Ukrainian decommunization laws

Ukrainian decommunization laws refer to four Ukrainian laws of 2015. These laws relate to decommunization as well as commemoration of Ukrainian history.[1] Such laws have been referred to as "memory laws".[2][3] The laws have raised some concerns about freedom of speech, as well as international concerns that they honor some organizations and individuals that participated in the mass murder of Jews, Poles, and Communists during the Holocaust in Ukraine and massacres in Volhynia.

Passage

Instrumental in drafting the laws were Ukrainian historian Volodymyr Viatrovych and politician Yuri Shukhevych.[4][2][5] The laws passed on April 9, 2015 in the Verkhovna Rada with overwhelming support[4] and were enacted by president Petro Poroshenko on May 15 that year.[6]

Content

The decommunization laws are composed of:

  • Law no. 2558 "On Condemning the Communist and National Socialist (Nazi) Totalitarian Regimes and Prohibiting the Propagation of their Symbols" — banning Nazi and communist symbols, and public denial of their crimes. That included removal of communist monuments and renaming of public places named after communist-related themes.[6]
  • Law no. 2538-1 "On the Legal Status and Honoring of the Memory of the Fighters for the Independence of Ukraine in the 20th Century" — elevating several historical organizations, including the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, to official status and assures social benefits to their surviving members.[1][2][6][4]
  • Law no. 2539 "On Remembering the Victory over Nazism in the Second World War"[6]
  • Law no. 2540 "On Access to the Archives of Repressive Bodies of the Communist Totalitarian Regime from 1917-1991" — placing the state archives concerning repression during the Soviet period under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance.[7][6]

In Ukraine as well as abroad, some scholars have expressed concerns about freedom of speech and research with regard to the above laws, issuing an open letter to the President.[4][6][8][9][10][11] Particularly problematic is Article 6 of Law 2538-1 on "Responsibility for violating the legislation on the status of the fighters for Ukrainian independence in the 20th century", which stipulates that: "Citizens of Ukraine, foreigners, and also stateless persons who publicly insult the people specified in article 1 of said Law harm the realization of the rights of the fighters for independence of Ukraine in the 20th century and will be held to account in accordance with Ukrainian law", and that: "The public denial of the fact of the legitimacy of the struggle for Ukrainian independence in the 20th century mocks the memory of the fighters for independence of Ukraine in the 20th century, insults the dignity of the Ukrainian people and is illegal”.[4] Critics have argued that this law is attempting to "legislate history" and restricts free speech.[12][5]

The 2538-1 law has also been controversial abroad, since some of the organizations and individuals that it is to be honoring are recognized as having participated in the mass murder of Jews, Poles, and Communists during the Holocaust in Ukraine and massacres in Volhynia.[1][2][4][8][13] The law was also passed on the day of the Polish presidential visit to Ukraine, and has been described by Polish politician Tomasz Kalita as "a slap in the face".[14] Former Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller declared in a televised interview that OUN was responsible for mass murders of Poles, and challenged the Ukrainian law enforcement to persecute him.[15][16] Ukrainian politician and president of the Ukrainian parliament Volodymyr Groysman, who visited Poland shortly afterward, stated that the law is not intended to be anti-Polish, and was intended to be anti-Soviet and anti-Nazi instead.[17]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kiev, Lily Hyde in (2015-04-20). "Ukraine to rewrite Soviet history with controversial 'decommunisation' laws". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "The Historian Whitewashing Ukraine's Past". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  3. ↑ Nikolay Koposov (12 October 2017). Memory Laws, Memory Wars. Cambridge University Press. pp. 201–. ISBN 978-1-108-41972-7.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Laws 2558 and 2538-1: On Critical Inquiry, the Holocaust, and Academic Freedom in Ukraine". Політична Критика. Retrieved 2018-02-10.
  5. 1 2 McBride, Jared (2015-08-13). "How Ukraine's New Memory Commissar Is Controlling the Nation's Past". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Shevel, Oxana (2016-01-11). "Decommunization in Post-Euromaidan Ukraine: Law and Practice". PonarsEuarasia - Policy Memos.
  7. ↑ "'Decommunization' in Ukraine Carried Out Using Communist Methods - Human Rights in Ukraine". Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Ukraine Makes Amnesia the Law of the Land". The New Republic. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  9. ↑ "Open Letter from Scholars and Experts on Ukraine Re. the So-Called "Anti-Communist Law", by David R. Marples". krytyka.com. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  10. ↑ Belavusau, Uladzislau; Gliszczyńska-Grabias, Aleksandra (2017-10-19). Law and Memory: Towards Legal Governance of History. Cambridge University Press. pp. 324–326. ISBN 9781107188754.
  11. ↑ "First They Came for the Holocaust Deniers, and I Did Not Speak Out". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  12. ↑ "The History Wars in Ukraine Are Heating Up". historynewsnetwork.org. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  13. ↑ "Poland isn't the only country trying to police what can be said about the Holocaust". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2018-02-10.
  14. ↑ "SLD: ukraińska ustawa ws. UPA to policzek dla Polski". Onet Wiadomości (in Polish). 2015-04-12. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  15. ↑ "Miller: Ukraińcy przyjęli ustawę dot. UPA? Polska powinna zareagować". WPROST.pl (in Polish). 2015-04-10. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  16. ↑ "„Mówię: UPA odpowiada za ludobójstwo Polaków. Ukraińcy, ścigajcie mnie!"" (in Polish). Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  17. ↑ "Szef parlamentu Ukrainy: ustawa o UPA nie jest antypolska. "Wrogość między nami jest niedopuszczalna"". PolskieRadio.pl. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  • (in Ukrainian) "Проект Закону про засудження комуністичного та націонал-соціалістичного (нацистського) тоталітарних режимів в Україні та заборону пропаганди їх символіки". w1.c1.rada.gov.ua. Retrieved 2018-02-10. [Official text of the law 2558]
  • (in Ukrainian) "Проект Закону про правовий статус та вшанування пам'яті борців за незалежність України у ХХ столітті". w1.c1.rada.gov.ua. Retrieved 2018-02-10. [Official text of the law 2538-1]
  • (in Ukrainian) "Проект Закону про увічнення перемоги над нацизмом у Другій світовій війні 1939 - 1945 років". w1.c1.rada.gov.ua. Retrieved 2018-02-10. [Official text of the law 2539]
  • (in Ukrainian) "Проект Закону про доступ до архівів репресивних органів комуністичного тоталітарного режиму 1917 - 1991 років". w1.c1.rada.gov.ua. Retrieved 2018-02-10. [Official text of the law 2540]
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