Details

The focus of the one-week study and information tour will be on how Germany, after reunification in 1989, dealt with the communist regime in former Eastern Germany (GDR), and crimes committed during this regime. Issues to be discussed are the Law which established the Office of the Federal Commissioner for the Records of the Ministry for State Security of the GDR, as well as the work of the Federal Commissioner (with whom a meeting is planned); the current debate on the modification of this law; and the limitations which fundamental rule of law principles impose on legal dealings with the past (such as fundamental human rights, the prohibition of retroactive application of a law, the principle of proportionality etc.). The members of the delegation will meet, inter alia, with high-ranking Germans who are working in the Office of the Federal Commissioner, Members of Parliament who had been working on the drafting of the German „lustration law“ (Stasi-Unterlagengesetz), representatives of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Berlin, and representatives of German institutions which are dealing with the topic of reappraisal of totalitarian/authoritarian systems.

P R O G R A M

Monday, 18 Februar

18:30 hDinner and discussion with Dr. Jan Woischnik, Head of South East Europe Division, Coordinator Rule of Law Programs, International Cooperation, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

Tuesday, 19 February

09:00 hGuided Tour of the Memorial Site: Berlin-Hohenschönhausen

10:45 hIn-depth discussion with Siegfried Reiprich, Deputy head of Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial Site

12:30 hLunch and discussion with Norbert Beckmann-Dierkes, Head of Domestic Programs Team, International Cooperation

Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

14:30 hDiscussion with Dr. Dušan Reljić, Senior Researcher, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)

16:00 hDiscussion with Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Veen, Chairman of the Board, Stiftung Ettersberg

18:00 hDinner and Discussion with Vera Lengsfeld, Author and Civil Rights Activist, former Member of the German Parliament and Uwe Hillmer, Member of the Board of the Forschungs- und Gedenkstätte Normannenstraße (= Stasi Museum) Association ASTAK e.V.

Wednesday, 20 February

08:50 hDeparture to the Archives of the Federal Commission for the Records of the State Security Service of the former GDR (BStU)

09:30 hWelcome and discussion with Marianne Birthler, Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former GDR

Followed by a Tour of the archives and discussion with Regina Karstendiek, Grundsatzreferat and Bert Rosenthal, Office of the Director

13:45 hWalk to Forschungs- und Gedenkstätte Normannenstraße (= Stasi Museum)

14:00 hDiscussion with Dr. h.c. Johannes Gerster, Former Representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Israel;

former Member of the German Parliament and Chairman of the Bundestag Commission dealing with the preparation of the Stasi Records Law

15:30 hGuided tour of the Stasi Museum

18:00 hDinner and discussion with Maria Michalk MdB, Member of the German Parliament Committee for Labor and Social Affairs, Member of the Bundestag Committee for Health, Deputy Member of the Bundestag Committee for Cultural and Media Affairs

Thursday, 21 February

09:30 hDiscussion with Gabriele Baumann, Head of Central Europe Division, International Cooperation, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

11:00 hDiscussion with Dr. Hans-Jürgen Grasemann, Attorney-general, Braunschweig

12:30 hLunch and evaluation of the program with Dr. Stefanie R. Roos, Director Rule of Law Program South East

Europe, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

14:30 hGuided tour of the Bundestag

16:00 hDiscussion with Hartmut Koschyk, MdB, Secretary of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group, Member of the Council of

„Stiftung Aufarbeitung“ (Foundation Dealing with the Past)

19:00 hDinner and discussion with Arnold Vaatz MdB, Former Minister of State, Deputy Member of the Bundestag Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid

Friday, 22 February

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