The Security and Information Service (SIS) and the Ministry of the Interior are restricting the access to the files of the people who underwent repressions in 1941 and 1949; and although the Law on rehabilitation of political victims obliges these institutions to periodically publish lists with persons who underwent repressions, this has not happened in 18 years since the adoption of the law in 1992, said historian Mihai Tasca, the secretary of the Commission for the review of the totalitarian communist regime in Moldova, at a roundtable meeting on Friday. The historian says researchers would encounter great difficulty in gaining access to the special state archives kept by the Ministry and the SIS, which contain roughly 170,000 files and 80,000 files, respectively. “These two agencies do not cooperate with the inquirers. Each time they would say they have nothing and they know nothing, even though the law requires periodical publication. Anyone of us can now sue them for disrespecting the law. These two institutions conceal the names of criminals and I wonder how all the governments since 1990 have lacked the courage to make that list known to the public”, said Mihai Tasca. According to the historian, the SIS has several thousand files of persons subjected to political repressions who haven't been rehabilitated yet. Each year only 50-60 people get rehabilitated. Mihai Tasca says the State Chancellery also keeps classified files dated 1941 through 1991, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a secret archive which doesn't exist officially and which contains documents since 1944. Concerning the archives of the Soviet-era Moldovan Communist Party, the historian said that 850 files were unclassified during one month, as 64 other remained classified. “When I asked the government how many days it would take them to declassify the remaining files, they answered ten days, but it has been two months since and nothing has been done”. Mihai Tasca said he would propose in the final report of the Commission that a specialized institute is created to research the unclassified documents more thoroughly. He also intends to propose the establishment of a museum to remind people of the crimes of communism. Valentina Sturza, the chairwoman of the Moldovan Association of Deportees, confirmed that many deportees today are unable to see their own files that kept by the Ministry and the SIS. She herself was able to see the files of her family only three years ago, with much elbow grease. Lawyer Alexandru Postica says that the people who underwent repressions often do not know their rights and that they are entitled to some benefits. He argues that the deportees and the WWII veterans should have equal rights and the the government should modify the legislation concerning the retrocession of nationalized assets; the responsibility to repossess the victims is currently on the local authorities, which do not have the necessary funds to do so. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, SIS deputy director Valentin Dediu dismissed the allegations that the information on repression victims is withheld. “The Commission (for reviewing the totalitarian communist regime) has been working for more than two months with the SIS archives and the Commission chairman can confirm it. A way was found to study the files kept in the special deposit of the Service. All the (Commission) members have free access. (...) Perhaps Mihai Tasca meant some classified documents, but in this case there is a procedure to be followed”, said Valentin Dediu.