August 13: Gorbachev signed a decree rehabilitating all victims of political repression.
On August 13, 1990, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed a decree "On the restoration of the rights of all victims of political repressions of the 1920s–1950s." The document condemned the crimes of the Stalinist regime. But it still did not condemn the state itself.
Stalin and his entourage assumed virtually unlimited power, depriving the Soviet people of freedoms that are considered natural and inalienable in a democratic society.
How many people were waiting for rehabilitation?
According to Memorial, approximately 12 million people were repressed for political reasons in the USSR between 1921 and 1953; the Gulag History Museum estimates the figure at 20 million.
During the first post-Stalin decade, work to restore the rights of political prisoners proceeded extremely slowly: from 1954 to 1964, between 500 and 800 people were rehabilitated. With the end of the "thaw," the rehabilitation of victims of political repression was forgotten for many years.
The restoration of justice, begun by the 20th Congress of the CPSU, was carried out inconsistently and, in essence, ceased in the second half of the 1960s.
(from Gorbachev's decree)
What did perestroika change?
With the onset of perestroika in the USSR, a vigorous effort to rehabilitate prisoners of conscience began. In 1989, all those who had suffered from the decisions of extrajudicial bodies—the "troikas," the OGPU-NKVD-MGB boards, and the "special meetings"—were reinstated. It turned out that everyone was automatically rehabilitated (including, for example, those convicted of escape or espionage).
Gorbachev's new decree included a caveat: persons convicted of treason were not subject to rehabilitation.
This decree does not apply to persons who have been justifiably convicted of committing crimes against the Motherland and the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War, in the pre-war and post-war years.
"The Spot of Injustice"
At the same time, it filled yet another "gap." Or, as the document put it, "a stain of injustice."
The discussion focused on the rehabilitation of those who suffered from collectivization and were repressed for all other reasons—political, social, national, religious, and others. Often, the decisions regarding them were extrajudicial (administrative), and therefore they did not fall under the usual definition of "political prisoners."
A speedy overcoming of the consequences of lawlessness and political crimes based on the abuse of power is necessary for all of us, for the entire society that has embarked on the path of moral revival, democracy and the rule of law.
Apology or shifting the blame
Gorbachev admitted that this kind of work with historical memory is difficult even for him—for example, he mentioned that “I myself walked for a day and a half to Stalin’s coffin” on the day of his funeral.
Despite the fact that the new decree condemned the crimes of the "anti-people" totalitarian regime, many historians still do not consider it a full-fledged apology from the state to the people, but merely a shift of blame onto Stalin's leadership.
The heavy legacy of the past was the mass repressions, arbitrariness and lawlessness that were committed by the Stalinist leadership in the name of the revolution, the party, and the people.
Who is no longer considered a victim of repression?
Gorbachev's decree raised other issues. For example, it lacked a clause regarding "criminals." This clause only appeared in October 1991, in the RSFSR Law "On the Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repression." According to it, political prisoners no longer included those who had committed murder, those convicted of banditry, or those who had used violence against civilians and prisoners of war during the Great Patriotic War.
In 1993, another ban was added – on the rehabilitation of persons accused of war crimes and crimes against peace, humanity and justice.
Millions left without rights
In total, according to data from the mid-2010s, approximately 6 million victims of Stalin's repressions have been officially rehabilitated.
The remaining millions have not had their rights restored due to a lack of documents, legal denials, and delays in the cases of those subjected to administrative repression (dekulakization and deportation). Some archives remain closed.
