Krivenkova M.V. Responsibility of a state for distortion of historical facts: international legal aspect

Abstract: This article examines the currently relevant issue of distortion of historical facts by private parties and the official representatives of states. As one of the main causes the author considers the absence within the existing international law of responsibility for the countries in general, as well as responsibility for falsification and distortion of information about the current circumstances, or those that took place in the past. For the purpose of developing the approach towards the solution of the aforementioned problem from the perspective of international law, the author examines and analyzes the positions of the separate legal acts (obligatory for execution by the participating states, recommended, and projects of such acts), as well as the norms of the Russian legislation that hold criminal and administrative responsibility for denying the facts established by the sentence of the International Military Tribunal for trial and punishment of the chief war criminals of the European countries of the axis; approval of crimes established by the same sentence; as well as spread of the intentionally false testimony about the activity of USSR during the World War II. The article conducts a legal analysis of the Russian and international legal norms that regulate responsibility for falsification and distortion of historical facts. The author comes to the conclusion that there is a pressing need for the international legal norms which not only establish the unlawfulness of the actions themselves, but also codify the international legal responsibility of the states for the corresponding illegal activity.

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