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Today, December 27, at the sitting of the Cabinet of Ministers the informative report prepared by the Latvian State Commission on Establishment of the Number of Victims and Locations of Mass Graves of the Totalitarian Communist Occupation Regime of the USSR, Collection of Information about Repressive Measures and Mass Deportations and Calculation of Losses inflicted on the Latvian Nation was accepted. The Commission notes that, judging from previous Latvian and foreign experience, its work can be completed no sooner than in four or five years time, i.e., circa 2010, provided that adequate financing is ensured (the planned amount for 2006 is 134 thousand LVL). The protocol decision that is attached to the informative report provides for a draft regulation to be developed by the State Chancellery in order to enable further work of the Commission and for it to be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers by 1 February 2006. The State Chancellery shall also by 1 February 2006 coordinate with the Ministry of Finance a draft cost estimate on allocation of financing from the state budget sub-programme Funds for unplanned expenses for performance of tasks assigned to the Commission in accordance with the Saeima Declaration on Condemnation of the Totalitarian Communist Occupation Regime implemented in Latvia by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of 12 May, 2005. During the three-month long preparation of the informative report, seven meetings of the Commission have taken place, members of the Commission have studied the experience of Estonia and Lithuania, which have dealt with similar tasks before. The Commission has cooperated with the State Archives of Latvia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economics, other state institutions and external experts. In the informative report it is stressed that one of the main tasks is to create a common database about persons politically repressed by the Soviet occupation regime. The Commission has defined five areas (approximately 40 positions) for establishment of potential losses: 1) Establishment of the number of victims of the totalitarian communist occupation regime of the USSR;
2) Establishment of the locations of mass graves of victims of the totalitarian communist occupation regime of the USSR;
3) Collecting of information on repressions;
4) Collecting of information on mass deportations;
5) Calculation of losses inflicted on the Latvian nation (losses inflicted by the USSR on people, economy and social conditions; losses inflicted on environment of Latvia; losses inflicted on culture and science of Latvia). Regulations, documents, literature, publications and information received from state institutions and experts in particular fields were used in preparing the informative report. The Commission identifies the following main sources of information for potential calculation of losses: 1) Results of the work of the working group of the Council of Ministers of Latvia of 1990-1991 for development of the book on mutual economic relations of Latvia and the USSR;
2) Studies of Latvian and foreign historians, economists, demographers and representatives of other branches of science on losses inflicted by the USSR;
3) Materials from Latvian archives, museums, libraries, the Internet, administrative and public institutions and private persons;
4) Materials from archives, museums, libraries, public institutions and private persons of the Russian Federation and other countries;
5) Archives and museums the materials from which are currently not available to the Commission. The informative report points out possible lack of resources (human, intellectual, information and financial resources) as the most problematic issue for further work of the Commission. Agnese Korbe
Consultant
Communication Department
State Chancellery
Phone: 7082903, 9110062
E-mail: Agnese.Korbe@mk.gov.lv
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