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Poland
The
Institute of National Remembrance - Commission for the Prosecution
of Crimes against the Polish Nation (IPN) was created
by the Polish Parliament on December 18th, 1998. The Institute is
headed by the President of the Institute whose post is independent
of the state authorities. The president is elected for a five-year
term. The Institute started its work on July 1st, 2000. The headquarters
of the Institute of National Remembrance are located at the Palace
of Justice in Warsaw. Ten Branch Offices of the Institute have been
established in the cities where Appellate Courts are located.
The Institute of National Remembrance was created
to address issues which are considered essential to the legislative
power in Poland, primarily to preserve the memory of:
- the losses which were
suffered by the Polish Nation as a result of the WWII and the
post-war period;
- patriotic traditions of
fighting against occupants, Nazism and Communism;
- citizens'
efforts to fight for an independent Polish State, in defense of
freedom and human dignity;
- the duty to prosecute
crimes against peace, humanity and war crimes;
- the need of the state to compensate for damages
which were suffered by the repressed and harmed people in the
times when human rights were disobeyed by the state. This is the
expression of belief that no unlawful deeds of the state against
its citizens can be protected by secrecy or forgotten.
The Institute of National Remembrance - Commission
for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (IPN) has
been charged with fulfilling this mission.
On the basis of the statute constituting the IPN,
Communist crimes are understood as the deeds performed by officials
of the Communist state in the period from September 17th, 1939 to
December 31st, 1989, whose aim was to repress individuals and groups
of people or to break human rights in another way. Crimes against
humanity are understood mainly as crimes of genocide defined by
the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide of December 9th, 1948, as well as other forms of persecution
and oppressions by official agents which were directed against people
who belong to a defined national, political, social, racial or religious
group. In accordance with the principles conveyed in international
law, no statutory limitation shall apply to war crimes, crimes against
peace and crimes against humanity, whether committed in time of
war or in time of peace, irrespective of the date of their commission.
Thus, the IPN is responsible for gathering, assessing,
custody and disclosing the documentation created between July 22nd,
1944 and the December 31st, 1989 by Polish security agencies. The
documentation would also include records pertaining to Communist,
Nazi and other crimes committed against Polish citizens in the period
from September 1st, 1939 to December 31st, 1989 as well as political
repressions carried out by officials of the former Polish investigative
and justice organs in that time. The documentation concerning the
activities of the security organs is also the subject of interest
to the IPN. The access to the IPN records is granted to foreigners
on the basis of reciprocity.
Another major responsibility of the Institute is to
investigate Communist and Nazi crimes as well as war crimes and
crimes against humanity and peace. The IPN is obliged to investigate
crimes against not only Polish nationals but also other nationals
of Polish citizenship and other citizens who were harmed in the
Polish territories.
Finally, the IPN is in charge of public education
and has been engaged in research pertaining to the years 1939-1989
as well as dissemination of research results in the form of publications,
exhibitions, seminars and other ways.
The activities performed by the IPN while fulfilling
its mission must take into consideration the need to protect personal
data of the repressed people.
The goals of the Institute are carried out by the
following three departments:
Act
of 18 December 1998 on the Institute of National Remembrance
- Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation
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