Bans on Communist symbols

Symbols commonly associated with communism, the hammer and sickle and red star

Bans on Communist symbols were introduced or suggested in a number of countries as part of their policies of decommunization.^[1]

By country

The plain red flag is often used at socialist or communist rallies, especially on International Workers' Day

  States where communist symbols are banned

  States where communist symbols were formerly banned

  States where some communist symbols are banned with the resolution of communist symbols in general

Indonesia

Anti-communist propaganda leaflets and literature, blaming the Indonesian Communist Party for being the actor of 30 September Movement

Communism alongside Marxism-Leninism were officially banned in Indonesia following the aftermath of 30 September coup attempt and the subsequent anti-communist killings, by adoption of TAP MPRS no. 25/1966 in 1966 and Undang Undang no. 27/1999 in 1999, which are still in force. The law does not explicitly declare a ban on symbols of communism, but Indonesian police frequently use the law to arrest people displaying it.^[2] Some of its violators were people with no knowledge of symbols of communism, in which cases the authorities frequently freed them with only minor punishment or small fine applied.^[3] However, displaying such symbols in an attempt to intentionally propagate communist or Marxist-Leninist ideas are an extremely severe offence, even considered as treason against the country and could be punished by up to 20 years of prison.^[4][5] This makes Indonesia a country with a very strict anti-communist policy compared to other countries that also practiced anti-communism.

Other socialist and left-wing related symbols, while not officially prohibited by law (as democratic socialism itself remained acceptable in the country) are still widely condemned by the Indonesian people and considered as being closely related to communism in general. These include the red star, the socialist heraldry, the red flag, and anthems or slogans such as The Internationale and "Workers of the world, unite!". Despite this, Internationale was still remained in use during International Labour Day.

In addition, since the New Order regime was established in 1967, the hammer and sickle has become stigmatized in the country, which itself is very similar to how Nazi symbolism is treated in the West in general. As such, displaying the symbol in public, even without any political intentions, is still regarded as highly offensive. Because of this, Indonesians are usually prone to report those who displayed the symbol in public to the authorities.

Indonesia is the first country in the world to introduce a ban on communist symbols, not including the Axis countries during World War II.

In April 2017, Indonesian police detained a Malaysian tourist at a hotel in Mataram for wearing a T-shirt with an image of the hammer and sickle symbol. The tourist was not aware that communist symbols were banned in Indonesia. The police seized the T-shirt and released the tourist after giving him a warning.^[6]

United States

During the Red Scare of 1919–20 in the United States, many states passed laws forbidding the display of red flags, including Minnesota, South Dakota, Oklahoma,^[7] and California. In Stromberg v. California, the United States Supreme Court held that such laws are unconstitutional.^[8]

Post-Soviet states

In 2009, such a ban was proposed in Moldova by parliamentarian Oleg Serebryan,^[9] and the law came into effect in 2012.^[10] The Constitutional Court of Moldova found it unconstitutional.^[11] (October 1, 2012 – June 4, 2013)

In Ukraine the corresponding law was introduced in 2015 (see Decommunization in Ukraine). Earlier, in 2012, the city of Lviv in Western Ukraine banned the public display of Communist symbols.^[1]

On November 30, 2006, Estonian government signed the draft law to ban politically motivated display of Soviet and Nazi symbols in public places.^[12] On January 24, 2007 it was passed in the first reading by the parliament. The bill specifies those symbols: the flags, coats of arms, other attributes, and slogans of the USSR, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Germany's Nazi Party, and its SS organization.^[13] However, it eventually failed the parliamentary committee on the grounds of freedom of speech.

Lithuania banned Soviet and Nazi symbols in 2008 (Article 188¹⁸ of the Code of Administrative Offences) under the threat of a fine.^[14] Article 5 of the Law on Meetings prohibits meetings involving Nazist and Soviet imagery.^[15] As of 2015, the laws were in effect.^[16]

In June 2014, the Latvian parliament approved a ban on the display of Soviet and Nazi symbols at all public events. The ban involves flags, anthems, uniforms, Nazi hakenkreuz and the Soviet hammer and sickle.^[17]

In Georgia a ban was introduced in 2010,^[18] but it failed to define the applicable sanctions.^[19] In 2014, there was a proposal to amend the ban,^[20] however as of 2015, the law remained inactive.^[21]

Former Soviet bloc

In 1991, in Czechoslovakia the criminal code was amended with w § 260 which banned propaganda of movements which restricted human rights and freedoms, citing Nazism and Communism. Later the specific mentions of these were removed citing their lack of clear legal definition. However the law itself was recognized as constitutional.^[11][22] Similar general bans on totalitarian ideology and its symbols exist in some other countries, include Albania, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and Slovakia.^[23]

In 2009, in Poland^[9] §§ 2 to 4 were added to Article 286, which ban "fascist, communist or other totalitarian symbols" unless used " as part of artistic, educational, collecting or academic activity." On July 19, 2011, the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland found this ban unconstitutional due to the violation of freedom of expression.^[24] In June 2017, Poland updated its "decommunization" legislation to include Soviet propaganda momuments, prompting negative reactions from the Russian government.^[25]

In 2005, there was a petition in Czech Republic to ban the promotion of Communism and in 2007, there was a proposed amendment to the law to ban Communist symbols. Both attempts failed.^[26]

Hungary had a law (Article 269/B of the Criminal Code (2000)) that banned the use of symbols of fascist and communist dictatorships.^[11][27] The same year the Constitutional Court upheld the law when it was challenged, claiming that the involved restriction of the freedom of expression was justified.^[28] In July 2008 the European Court of Human Rights considered the challenge of Attila Vajnai who was charged with a misdemeanor for use of the red star and declared the Hungarian law to be in violation of the freedom of expression. The Court recognized the gross violations by the Nazi and Communist regimes, however it noted that modern Hungary is a stable democracy with negligible chance of dictatorship, therefore restrictions on the freedom of expression have no justification in the country in the form of a "clear, pressing and specific social need".^[29] Eventually the law was annulled in 2013 by the Constitutional Court, citing the lack of precise definition and the European Court of Human Rights.^[30] In March 2017, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán introduced a draft law that outlaws merchandise featuring symbols like the Nazi swastika or the communist five-pointed red star, including the one used by the Dutch brewing company Heineken.^[31]

Romanian Law 51/1991, Art.3 considers the following as threats to national security: "initiating, organizing, committing or supporting in any way totalitarian or extremist actions of a communist, fascist, legionary or of any other racist, antisemitic, revisionist, separatist nature that can endanger in any way the unity and territorial integrity of Romania, and inciting actions that can endanger the rule of law". However, symbols are not mentioned in the Law.

Former Yugoslavia

The use of fascist and communist symbols is currently under review in Croatia, one of the discussions being the banning of the red star, a symbol used by Yugoslav Peoples Army during the Croatian War of Independence.^[32]

Albania's Institute for Communist Crimes (ICC) proposed a ban on communist-era films, sparking negative reactions from the public.^[33]

European Union

In January 2005, Vytautas Landsbergis, backed by Member of the European Parliament from Hungary, Jozsef Szajer, urged a ban on the Communist symbols in the European Union, in addition to Nazi symbols.^[34] In February 2005, the European Commission rejected calls for a proposed Europe-wide ban on Nazi symbols to be extended to cover Communist Party symbols as well. However this rejection did not rule out the individual states having their own laws in this respect.^[35][36] In December 2013, a group of MEPs including Landsbergis addressed a letter to the President of the European Parliament, in which they requested a ban of symbols of totalitarian regimes.

See also

• Denazification
• Decommunization
• Red star#Legal status
• Hammer and sickle#Legal status

References