INTRODUCTION

1. This submission has been prepared in order to assist the court in its deliberations in relation to the above case. It takes as its starting point a recognition that enforced disappearance undermines deepest values of any society committed to respect for the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, and that the systematic practice of such acts is of the nature of a crime against humanity. This principle was proclaimed in the United Nations Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 47/133 adopted on 92^nd plenary meeting of 18 December 1992.

2. The mission of our organization[1] is to guard that Acts of Enforced Disappearance, Extra-Judicial Killings and Other Crimes Against Humanity would never again be committed, to educate people of Slovakia and to restore in their minds the feeling that justice still prevails in this world. And to strive for a properly functioning judicial system in Slovakia as an important tool of democratic society respecting human rights and dignity of human beings.

3. The commitment of our organization is also to an ideal for democratic society in Slovakia, committed to the rule of law, that will exhibit zero tolerance to crimes of abduction and Enforced Disappearance, Extra-Judicial Killings and Other Crimes Against Humanity. Such crimes are inexcusable and could be prevented only by a properly functioning legal system that never exonerates such crimes.

DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

4. On 92^nd plenary meeting of 18 December 1992 United Nations adopted Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 47/133.

5. Article 18 states:
“1. Persons who have or are alleged to have committed offences referred to in article 4, paragraph 1[2], above, shall not benefit from any special amnesty law or similar measures that might have the effect of exempting them from any criminal proceedings or sanction.
2. In the exercise of the right of pardon, the extreme seriousness of acts of enforced disappearance shall be taken into account.”

DEVELOPMENT IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC

6. The Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Mikuláš Dzurinda, the Respondent herein, acting in the capacity of the President amended on 8 December 1998 an existing amnesty by specific deletions in a new decision[3]. The amended decision is in effect since 8 December 1998.

7. A group of 37 members of the National Council of the Slovak Republic filed on 19 February 1999 an application with the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic asking it to declare that the president of the Slovak Republic does not have the right to emend in any way an existing decision on amnesty that has already been published in the collection of laws.

8. On 28 June 1999 the Constitutional Court in its finding I. US 30/99 made also the following declarations:

"At the same time, the Respondent recognizes only political character of these documents not representative adoption or at least acceptance concerning the Slovak Republic of obligations likely to be sanctioned. Concretely, the indicated UN Declaration of 18 December 1992 47/133 on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance is not possible, pursuant to opinion of the Constitutional Court, to evaluate in a manner submitted in the Respondent's formulation. A purpose of the Declaration's formulation, origin and acceptance is entirely evident, wherein legal status of the Slovak Republic, first and foremost within the ambit of criminal enactment is not reflected. In any case though the Declaration documents sufficiently role and functions of the amnesty in law and order of its signatories. The Declaration in preliminary articles exactly describes what is deemed an act of enforced disappearance, it specifies responsibility of the state and the public authority for such acts. In article 18, paragraph 1, it states:

"[To] Persons who have or are alleged to have committed offences referred to in article 4, paragraph 1, is not possible to grant an amnesty pursuant to special law on the amnesty or on the ground of similar measures that might have the effect of exempting them from any criminal proceedings or sanction."

Document does not enumerate any sanctions for violation of the specified article, but from the entire context it is indisputable that if it should have such intent which it the Respondent assigns it would have had to formulate its attitude regarding the amnesty differently. Namely, so that the amnesty already granted does not have to be respected. The draftsmen of the document were aware that, by granting of the amnesty no additional criminal prosecution was possible forasmuch as no legal measures of amendment or abrogation of an existing amnesty by legislative act were at disposal."

(Odporca pritom uznáva iba politický charakter týchto dokumentov, nepredstavujúcich pre Slovenskú republiku prijatie alebo aspoň akceptovanie sankcionovateľných povinností. Konkrétne uvádzanú Deklaráciu OSN č. 47/133 z 18. decembra 1992 o ochrane všetkých osôb pred násilným zmiznutím nemožno podľa názoru ústavného súdu vyhodnotiť spôsobom, ako sa predkladá vo vyjadrení. Celkom zreteľným je totiž dôvod jej formulácie, vzniku a prijatia, v ktorom sa právna situácia Slovenskej republiky predovšetkým v oblasti trestného zákonodarstva neodráža. V každom prípade však táto Deklarácia dostatočne dokumentuje postavenie a úlohy amnestie v právnom poriadku jej signatárov. Deklarácia v úvodných článkoch presne popisuje, čo je považované za "akt násilného zavlečenia osôb", konkretizuje zodpovednosť štátu, štátneho orgánu za takéto činy a v čl. 18 ods. 1 uvádza: "Osobám, ktoré spáchali alebo údajne spáchali trestné činy uvedené v čl. 4 ods. 1, nemôže byť udelená amnestia na základe zvláštneho zákona o amnestii alebo na základe podobných opatrení, ktoré by mohli mať za následok ich oslobodenie od trestných procesov alebo sankcií." Podľa odseku 2: "Vo výkone práva udeľovania milosti by sa mala zohľadňovať mimoriadna vážnosť aktov násilného zavlečenia osôb." Dokument neuvádza sankcie za porušenie uvedeného článku, no z celkového kontextu je nepochybné, že ak by mal ten zámer, ktorý mu prisudzuje odporca, formuloval by svoj postoj k amnestii inak. A to tak, že udelená amnestia sa nemusí rešpektovať. Tvorcovia dokumentu si boli vedomí, že pri udelení amnestie žiadne ďalšie trestné stíhanie nie je možné, keďže nebudú k dispozícii zákonné podmienky jej zmeny alebo zrušenia.) [sic]

9. In its finding I. US 30/99 the Constitutional Court mistranslated and misinterpreted text of the United Nations Declaration of 18 December 1992 on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 47/133[4]

ENFORCED DISAPEARANCES, EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS AND POLITICAL PROCESSES BEFORE 1989 IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC

10. During the period of oppression and communist totality more than 400 people lost their lives at the Czechoslovak border crossings[5]

· 170 /one hundred and seventy/ identified people were shot to death;

· 14 /fourteen/ unknown people were shot to death;

· 91 /ninety one/ persons died of electrocution;

· 5 /five/ people were killed by disguised booby-trap explosive devices;

· 16 /sixteen/ people were drowned in the Danube river;

· 16 /sixteen/ people committed suicide;

· 90 ninety/ people were killed in car accidents in which the Czechoslovak border crossing guards participated;

· 2 /two/ members of the German GP were killed;

· 4 /four/ pilots; one Polish, one German, two Austrian were brought down by the anti-aircraft fire;

11. Number of victims of invasion of the communist armies into the Czechoslovakia in 1968[6]

· 90 /ninety/ citizens were killed;

· 302 /three hundred and two/ were seriously injured;

· 532 /five hundred and thirty two/ were slightly injured;

· 172 /one hundred and seventy two/ were detained or abducted;

· 973 /nine hundred and seventy three/ citizens were kidnapped to the Soviet gulags; (this figure does not include those deported immediately after the WWII);

12. During the 42 years of the totalitarian Communist regime in Czechoslovakia [7]

· 50 /fifty/ people were executed for the political crimes;

· 51 /fifty one/ people died at the communist jails owing to the cruel treatment of their jailers;

· 71,168 /seventy one thousand and one hundred sixty eight/ citizens were convicted of political crimes;

· 111 /one hundred and eleven/ juveniles were convicted of political crimes before reaching the age of majority;

· 8,240 /eight thousand two hundred and forty/ citizens were sent to labour camps without any judgement, solely on the ground of an order of the Communist party member whenever young members of the Communist State Secret Police Force of Czechoslovakia wanted their apartments or houses;

· 6,223 /six thousand two hundred and twenty three/ citizens were forcefully moved out of their apartments on the ground of official actions "B" and "K";

· 1,648 /one thousand six hundred and forty eight/ students had to withdraw from their studies at the universities only because they were deemed politically unreliable, or because their parents refused to join the unified agricultural co-operatives.

ENFORCED DISAPEARANCES AND EXTRA-JUDICAL KILLINGS AFTER 1989 IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC

10. On 31 August 1995, Michal Kovác, a son of the former president of the Slovak Republic was tortured and abducted into the Austria through the Slovakian border hidden in a trunk of the car belonging to the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) the director of which at that time was Ivan Lexa;

11. On 29 April 1996, the bomb implanted in the Robert Remiáš’ car exploded killing him instantly[8];

TREATMENT OF PERPETRATORS OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY before 1989

12. Examples include:

· December 1952: Eugen Ehrenfeld, Frida-Olga Ehrenfeldová, 15 years-old Katarina Ehrenfeldová and Maria Rozmanová were shot to death at the border.
At the same day, only 5-years-old Milan Ehrenfeld, Jan Tutkovic, Robert Dukes were shot and seriously injured. 459 bullets in total have been fired at these 13 people, including children as young as 5 year-old, while they were attempting to cross the border at that particular day in December of 1952.

· The solders that opened fire upon those who attempted to cross the border were decorated Orders for Bravery[9].

TREATMENT OF PERPETRATORS OF THE CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY after 1989

13. Ivan Lexa, the applicant in Lexa v. Slovakia,(No. 54334/00)

· On 31 August 1995, Michal Kovác, a son of the former president of the Slovak Republic, was reportedly tortured with electrodes attached to his genitals and dumped in Austria after being pumped full of whiskey and driven across the border in the trunk of a car.
A subsequent investigation by the Austrian authorities concluded that high Slovak government officials and the secret services were behind the crime.[10]

· On 16 October 1995 a former employee of the Slovak Intelligence Service, Oskar Fegyveres testified, that an action of the abduction of Michal Kovac j.r., a son of the former president of the Slovak Republic was directed by Ivan Lexa, the then director of SIS. The same Ivan Lexa is now the applicant in Lexa v. Slovakia application no. 54334/00.

· From an interview with Róbert Remias’ mother[11]
After the abduction of the ex-president’s son Róbert was helping the then member of the Slovak Intelligence Service Oskar Fegyveres and his girlfriend Adriane. Why?
Oskar and Róbert were big friends, almost like brothers. They met during the high-school studies, they served together in the same military unit in Devínska Nová Ves, and also in the same police force. From there Oskar joined the Slovak Information Service. Following the abduction of Michal Kovác jr., after Oskar admitted his unintentional and involuntary participation in this crime, Robert interrupted his law studies and exerted maximum possible effort to protect the life of his friend. It was my son who helped Oskar to escape abroad, provided contacts to his relatives, and also provided for his parents. In the similar way he also helped to escape abroad Oskar's girlfriend, Adriana, whose father was at that time in the employment of the Slovak Information Service, and who was in danger then. I am convinced that Robert saved two human lives by his actions.
(Po únose exprezidentovho syna Róbert pomáhal vtedajšiemu príslušníkovi Slovenskej informačnej služby Oskarovi Fegyveresovi a jeho priateľke Adriane. Prečo?
Oskar a Róbert boli veľkí priatelia, takmer ako bratia. Zoznámili sa počas stredoškolských štúdií, slúžili spolu vo vojenskej posádke v Devínskej Novej Vsi aj na polícii. Odtiaľ Oskar prešiel do Slovenskej informačnej služby. Po únose Michala Kováča mladšieho, keď sa Oskar priznal k nevedomej a nechcenej účasti na tomto zločine, Róbert prerušil štúdium práva a vyvinul maximálne možné úsilie, aby chránil priateľov život. Bol to môj syn, kto Oskarovi pomohol za hranice, sprostredkoval mu kontakt s príbuznými a staral sa o jeho rodičov. Takisto pomohol ujsť Oskarovej priateľke Adriane, ktorej otec v tom čase pracoval v SIS a jej hrozilo nebezpečenstvo. Som presvedčená, že Róbert svojím konaním zachránil dva ľudské životy. )

In 1995, after the abduction of Michal Kovác jr. into Austria, (Remiáš) helped to an employee of the Slovak Intelligence Service Oskar Fegyveres to escape abroad. Oskar testified first before the investigator P. Vacok about the role, which the Slovak Intelligence Service played in the abduction of the president's son. Later Oskar and his girlfriend were both granted abroad a political asylum. On 29 April 1996, several minutes after 22 p.m. the car in which Robert sat exploded. According to statements of the eye- witnesses it looked as if the car burnt from inside. R. Remiáš was buried on 13 July 1996. Every year, on the day of the anniversary of his death a mourning ceremony in his honour is observed.
( V roku 1995, po únose Michala Kováča mladšieho do Rakúska pomáhal príslušníkovi SIS Oskarovi Fegyveresovi utiecť do zahraničia. Oskar ako prvý vypovedal pred vyšetrovateľom P. Vačokom o úlohe, ktorú SIS zohrala pri únose syna vtedajšieho prezidenta. Oskar s priateľkou Adrianou dostali v cudzine politický azyl. 29. apríla 1996 niekoľko minút po 22. hodine došlo k explózii vozidla, v ktorom sedel Róbert. Podľa tvrdenia očitých svedkov to vyzeralo, že auto horí zvnútra. R. Remiáša pochovali 13. júla 1996. Každý rok v deň výročia jeho smrti sa na mieste tragédie koná panychída.)

Did you believe that after the elections in 1998 the investigation of your son’s death would be finalized?
I firmly believed that after the 1998 elections the investigation of the causes of the car explosion that was the cause of Róbert's death would be finalized.
I am extremely grateful to Julius Saraya, the investigator who gathered so much evidence and arguments, that it was possible to use them as charge of a formal accusation of a crime in a court. Unfortunately, in Slovakia for the present justice does not prevail. It is appalling that precisely where a citizen ought to have his ultimate safety none is to be obtained. A common man of reputable conduct cannot claim justice in Slovakia.

The right to appear and be heard in a court in Slovakia does not belong to everybody; it belongs only to that person who has the "right" contacts of long standing …

(Verili ste, že po voľbách roku 1998 sa vyšetrovanie Róbertovej smrti dotiahne do konca?
Verili ste, že po volbách roku 1998 sa vyšetrovanie Róbertovej smrti dotiahne do konca? Áno, pevne som v to verila.

Som nesmierne vďačná vyšetrovateľovi Júliusovi Šárayovi, ktorý zhromaždil toľko faktov a argumentov, že ich bolo možné použiť ako žalobu na súde. Žiaľ, na Slovensku zatiaľ neexistuje spravodlivosť. Je šokujúce, že práve tam, kde má mať občan najväčšiu istotu, žiadna nie je. Obyčajný slušný človek sa u nás nedovolá spravodlivosti. Právo na toleranciu zo strany súdov má len ten, kto na to má. )

· As per information published at http://info.coe.int/site2/SDI/english/background_for_mission_to_slovak.htm
enclosed herewith as Annex “E”, “For years he was Slovakia's most wanted man, hunted by Interpol and vilified in Slovakia as a notorious criminal. Extradited from South Africa, after having fled there to escape prosecution, Ivan Lexa is currently awaiting trial. The former head of the Slovak Secret Service has been on the run from the Slovak authorities since 1999 after he skipped bail - escaping of charges as diverse as kidnapping and fraud. Lexa was caught near the South African port city of Durban while carrying a fake passport. Slovak police had been searching for Lexa following allegations that he ran a defamation campaign against the former President Michal Kovac in order to advance the political campaign of the HZDS, led by his friend and confidante, the former Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar. He is also implicated in the kidnapping and torture of Kovac's teenage son. Lexa faces eight charges of fraud, theft, corruption, armed robbery, sabotage (defamation), kidnapping and the aiding and abetting of criminals.

Incredibly, having skipped bail the first time, Lexa was again given leave to appear in court at a later date, pending investigations into his alleged crimes. The notorious crimes committed by the Slovak Secret Service under Meciar's rule have prompted the EU and NATO to rule out the Slovak membership in the organisations if Meciar is returned to power in the forthcoming elections. Lexa maintains that his arrest was politically motivated.

· Lexa prevailed in several libel civil law suits that he brought against various newspapers and was awarded sizeable damages.

· In 2005 Lexa published a book he titled Abduction (Unos). As Abduction he describes his deportation from South Africa carried out by the South-African authorities where he lived under a false identity using the faked passport, and not to the abduction of the son of the former president of the Slovak Republic in which he participated as an Agent of the state and of which he was a mastermind.

JUDICIAL TREATMENT FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY BEFORE and AFTER 1989

14. Up to now never a one Communist crime has been prosecuted and not a single Communist criminal has yet been brought to justice in the Slovak Republic for committing communist crimes in the 20th Century.

15. The National Council of the Slovak Republic:

· Act No. 125/1996 Coll. of 27 March 1996 of the National Council of the Slovak Republic On Immorality and Illegality of the Communist System (O nemorálnosti a protiprávnosti komunistického systému z 27. marca 1996 a úcinný od 27. apríla 1996);

· Only 2 /two/ days after this law came into effect, a bomb planted in the Robert Remiáš’ car exploded, burning him alive in his car.

· From an interview with Robert Remiáš’s mother:
Who has notified you of that fatal car accident and how did you learn that your son has died?
The following day on the radio they said that in Karlová Ves exploded a BMW car driven by an unknown driver. They said that he was a friend of the key witness in the abduction of Michal Kovac j.r., that he was interrogated by major Cíž whom he asked for protection.…They delivered every detail, excepting the name of this man. That first moment I do not achieve to describe. I quivered with fear and was not capable to talk. We phoned late till midnight, we tried to find out whether in that car sat Róbert. No one wanted to deal with us. The next day was May Day, it was not a workday. On Thursday we went to Bratislava police. We literally intruded ourselves upon the police unwanted. We spoke with one of the investigators who showed me a gold-chain. It belonged to Róbert….I wanted to see my son and identify him. The investigator called the forensic pathology and the coroner who did the autopsy informed him that he would not recommend it to me because they had already cut off my son's head and sent it to Prague for an expert opinion. They handled his body without our consent. At first they actually were in fear of giving me photographs. Do you know what it is to view the photographs of your own child's body that was burned badly? Nobody is able to imagine that horror.
(Kto a ako vám oznámil, že váš syn zahynul?
Na druhý deň v rozhlase povedali, že v Karlovej Vsi vybuchlo auto BMW s neznámym vodičom za volantom. Uviedli, že bol priateľom korunného svedka v únose Michala Kováča mladšieho, že bol vypočúvaný majorom Čížom, ktorého žiadal o ochranu... Odznelo tam všetko, len nie meno. Ten prvý okamih nedokážem opísať. Triasla som sa, nevládala som rozprávať. Do polnoci sme telefonovali, snažili sa zistiť, či v tom aute sedel Róbert. Nikto sa s nami nechcel baviť. Na druhý deň bol 1. máj, nepracovalo sa. Vo štvrtok sme prišli do Bratislavy na políciu. Doslova sme sa tam vnútili. Hovorili sme s jedným vyšetrovateľom a ten mi ukázal zlatú retiazku. Patrila Róbertovi... Chcela som syna vidieť, identifikovať ho. Vyšetrovateľ volal na patológiu a lekár, ktorý robil obhliadku, povedal, že mi to neodporúča, lebo hlavu môjho syna už odrezali a poslali do Prahy na expertízu. S jeho telom manipulovali bez nášho súhlasu. Spočiatku mali dokonca strach dať mi do rúk fotky. Viete, čo to je pozerať sa na fotografiu vlastného dieťaťa, ktoré zhorelo? Nikto si nedokáže predstaviť tú hrôzu…)

SUMMARY

16. The Slovak National Council has condemned crimes of the totalitarian Communist regime of the former Czechoslovakia by enacting the Law 125/1996 Coll. On Immorality and Illegality of Communist System. Instead of punishing the perpetrators of those crimes, new crimes of the similar or the same nature are being committed yet again. The son of the former president of the Slovak Republic was tortured and abducted by the Agents of the state. Robert Remiáš, a witness of the kidnapping, burnt alive in his car after it exploded. The agents of the state were directly implicated also in this action. None of these crimes has ever been investigated as the former authoritarian ex-premier with ties to the organized crime granted an amnesty concerning these crimes and granted amnesty especially to those who masterminded them.

17. In order to assist in exoneration of these crimes the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic changed the wording of the UN Declaration 47/133. The words of the Declaration, however, convey a definite meaning, which involves no contradiction of other parts of the Declaration. The Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic has no right to add to the UN Declaration or to take from it. The Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic cannot find in the UN Declaration 47/133 what, by hypothesis, is not in it.

18. The perpetrators of crimes against humanity were rewarded Orders of Bravery before 1989 and those who have committed similar crimes after 1989 were awarded sizeable damages in various civil proceedings.

19. It is an absolute moral outrage, and it is contrary to the rule of natural justice and it is also politically counter-productive, that not a single Communist criminal has yet been brought to justice for committing communist crimes in the 20th Century.

20. Unfortunately, in Slovakia for the present justice does not prevail. It is appalling that precisely where a citizen ought to have his ultimate safety none is to be obtained. A common man of reputable conduct cannot claim justice in Slovakia. The right to appear and be heard in a court does not belong to everybody; it belongs only to that person who has the "right" contacts of long standing...[12]
("Žiaľ, na Slovensku zatiaľ neexistuje spravodlivosť. Je šokujúce, že práve tam, kde má mať občan najväčšiu istotu, žiadna nie je. Obyčajný slušný človek sa u nás nedovolá spravodlivosti. Právo na toleranciu zo strany súdov má len ten, kto na to má.)

21. If the laws and the rights of people could yet again be ignored and set at naught by the executive, judges and civil service then society in Slovakia would cease to be orderly.[13]

ALL OF WHICH IS RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED.

Dated at Poprad this 30^th day of September, 2005

__________________________

František Bednár, Chairman

I have the authority to bind

the World Association of Former

Czechoslovak Political Prisoners

Námestie Sv. Egídia 102/14

058 01 Poprad, Slovak Republic

Tel: +421 527 722 626; +421 903 142 771

TO: ECHR, Strasbourg

[1] The World Association of Former Czechoslovak Political Prisoners is duly registered not for profit non-governmental organization, registered with the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic on 6 August 2001, under file number VVS/1-900/90-18819, registration number ICO:37796542, and having its head office at Poprad in the Slovak Republic.

[2] Article 4, paragraph 1, states:
All acts of enforced disappearance shall be offences under criminal law punishable by appropriate penalties which shall take into account their extreme seriousness.

[3] Decision 375/1998 Coll. of 8 December 1998.

[4] See paragraph 5, at p. 2, supra, and cf.. paragraph 8, at p. 3, supra

[5] Memorial of those killed at the border crossings during 1948-1989, in Kežmarok,see Annex "A".

[6] Memorial of the victims of the Russian occupation in 1968, Poprad, Annex "B".

[7] Taken from Svedomie 4/2003 from an article published by Fero Granec.

[8] Annex “C” – Mourning ceremony for Remias observed yearly. On 29 April 1996 Anna Remiasova lost her son. The car that he drove exploded and Robert burnt alive in it.

[9] According to article by Lubomír Morbacher. The author is an employee of the Nation’s Memory Institute (Ústav Pamäti Národa).

[10] From an article titled Resurrection published in the Prague Post on 26 April 2000.

[11] A published interview with Remiáš’ mother,See Annex “D”

[12] From an interview with the mother of Robert Remias who burnt alive in his car after it exploded on 29 April 1996.

[13] Vladimir Mitro's report confirmed that the Slovak Intelligence Service' ("SIS") following of Robert Remiáš was of long standing. Its agents were allegedly present at the crime scene, when Remiáš' car exploded. "He burnt alive in the car. He cried for help. And yet the SIS agents just stood there and did nothig more than observing." (how Remiáš burnt alive in his car.)