Presidential Commission of the Russian Federation to Counter Attempts to Falsify History to the Detriment of Russia's Interests

The Historical Truth Commission, fully Russian Federation's President's commission for actions against falsification of history in contrary to interests of Russia (Russian: комиссия при президенте Российской Федерации по противодействию попыткам фальсификации истории в ущерб интересам России), was set up by a decree issued by Dmitry Medvedev, president of Russian Federation on 15 May 2009, officially to "defend Russia against falsifiers of history and those who would deny Soviet contribution to the victory in World War II". The commission is headed by Medvedev's chief of staff Sergey Naryshkin and staffed by current and former State Duma members, such as Natalia Narochnitskaya, Sergey Markov and Konstantin Zatulin, and officials of Russia's armed forces and FSB, e.g. General Nikolay Makarov. Among the 28 members are 3 professional historians.

Criminalization of criticism of the Soviet Union

In conjunction with the creation of the Commission, the Kremlin is drafting legislation based on holocaust denial laws in Germany that may criminalize some intepretations of the history of the Soviet Union. The laws could see people fined, or even imprisoned for up to five years, for deviating from the official history. Foreign countries whose officials who the commission rules to be guilty of the new crimes will face sanction as well. The bill gives Russia the authority to expel ambassadors or sever diplomatic relations with offending nations and to impose full transport and communications blockades on them. The new law could also be used to bar historians who discuss war crimes by the Red Army or point out that Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were once allies under the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.

Reception

In Russia

Supporters of the Commission hope that it will become involved in some of the long-standing conflicts between Russia and its neighbours over the interpretation of history, such as in Latvia's ongoing legal proceedings against former Soviet partisan Vassili Kononov for alleged war crimes. In an interview with the website Liberty.ru, historian Alexander Dyukov, a critic (regularly featured by the Russian state media) of the anti-Soviet historiography predominant in the Baltic states and Ukraine, has said that "only those who falsify history need fear the work of the Commission".

Russian opposition politicians attacked the commission as effectively reintroducing state ideology for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union. According to former Duma deputy, Vladimir Ryzhkov (Russian Republican Party), the commission and new legislation criminalizing criticism of the Soviet Union allows the state to impose its own idea of political will and ideology and was also part of a continuing rehabilitation of Stalin and the former Soviet dictator's policies. The Russian daily Vedomosti noted the name of the commission leaves open the falsification of history in favor of Russia, establishing a "cult of victory"—similar to civil religions upon which authoritarian and totalitarian states have been built in the past.

Outside Russia

The legislation has received criticism in many former Warsaw Pact countries and Soviet republics. The Baltic states argue about the recognition of the occupation, Ukraine disputes the famine in 1930s, and Poland argues the masscare in Katyn. Critics say the official view from Moscow glosses over Soviet-era crimes. In many countries, particularly the Baltic states which were first invaded by the USSR, the years of the Soviet Union are seen as a hostile occupation.

The Baltic media has noted that the commission's three "historians" are not all even acknowledged as such in legitimate academia.

Some critics, like Heorhiy Kasyanov from Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences, say the Kremlin is trying to whitewash Soviet history in order to justify its denial of human rights: "It's part of the Russian Federation's policy to create an ideological foundation for what is happening in Russia right now." Historian and author Orlando Figes, a professor at the University of London, who views the new commission is part of a clampdown on historical scholarship, stated: "They're idiots if they think they can change the discussion of Soviet history internationally, but they can make it hard for Russian historians to teach and publish. It's like we're back to the old days."

Members

See also: Category:Members of the Historical Truth Commission

• Sergey Naryshkin, Chief of Staff of the Russian president
• Alu Alkhanov, former president of the Chechen Republic, Deputy Justice Minister of Russia
• Nikolay Makarov, General, Chief of the General Staff
• Sergey Markov, State Duma member
• Natalia Narochnitskaya, Historian and former State Duma member—"The time has long been ripe to reconsider the interpretation of world politics in the 20th Century as a fight between the liberal West and Communist USSR."
• Nikolai Svanidze, TV host
• Konstantin Zatulin, State Duma member

and others

Similar proposals

In 2007 the European Union considered a directive that would outlaw genocide denial. The directive would have created a commission to decide which genocides would receive official recognition. Denial of officially approved genocides would be punishable by a prison sentence of up to three years.[1] However, the directive was never implemented.

See also

• Soviet historiography
• Falsifiers of History
• Alexander Reshideovich Dyukov
• Extraordinary State Commission
• Star Chamber, a similar organ in medieval England

External links

• Presidential decree creating the commission Template:Ru icon
• Draft text of the legislation to criminalise the rehabilitation of Nazism Template:Ru icon
• "An anti-denial law of our own". Russia Today. 24 February 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2009.