communist period.
But other Romanians hope the report and official condemnation will open the possibility of launching prosecutions against former communist officials, either as punishment or for compensation. Some analysts say the report could give strength to victims' legal arguments.
"It's a step forward," political analyst Adrian Moraru told Reuters.
Others feel it is time to hold specific individuals accountable.
"If you link [archive evidence] to the Nuremberg principles, you can detect the guilty ones and send them to court, for many are still alive," wrote one person in an online posting.
Additional reporting by Dana Betlevy in Romania.
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