Historians treat draft to review rehabilitation decisions as part of propaganda

The draft order by Igor Krasnov, the Russian Public Prosecutor General, to review rehabilitation decisions has no novelties, since rehabilitation of war criminals is prohibited by law. However, once adopted, it may result in cancelling some rehabilitation decisions, which may be used in propaganda, the historians interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

Decisions to rehabilitate victims of political repressions must be revised to prevent the acquittal of those guilty of crimes against peace and humanity, as well as grave, especially grave and war crimes, the above draft suggests.

Yan Rachinsky, a historian, has stated that this draft order has nothing to do with the law, since Article 4 of the law on rehabilitation already prohibits any rehabilitation of war criminals.

According to his version, there is no need to specifically talk about any possibility of cancelling rehabilitation. He believes that it is possible that this draft is preparation for two steps. "Cancellation of rehabilitation of former members of the Russian Liberation Army (RLA), the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists* (OUN*) and other formations ... And revision of Article 11 of the law on rehabilitation, which stipulates that 'documents on rehabilitation or recognition of persons as victims of political repressions, issued in the former Soviet republics or former USSR state bodies, are valid in the territory of the Russian Federation'," Mr Rachinsky has summed up.

According to Nikita Sokolov, another historian, propaganda will now insist that all this is necessary to "counteract the history falsification."

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that activists and politicians in Southern Russia regularly raise the issue of rehabilitation of victims of political repressions. In particular, this February, Oleg Kelemetov, a Nalchik resident, demanded that the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) check Stalin's decisions for violations of the law.

*On September 8, 2022, the Russian Supreme Court granted the Public Prosecutor General's claim and recognized the OUN and two other Ukrainian nationalist associations – the SICH-S14 and the Black Committee – as extremist.