World press on Katyn and Russia (October 21, 2013)

"Rights Court Assails Russia Over Inquiry of 1940 Massacre" is an article published today by the New York Times. "In the long-simmering and emotional debate over a notorious mass killing during World War II, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Monday that Russia had failed to comply with its obligations to adequately investigate the massacre of 22,000 Polish officers by the Soviet secret police in 1940," the beginning of the article reads."The Grand Chamber ruled unanimously that “Russia had failed to comply with its obligation” under the European Human Rights Convention to “furnish necessary facilities for examination of the case,” according to a statement from the court in Strasbourg.""The likely impact of the decision in Moscow seemed unclear. Russia acknowledged the responsibility of Soviet leaders for the massacre only in 1990, when military prosecutors opened a criminal investigation that was discontinued 14 years later... The massacre has long haunted Russian-Polish relations, evoking memories even in far more recent times."Concluding the article, the author writes: "Despite protests from Communist Parliament members, the State Duma acknowledged that archival material “not only unveils the scale of his horrific tragedy but also provides evidence that the Katyn crime was committed on direct orders from Stalin and other Soviet leaders.”