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Rule of Law Program
(recent activity)
Fifteen Years After the “Velvet Revolution”
October 14-16, 2004
Krkonose Mountains, Northeastern Bohemia, Czech Republic
The Civic Institute organized this annual conference in Prague in recognition of the fifteenth anniversary of one of the most celebrated turning points in recent European history. A group of speakers from politics, academia and the media collaborated to paint a picture of the significance of the event, its influence on surrounding nations, and its legacy in the Czech Republic. The event included a debate between philosopher, Jiri Fuchs, and Czech Senator, Daniel Kroupa, about the legacy of the Charter 77 movement and its founder. There were lectures by Civic Institute fellows, including Michaela Freiova, former Member of Parliament. As the translator of Witness by Whittaker Chambers, she addressed the topic of the international dimension of Communism in light of this work.
Other lectures were given by Eduard Bakalar of the Academy of Sciences and Jan Langos, Director of the Institute for National Memory in Slovakia, who spoke about the process of “de-Communization” in Slovakia.
"I am convinced that we will never build a democratic state based on the rule of law, if we do not at the same time build a state that is human, moral, intellectual and spiritual and cultural. ... The best laws and the best-conceived democratic mechanisms will not in themselves guarantee legality or freedom or human rights, if they are not underpinned by certain human and social values."
President Vaclav Havel, Czech Republic
EICEE Advisory Board Member, from 'Summer Meditations'
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