Observing Memories Issue 5 - December 2021 | Page 37

2 . Armenian genocide memorial in Yerevan . Each April 24 , thousands of people walk to the genocide monument and lay flowers around the eternal flame , located in the centre of the monument | EUROM
more broadly to laws or resolutions adopted by national or supranational institutions , which govern the interpretation of historical events . At European level , legislative acts concern very different subjects . They may relate to the interpretation of a historical event , the application of criminal sanctions against public statements on historical events , the establishment or modification of the status of war veterans ( rights , reserved occupations and pensions ), the reappraisal of the retirement pensions of those working in certain public services before the fall of communism , the establishment of material or symbolic reparations for victims of violence and sometimes for their descendants , the rehabilitation of political prisoners , the organisation of administrative purges , the setting up of commemorations , the naming of public places , the creation of memorials , the erection of monuments , the management of archives , the prompting of scientific research on a particular event , the introduction of historical events in school education , and so forth .
Besides this very wide variety , European memory laws can be classified into three groups from the legal standpoint . The first group brings together the laws and resolutions that are merely declaratory , which constitute the most numerous type of parliamentary acts in European countries . In this respect , Poland , for instance , has approximately 2,000 declaratory provisions on the past passed by Parliament since 1989 ( 20 % of all resolutions passed by Polish members
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