Communism and Tyranny Still Survive

Vietnam Review

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation

A Lenin Memorial was dismanted in Berlin

Twenty years have passed since communism collapsed in Eastern Europe and began to disintegrate in the Soviet Union. Yet, we are still plagued with communism in five nations. The governments of China, Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, and Laos still cling to an ideology that subjugates their citizens.

After 50 years of iron-fisted rule the Cuban government still targets democracy activists for systematic persecution. It holds more than 220 political prisoners and continues to suppress freedom of expression and peaceful advocacy for democratic reforms.

Vietnam, though embracing some economic reforms, still does not tolerate political dissent. News accounts about reporters being jailed for writing about official corruption remind us that the communist government denies basic freedoms to the Vietnamese people (see "Communism Today" section).

Still, humans do not remain willingly in slavery. This year’s anniversaries will give China’s rulers reasons for concern. Protests could interrupt politically sensitive events, adding to government worries about unrest as unemployment rises in the global downturn.

Beijing will hold a major celebration on October 1, 2009 to mark communism’s 60th year of control. Dissidents may use the occasion to demonstrate for political reforms. Also, the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, fled into exile 50 years ago. A reoccurrence of last year’s riots preceding the Olympics could be touched off by that anniversary. Pro-democracy demonstrators were killed in and around Tiananmen Square 20 years ago on June 4. Demonstrations marking the Tiananmen Square massacre could be led by the families of victims or intellectuals who signed "Charter 08," a document calling for democratic reforms in China (See article in the "Communism Today" section).

Communism Today

"Charter 08" Confronts China’s Government

Inspired by Czech and Slovak activists and their successful use of a petition ("Charter 77") to call for more freedom during the Soviet occupation, Chinese activists have released a petition of their own that has confronted their Communist government head-on.

"Charter 08," as the petition is named, simply calls for an end to one-party authoritarian rule in China. It lays out a vision of a rights-based society and an electoral democracy, under the rule of law, with protected freedoms.

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation was among the earliest organizations supporting Charter 08. Chairman Lee Edwards spoke in favor of the manifesto at its December 10, 2008 launch on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. At that conference, conducted by the human rights group "Initiatives for China," Edwards hailed Charter 08’s call for the Chinese government’s adherence to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the day of its 60th anniversary.

Dr. Edwards again reiterated his Foundation’s support for Charter 08 in a letter sent to the Defense Forum Foundation’s Congressional Foreign Policy Forum on Friday 24, 2009. In it he stated, "We fully embrace the hope embodied in the brave signatories of Charter 08. They are the reason that freedom-loving people worldwide must continue to speak out about human rights and basic human liberties."

Many observers say that the Charter 08 effort is significantly different from similar past attempts, which failed to weaken the Chinese Communist Party’s grip on power. Markedly, the Internet has vastly expanded the Charter’s reach. With no central organization, government officials have a much tougher time intimidating organizers and signatories.

Organizers point out that the reach of the petition is growing exponentially. In addition to an explosion of discussions on blogs and chat rooms globally, more than 300,000 web sites have linked to the Charter 08 website.

More: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0107/p06s01-woap.html and http://hrichina.org/public/contents/press?revision_id=86303&item_id=85717

Russian Court Rules For Rights Group

In a surprising turn of events, a Russian court ruled on January 22, 2009 that the internationally renowned human rights organization "Memorial" had been subjected to an illegal police raid. The raid had sent shockwaves through Russian civil society and the international human rights community — fearful of a return to communist era suppression. A spokesman for Memorial stated that "the verdict marked a rare case of an independent and fair trial in Russia."

The case originated with a December 4, 2008 raid at Memorial’s field office in Saint Petersburg by a group of armed and masked men who claimed to have been sent by the local Prosecutor’s office. The masked men seized computer hard drives and research materials. The irreplaceable collection is one of the most comprehensive in the world. The return of the materials is now subject to a process of legal appeals.

Russian authorities claimed that the raid was launched because they had sufficient reason to believe that Memorial was linked to the funding and distribution of extremist materials. Memorial’s spokesman emphatically denies the charges.

More: http://www.times.spb.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=28078 and http://www.memo.ru/eng/index.html

Vietnam Releases Jailed Reporter Early

In our last newsletter, we reported that Vietnam’s Communist government had convicted two journalists of "abusing freedom and democracy." One reporter was sentenced to two years in prison while the other received two years probation. They had reported on a scandal involving Transportation Ministry officials allegedly gambling with embezzled public funds. The government released the imprisoned reporter in January 2009 in a blanket public amnesty of 15,000 prisoners.

More: http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2009Jan16/0,4670,ASVietnamPressFreedom,00.html

North Korea’s Only Known Prison Camp Escapee Begins To Tell His Shocking Story

In 2009, Gulags are still a tragic reality. Observers estimate that between 200,000 and a million North Korean political prisons are locked up in facilities reminiscent of Adolf Hitler’s death camps. The only escapee from North Korea’s brutal prison camp system has begun publicly recounting his ghastly prison experience. Astonishingly, he was born and raised in the camp and did not even know that a world existed beyond the barbed wire fence until he was twenty-two. So complete was indoctrination into the camp life that he felt no pity when guards hanged his mother and shot his brother before his own eyes.

For a video report: http://www.videosift.com/video/North-Korea-Prison-Camp-Escapee and http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20081105f1.html

Che Guevara Movie More Fiction Than Fact

Hollywood, in sync with this year’s 50th anniversary of Cuba’s communist revolution, released a four-hour, $60 million cinematic tribute to the life of Marxist guerrilla leader Ernesto Che Guevara.

According to Variety Magazine actor Benicio del Toro got a big "shoutout" at the Screen Actors Guild Awards from one of Hollywood’s leading leftists, Sean Penn, but otherwise it’s been "a rough road for the two-part Che Guevara opus."

Many critics have branded the film historically misleading. For example, the Human Rights Foundation Chairman Armando Valladares, a survivor of Cuba’s concentration camps, stated that the movie, "threatens to obscure the reality of Guevara’s extremism and the scores of human rights violations he committed in pursuit of revolutionary ideals. Che Guevara executed dozens and dozens of people who never once stood trial and were never declared guilty." Ambassador Valladares is a member of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s International Advisory Council.

More: http://www.thehrf.org/media/012709.html

International film and theatre critic Cynthia Grenier also reviewed the movie and reveals what is in it and what is left out. Her review can be found at: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=30419 Communism’s Legacy

Like none other, 2009 is a year full of commemorations and anniversaries benchmarking the history of communism. The 70th anniversary of the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which led to the Soviet and German invasion of Poland and the start of the Second World War, is perhaps the most noteworthy. Here are several others:

Ronald Reagan’s Farewell Address — 20 Years Ago!

Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan has been widely credited with leading the global struggle that defeated communism. He left the Presidency on January 20, 1989. In his farewell address he reminded us that, "nothing is less free than pure communism." (More: http://www.vlib.us/amdocs/texts/reagan011989.html)

Reagan’s clarion calls for liberty rallied the United States and the world. Some of his most often cited words come from a 1964 speech entitled a "Rendezvous with Destiny" that supported Barry Goldwater’s bid for the Presidency. They catapulted Reagan into national prominence and inspire us still today. He stated, "I think it’s time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers. If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except to sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man."

President Reagan also endeared himself to millions with his sense of humor. He loved to tell jokes like this one.

"How do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin."

Baltic Nations Remember 60th Anniversary Of Soviet Deportation

The Joint Baltic American National Committee is reminding people worldwide that in 1949 nearly 100,000 Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians were uprooted from their homes and cruelly deported to the far reaches of Siberia.

Branded as "enemies of the people," by the Soviet Union, most were women and children under the age of 16. Their death rate was astronomically high in the first few years of their exile, because of the failure of Soviet authorities to provided suitable clothing or housing.

More: http://vip.latnet.lv/lpra/priboi.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Priboi

Berlin Film Festival Marks Fall Of The Wall

A special series of films at this year’s Berlinale film festival held February 5-15 commemorated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Under the slogan "After Winter Comes Spring," documentaries, animations and feature films made in Eastern Europe in the years leading up to the fall of communism were screened.

More: http://www.topnews.in/berlinale-devotes-film-series-fall-communism-2118792

Communism Began To Fall In Poland 20 Years Ago

In 1989, round-table talks between a coalition of trade unions named Solidarity, the communists and the church led to partially free elections. The elections resulted in a triumph for Solidarity and prepared the way for the end of communism in Eastern and Central Europe.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7873613.stm

Russia: 85th Anniversary Of Lenin’s Death

Radio Free Europe reports that Russian communists are busy marking the 85th anniversary of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin’s death.

Lenin’s remains are currently kept in a special mausoleum in Moscow’s Red Square where the public can view him, though there is an ongoing campaign to close the mausoleum and bury Lenin. Father Igor Vakhosvky of Ulyanovsk’s St. Trinity Cathedral says Lenin should be buried according to Christian practices. Aleksandr Kruglikov, the Communist Party leader in Lenin’s hometown of Ulyanovsk, says he opposes the idea of burying Lenin.

Tatiana Bryliyaeva, the director of the Lenin Museum in Ulyanovsk, told Radio Free Europe’s Russian Service that some 30,000 tourists visit the mausoleum every year.

More: http://www.rferl.org/content/Russians_Mark_85th_Anniversary_Of_Lenins_Death/1372875.html

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