The Institute for Information on the Crimes of Communism (IICC) is a Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

-based non-profit

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 and non-governmental

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

 human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 organization, founded in 2008, with the stated purpose of "spreading essential information on the crimes of communism

Criticisms of Communist party rule

Criticisms of communist party rule have been known since the first days of the first communist government in Soviet Russia, established after the October Revolution of 1917.-Background:...

 and to promote vigilance against all totalitarian

Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...

 ideologies and antidemocratic movements". The institute is a member organisation of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience

Platform of European Memory and Conscience

The Platform of European Memory and Conscience is an educational project of the European Union bringing together government institutions and organisations from EU countries active in research, documentation, awareness raising and education about the crimes of totalitarian regimes...

, an educational project of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 bringing together government institutions and NGOs active in research, documentation, awareness raising and education about the crimes of totalitarian regimes.

The IICC publishes information materials and media, surveys, reports, and teaching materials, participates in the public debate, and organizes film screenings, seminars, hearings, media events and exhibitions related to the subject. The IICC cooperates with national institutions, embassies, institutes, NGO:s and organizations in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

The board of directors consists of Camilla Andersson (chair), Anders Hjemdahl, Professor Kristian Gerner

Kristian Gerner

Kristian Gerner is a Swedish historian, author, expert on Eastern Europe and Professor of History at Lund University . From 1994 to 2002, he was Professor of Eastern European History and Culture, also at Lund University...

, Walburga Habsburg Douglas MP, and Mae Liz Orrego Wennick. The institute is largely funded by the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise

Confederation of Swedish Enterprise

The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise is a major interest organisation for business and industry in Sweden. It has 48 member associations representing close to 55.000 member companies with more than 1.5 million employees....

. The institute received the Templeton Freedom Award

Templeton Freedom Awards

The Templeton Freedom Awards have been given by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation since 2004 using funding from the John Templeton Foundation. The awards honor work done by free-market think tanks around the world. Two winners are named in each year in each category...

 in 2009.

Notable honorable members of the IICC and contributors in its publications and activities are current Minister for Foreign Affairs and former Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt

Carl Bildt

, Honorary KCMG is a Swedish politician, diplomat and nobleman. Formerly Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994 and leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999, Bildt has served as Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs since 6 October 2006...

, former Prime Minister of Estonia Mart Laar

Mart Laar

Mart Laar is an Estonian statesman, historian and a founding member of the Foundation for the Investigation of Communist Crimes. He was the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002, and is the leader of the conservative party Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica...

, former Ambassador and EU Commissioner of Latvia Sandra Kalniete

Sandra Kalniete

Sandra Kalniete is a Latvian politician, author, diplomat and independence movement leader. She served as Foreign Minister of Latvia 2002–2004 and as European Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries in 2004...

, Member of the European Parliament Gunnar Hökmark

Gunnar Hökmark

Anders Gunnar Hökmark is a Swedish politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Moderate Party; part of the European People's Party....

, professor Robert Conquest

Robert Conquest

George Robert Ackworth Conquest CMG is a British historian who became a well-known writer and researcher on the Soviet Union with the publication in 1968 of The Great Terror, an account of Stalin's purges of the 1930s...

, professor of history Kristian Gerner

Kristian Gerner

Kristian Gerner is a Swedish historian, author, expert on Eastern Europe and Professor of History at Lund University . From 1994 to 2002, he was Professor of Eastern European History and Culture, also at Lund University...

, professor of East European studies Stefan Hedlund

Stefan Hedlund

Stefan Peter Hedlund is a Swedish academic, an expert on Soviet and Communist studies/Russian studies, and Professor of East European Studies at Uppsala University...

, professor of history Klas-Göran Karlsson, author and journalist Staffan Skott

Staffan Skott

Sten Staffan Skott is a Swedish journalist, author and translator. He has written extensively on the history of Russia and the Soviet Union...

, author and journalist Kaa Eneberg, and many others.

In cooperation with the government of Sweden

Government of Sweden

The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden is the supreme executive authority of Sweden. It consists of the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers appointed by the Prime Minister. The Government is responsible for their actions to the Riksdag, which is the legislative assembly...

, the organisation has carried out remembrance ceremonies on the 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...

. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt

Fredrik Reinfeldt

John Fredrik Reinfeldt is the Prime Minister of Sweden, leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party and former President of the European Council...

, Minister of Education Jan Björklund

Jan Björklund

Jan Arne Björklund is a Swedish politician. He is the leader of the Liberal People's Party and serves as Minister for Education and Deputy Prime Minister in the Swedish government.- Education and military career :...

 and EU Ministers Cecilia Malmström

Cecilia Malmström

Anna Cecilia Malmström is a Swedish politician currently serving as European Commissioner for Home Affairs in the Barroso Commission...

 and Birgitta Ohlsson

Birgitta Ohlsson

Eva Birgitta Ohlsson is a Swedish politician, currently serving as Minister for European Union Affairs in the Swedish government. She is a war-mongering, anti-Cuban and USA-loyal member of the Liberal People's Party....

 have taken part in events hosted by the institute.

The IICC has been involved in raising awareness about the 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...

in Sweden and internationally.

External links

• UOK - Upplysning om kommunismen, official website
• Om kommunismen ("About communism"), information website