Dear attendees,
It is a special honor to open this meeting, which is connected to a very delicate and important topic for all of us — human rights in the context of totalitarian regimes and their consequences on the lives of individuals and our society. It is a meaningful coincidence that in Albania, December is dedicated to marking International Human Rights Day as well as Pluralism Day.
The dictatorship began precisely with the violent installation of monism, which brought about non-inclusive institutions that offered two different standards for justice, education, healthcare, housing, and profession. These were institutions that divided society into two — “ours” and “not ours”!
As beautifully analyzed by the 2024 Nobel laureates in economics, Acemoglu and Robinson, in their influential book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, this division paved the way for a development that was not virtuous but vicious, isolating, and shrinking, confronting us with a rapid phenomenon of decline:
of politics,
of the economy,
of privacy,
dreams,
number of words,
habitat,
housing,
room,
food ration,
energy we consumed,
the information we received, the newspapers we read, and the TV we watched.
In these difficult times we have gone through, the analysis of human rights violations during the dictatorship is essential. This analysis is not only done to understand what happened in the past, but also why and how it happened, to reflect on the consequences those events have left in our lives, in the organization of our political, social, and cultural life. This painful legacy continues to cast a shadow and have an impact even in our present days.
Today, allow me to speak about an important and growing phenomenon that is helping to refresh and revisit our history—the movement for the revision of history, as a counter to the propaganda and censorship that fueled the historiography of the dictatorship.
For many decades, our history was used as a tool of manipulation, where the truth was turned into a weapon to support a narrative that served the interests of the regime and later politics. This distorted historiography not only damaged our collective memory, but also created an inaccurate perception of our identity as a society. Therefore, the current movement for the revision of history is an initiative aimed at shedding light on the hidden truths, challenging what has been accepted until now.
I’ve encountered a debate where this legacy is considered a myth, while others see it as disinformation.
I would consider this distorted legacy as disinformation, and more importantly, I see our society's movement to repair this history as an extraordinary act of courage and integrity. This movement is a bold step towards the truth, an effort to intellectually break away from falsehoods and to restore our collective memory with facts and evidence.
By engaging in this process, we are not only writing about the past, but also creating an opportunity to build a more honest future. We are inspiring future generations to understand that history is not just written, but also constructed; and that they have the power to uncover hidden truths and restore the dignity of the victims.
This movement is a sign of a society that seeks to repair and mature its relationship with the past. A society that is willing to confront its reality and commit to a difficult, yet essential, process of healing historical wounds.
Why not a movement to morally break away from:
state violence against the innocent,
the disregard for human rights,
the processes of a monist justice,
the extreme politicization of institutions,
the violation of privacy for political purposes,
the division of society to suppress ideological opposition,
enslaving and compulsory labor,
the lack of mercy and empathy?
Let us continue to support this movement and work towards creating a social and institutional environment:
where the truth has a place,
where history serves as a teacher and guide for all of us, and
where the humane triumphs.
Thank you! *The speech of the chairperson at the celebratory event of the International Human Rights Day, In the name of humanity.”