Thought Crimes
TheEye disagrees with the so-called “crime” of Holocaust Denial. Not because of the truth or otherwise of any historical event. No; on that front historians, most with clear minds and some with agendas, have crunched the numbers repeatedly. Politicians then pulled a number from a tombola and, in certain countries, it is now illegal to question that version of history.
The disagreement is because TheEye believes strongly that the right to question everything should be paramount. Come to whatever conclusions you like, however wrongheaded, but you should be free to believe and speak them if you choose. Be guided only by Daniel Patrick Moynihan‘s axiom that Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.
What makes one event so ‘special’ that it deserves ringfencing from the much greater, by some measurements, crimes by the murderous regimes of Stalin, Pol Pot and so on? Whilst decriminalising thought is this blog’s chosen way forward, some are trying to push the barriers in the other direction.
Despite a pathological hatred of all things socialist, TheEye cannot agree with a proposal just made to the EU to extend thought crimes; even when in this case communist crimes are the target:
Six post-communist EU members, including the Czech Republic have urged Brussels to push for an EU ban on denial of communist crimes. In a joint appeal sent to the EU’s justice commissioner, Viviane Reding, they argue that the principle of justice should assure the same approach to all totalitarian regimes. Holocaust denial is already banned in many EU states and the six nations petitioning the EU justice commissioner would like to see similar treatment applied to the crimes of communism.
Not even Holocaust Denial is an EU-wide “crime” (yet!). And yet these people, who have only recently thrown off the shackles of one totalitarian though-controlling regime are now seeking to regulate the free speech of everyone in another; the CCCPs ideological successor, the EU!
In an open letter made available to the press this week, the foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia and Lithuania say that the denial of any totalitarian crime should be treated according to the same standard, in order to prevent favourable conditions for the rehabilitation and rebirth of such ideologies. Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg says the argument behind this is simple:
“In my opinion denial of Stalinist crimes is as serious a matter as Holocaust denial. Both the Communist and Nazi regimes took millions of lives. Both were mass murderers and those who served and abetted them participated in those murders. That’s all there is to it.”
The key phrase there is “…should be treated according to the same standard…” and that standard should include the freedom to stand up at Speakers’ Corner and spout nonsense, and the freedom for you to walk past and ignore it.
Not even Holocaust Denial is an EU-wide “crime” (yet!)
Debatable, given the testing going on of the European Arrest Warrants. If this ends up following the disastrous path of Britain’s libel laws, where the law applies where a thing is read, rather than where it is published, then Austria is going to be applying to extradite people rather than wait until they are in that jurisdiction.
On all other points, well said.
Agreed that it’s debatable, and I was coming from the angle that it hasn’t been tried yet and therefore isn’t de facto law. But someone is certain to test that soon I’m sure, which will open up a debate on pan-EU criminal enforcement…unfortunately it will be clouded by arguments about the case and the rights and wrongs of the principle will be lost.
Funny thing is, ASE, is that you sound more like a libertarian than a decent chunk of the libertarian blogosphere…
I’d come up with something more intellectual (alright, not really!) and relevant to the post, but I’m shitfaced on red wine 🙂
Sadly your prophesy is likely to be correct. O/T – have a look at The Red Rag in the side bar. “The Blonde Miliband”.
I saw that yesterday and loved it! It’s the sort of post that makes you laugh, wonder, and then discreetly scan the nearby bushes for feral lawyers.
There’s more now…
I mentioned this back in June http://otherbloggersstuff.blogspot.com/2010/06/punishing-deniers.html
when Hungary passed its own law criminalising denial of Communist crimes. My view is that it was inevitable that The State would extend its ‘control’ over history once Holocaust denial was accepted and so it has happened. Hungary had its own bad experience of communism but to insist that the rest of Europe shares the view of its’ current , here today, gone tomorrow, administration on that is uncalled for at best, deeply undemocratic and a complete denial of academic freedom (btw I was aquainted with three Londoners who were exiled from Hungary following the anti-soviet uprising of 1956(?) and am entirely sympathetic with their views).
Ukraine has done the same thing about the Stalinist Terror within its borders which I remember Brian Redhead reporting on the BBC in the 70’s as being an ‘accidental’ side effect of the Soviet drive for industrialisation.
My conclusion. ” Nazism was designed to be evil whereas Communism was arrogant wishful thinking that had to be corrupted to present an appearance of success and for that reason the crimes of the communists were less evil than those of the Nazis.
European Arrest Warrant coming my way from a magistrate in Székesfehérvár? “
History is always written by the victors! Draw your own conclusions!
Even though the letter to the EU mentioned here is only a few days old I did have a sneaking suspicion, yes, that I’d read about this somewhere before. Thanks for jogging my memory, banned!
I’m not sure that I share your conclusions entirely, though. You could swap the words Nazism and Communism in your last sentence and it would scan just as well. Largely because you could make a strong case that both were both, so to speak.
I take that as a compliment, CS!
Enjoy the wine 😀
Usually, and yes I grant you that Churchill took that idea very literally. It’s less obvious if you listen to the BBCs interpretation of the British Empire though.
Damn stealth updates after you think you’ve read a story >:o
Great extra comment, although I’d be firmly jabbing a sharp stick into those bushes to flush out any skulking lawyers by now!
I’ve always found it ironic that Holocaust Denial – basically holding a certain opinion in opposition to the state and the majority – is a crime in Germany of all places. When I found that out my first thought was that Germany failed to learn all the lessons from it’s Nazi past. Hitler might not have approved of the sentiment but I’m fairly sure he’d have been bang alongside the idea of the state being able to criminalise opinions it disapproves of.
I think people who deny the Holocost are idoits, but being ignorant is not a crime.
There was no holocaust. That is there was no ‘whole fire’ (Greek translation of the word holocaust) of Jews in the 2nd world war. There was however a mass internment of Jews for the German war effort, but afar greater internment of non Jews. And more importantly there were a number of holocausts not involving the mass burning of non Jews – Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden, to name but a few. And ironically the man behind the creation of the H Bomb was a Jew – Einstein.
I think people who attack those who ‘deny’ the holocaust (read question the death toll) are morons quite frankly, which puts you within that realm I’m afraid to say. You’re morons because you believe the MSM which of course is there to program the populous for their masters.
Moreso, the Jews launched a war against Germany long before the Nazis started flinging them into the camps. This again we are not told of in our history lessons at school, because it happens to be the truth and much of our history we’re taught is a lie.