Memory laws in Baltic states and Ukraine: from legislation to practice

• In Event: Culture, Politics, and Ideology in the Soviet Era

Abstract

According to the “Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists”, “memory laws” are understood as laws designed to “enshrine state-approved interpretations of crucial historical events and promote certain narratives about the past, by banning, for example, the propagation of totalitarian ideologies or criminalizing expressions which deny, grossly minimize, approve or justify acts constituting genocide or crimes against humanity, as defined by international law". Some memory laws are “soft” – they promote certain interpretations of the historical past, but do not sanction the alternatives. Others are intended to sanction individuals, for example, for demonstrating prohibited symbols in public. Sanctions, if present in these laws, may vary from administrative to criminal measures.

On the one hand, these laws are fruitful tools to protect and honor victims of various types of political repression, crimes against humanity and war crimes. They also help to target hate crimes, racial, xenophobic, homophobic and other kinds of violence. On the other hand, these laws sometimes are understood as a threat to freedom of speech. This paper will describe approaches towards memory laws that exist in the Baltic States and Ukraine and how these countries are engaging and learning from each other in the field of memory. Both positive and negative experiences, related to memory laws – from drafting to application – will be revealed.

Short Bio

Monika Rogers (former Kareniauskaitė) is a Research Fellow at the Lithuanian Institute of History. Her work is on criminal law and criminal prosecution in Soviet and post-Soviet Lithuania and USSR, post-Soviet transition, anti-Soviet resistance, Soviet political trials and deportations, the dissident movement, historical memory in the former Eastern Bloc and USSR. Newest research interests - memory laws, sexual and gender-based violence, privacy law.

In 2017 she received a PhD in History from Vilnius University. She has been a Research Fellow at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland (2013-2014), a Project Coordinator and Research Assistant at the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial (2015-2016). In 2019 she was a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University, in 2022 worked at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University.

Author

• Monika Rogers, Vytautas Kavolis Transdisciplinary Research Institute of Vytautas Magnus University