On 27 June 2017, the Seimas noted that the brutal Soviet occupation of Lithuania, launched on 15 June 1940, inflicted enormous damage on the country and its people and the regime’s perpetrators of crimes against humanity had not yet been properly held to account at either national or international levels. The Seimas, therefore, called on the Government to urgently draft a law of the Republic of Lithuania criminalising the Lithuanian Communist Party. The Seimas resolution on assessing the criminal activities of the Lithuanian Communist Party was adopted by 53 votes in favour, with 1 vote against and 24 abstentions.
The resolution notes that during the Soviet occupation (in 1940–1941 and 1944–1990), the Lithuanian Communist Party (LCP) established dictatorship in the country and acted as a loyal and proactive follower and implementer of the will of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in its capacity as a regional branch of the organisation. The document maintains that the LCP is, therefore, responsible for the acts committed by the Soviet occupation regime, namely, genocide of Lithuanian citizens; crimes against humanity; war crimes, including mass repression, terror, criminal campaigns, deportation, extermination of Lithuanian civilians and fighters for independence, imprisonment, torture and persecution of the opponents of the regime; sovietisation; nationalisation and confiscation of property of the citizens and legal persons of the occupied Lithuania; forced collectivisation; forced mobilisation into the Soviet Army; atheisation; censorship; destruction of cultural and religious monuments; and other acts of denial of fundamental human rights and freedoms.
The document states that the activities of the Lithuanian Communist Party, as a Lithuanian branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in particular the organising and commission, through subordinate repressive structures, of crimes against the Lithuanian residents, namely, genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, may be considered to have elements of criminal offence.
The Seimas stresses that the resolution views the LCP as a legal entity in assessing its criminal activities. The criminal liability of the individuals who committed or participated in committing the crimes of the occupation regime is governed by the currently applicable criminal laws.
The Resolution recalls that the European Court of Human Rights has stated on several occasions that the Communist Party of the Soviet Union played a decisive role in the annexation and occupation of Lithuania and other Baltic States.
Rimas Rudaitis, Chief Specialist, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: rimas.rudaitis@lrs.lt