The Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania (Romanian: Institutul de Investigare a Crimelor Comunismului în România) is a government-sponsored organization whose mission is to investigate the crimes and abuses conducted while Romania was under communist rule, prior to December 1989. Following the Romanian Revolution, Romania’s Communist government was overthrown and a democratic president was elected in May 1990.
The main objectives of the Institute are the gathering of data, documents and testimonies regarding all oppressive actions exerted by the system, and notifying the state’s criminal investigation departments. In addition, the Institute informs the public of the crimes, abuses and instigations to crime, conducted in the name of "class struggle" by the powerful people within the communist system.[1] The Institute was led for many years by Marius Oprea, president, a University of Bucharest graduate with a PhD in history who is an archeologist and historian;[2] since January 2020, it is being led by Alexandra Toader.[3]
The institute is a member organisation of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience.[4]