In the resolution 1481/2006 of the Council of Europe

Council of Europe

The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...

 Parliamentary Assembly

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...

 (PACE) issued on January 25, 2006 during its winter session, the Council of Europe "strongly condemns crimes of totalitarian communist

Communism

Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

 regimes".

It condemned "the massive human rights violations committed by totalitarian communist regimes and expressed sympathy, understanding and recognition for the victims of these crimes". It also said these violations "included individual and collective assassinations and executions, death in concentration camps, starvation, deportations, torture, slave labour and other forms of mass physical terror.".

The full draft recommendation by rapporteur Göran Lindblad

Göran Lindblad

Lars Göran Axel Lindblad is a Swedish politician and member of the Moderate Party. He served as a member of the Swedish parliament 1997–2010, representing the constituency of Gothenburg. He served as a replacement member of parliament 1993–1997, and again since 2010...

 was issued with great majority by the Political Affairs committee. However, it did not receive the necessary two-thirds majority of the votes cast in the Parliamentary Assembly. The group of communist parties strongly opposed the resolution. The resolution was supported by the EPP/CD, ED

European Democrats

The European Democrats was a loose association of conservative political parties in Europe. It is a political group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe...

, liberal groups and some social democrats, especially from countries like Hungary, the Czech Republic or the Baltic countries.

Final voting results

153 members were present and voted (out of 317)

99 members voted in favor of the Resolution 1481

42 members voted against the Resolution 1481

12 members abstained from voting.

See also

• European Public Hearing on Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes
• Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism
  Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism
  The Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism , which was signed on 3 June 2008, was a declaration signed by prominent European politicians, former political prisoners and historians, including past signatories of Charter 77 such as Václav Havel, which called for condemnation of and...
  
  
• Declaration on Crimes of Communism
  Declaration on Crimes of Communism
  The Declaration on Crimes of Communism is a declaration signed on 25 February 2010 by several prominent European politicians, former political prisoners, human rights advocates and historians, which calls for the condemnation of communism...
  
  
• European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism
  European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism
  The European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, also known as the International Black Ribbon Day, which is observed on 23 August, was designated by the European Parliament in 2008/2009 as "a Europe-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian...
  
  
• Vilnius Declaration
  Vilnius Declaration
  The Vilnius Declaration was a declaration adopted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe during the 18th annual session of its parliamentary assembly, that took place in Vilnius from 29 June to 3 July 2009...
  
  

External links

• Need for international condemnation of crimes of totalitarian communist regimes (full draft of the Political Affairs Committee)
• Russians In Support of the Idea of International Condemnation of Communism (An Open Letter from Leaders of Russian Anti-communist Organizations to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe)
• Res. 1481
• Press release
• http://www.celat.ulaval.ca/histoire.memoire/b2006/Deyanova.pdf
• http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=http% 3A//assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc03/EDOC9875.htm]
• http://assembly.coe.int/Mainf.asp? link=/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc05/EDOC10765.htm]
• http://www.epp-ed.org/Press/peve04/eve01/res-communism_en.asp
• http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc06/EDOC11112.htm
• http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=http%3A//assembly.coe.int/Documents/AdoptedText/ta96/ERES1096.htm
• http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=http%3A//assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/doc96/EDOC7568.htm
• http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/Records/2006/E/0601251500E.htm