The CSTO PA adopted Recommendations on responsibility for acts related to the rehabilitation of Nazism and distortion of historical truth

On December 19, the CSTO PA Council met in Moscow and adopted Recommendations on Liability for the Actions Related to Nazism Rehabilitation and Distortion the Historical Truth.

According to the Explanatory Note to the Recommendations, “preserving the historical memory of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, defending the historical truth, preserving and supporting traditional spiritual and moral values are of fundamental importance for all CSTO Member States, for strengthening their national and civil identity, ensuring interethnic and interreligious peace and harmony, and successful socioeconomic development.” 

The Recommendations propose simple and qualified elements of the offences of rehabilitation of Nazism and repeated propaganda or public display of Nazi attributes or symbols and highlight ways of incorporating them into the national legislation of CSTO Member States.

In the opinion of the drafters of the Recommendations, concerted action by the CSTO countries to criminalize attempts to rehabilitate Nazism and distort historical truth will create the necessary conditions for the further progressive development of cooperation in countering any manifestations of extremism, neo-Nazism, racial discrimination, aggressive nationalism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia, attempts to falsify history and use it to foment confrontation and revanchism in world politics, as well as attempts to revise the outcome of the Second World War.

“We as CSTO parliamentarians represent the interests of the peoples who defeated fascism. We need to do everything possible to protect the veterans of the Great Patriotic War and the memory of the people who died at the hands of the Nazis,” said Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly and Chairman of the State Duma, in his speech at the Council meeting.