Dumitru Mazilu
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Dumitru Mazilu (born 24 June 1934) is a Romanian politician. He had a key role in the events of the
Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...
of December 1989 and in exposing the human rights abuses of the Ceaușescu regime.


Professional career

Mazilu was born in
Bacău Bacău ( ; , ; ; ) is the main city in Bacău County, Romania. With a population of 136,087 (as of 2021 census), Bacău is the 14th largest city in Romania. The city is situated in the historical region of Moldavia, at the foothills of the ...
. In 1952, he graduated from the Technical School of Engineers in Bacău. The same year, he became a
Securitate The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the '' Siguranța'' with help and direction from the Soviet MG ...
officer and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. In 1959, he graduated from the
University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...
with a law degree, obtaining a Ph.D. in the same field in 1964. As Mazilu studied for his Ph.D., he worked as a professor of law at
Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy The Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy (Romanian: ''Academia Ștefan Gheorghiu'', in full: ''Academia de învățămînt social-politic Ștefan Gheorghiu de pe lîngă CC al PCR'' — roughly, ''Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy for Socio-Political Education ...
in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
. From 1965 to 1966, Mazilu served as director of Securitate school in
Băneasa Băneasa () is a borough () on the north side of Bucharest, in Sector 1, near the Băneasa Lake (). Like every north-side district of Bucharest, it is relatively sparsely populated, with large areas of parkland. Bordering on Băneasa Fores ...
. According to the Report Armageddon VII of 2004, it is claimed that Mazilu had been dismissed from the management of the Securitate as a result of an attempt to falsify documents relating to a car accident. From 1965 to 1968, Mazilu he was reportedly responsible for investigating abuses and irregularities committed during the regime of
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian politician. He was the first Socialist Republic of Romania, Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ...
. In the 1970s, Mazilu's academic career further expanded. In 1970, he was established as a university professor by the Ministry of Education. In the years 1970–1974, he was the scientific director of the Institute of Political Sciences in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
. In 1974, he gained attention from American universities such as
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
, Columbia, and
UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
. This attention from foreign institutes solidified Mazilu's position in Romanian diplomacy. This led to Mazilu's appointment as a legal adviser at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
.


Political dissidence in Ceaușescu's Romania

In 1985, Mazilu became involved in discussions of human rights and of the youth of the world. Around this time he drafted a report critical of the situation of human rights in Romania.
Nicolae CeauÈ™escu Nicolae CeauÈ™escu ( ; ;  â€“ 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...
was informed by the secret services that Mazilu intended to publish the report and forbade him to leave the country and therefore prevented him from presenting the report to the United Nations Organization. The report detailed Ceaușescu's policy of exporting the majority of Romania's food, and lowering living standards to quickly pay off foreign debts. Mazilu furthered criticized Ceaușescu's agricultural policy of destroying traditional farming centers in an effort to modernize Romania's farming industry with the introduction of more modern agricultural centers, claiming that this compromised peasant farmers as their farms were seen by Ceaușescu's administration as "breeding (grounds) of bourgeois liberalism that still (perpetuate) forms of private property". From 1986 to 1989, Mazilu was placed under house arrest as a result of his criticisms of Ceaușescu's handling of human rights. As a result of Mazilu's critical report of Human Rights in Romania, he was formally fired from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1987 and his diplomatic passport was withdrawn, preventing him from attending UN meetings. In May of the same year, Ceaușescu had a letter written to the UN which claimed that Mazilu had suffered a heart attack and was seriously ill. Mazilu wrote a letter to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...
stating that he had been hospitalized twice, being forced to withdraw from a summit on 1 December 1987, stating that he would not withdraw his report. The next year, the UN Subcommission to request Mazilu's release. In response, Ceaușescu stated that Mazilu's detention was in accordance with Romanian law and that placing Mazilu on the diplomat list was redundant due to his illness, thus denying the requests of the UN. However, despite being under house arrest, Mazilu was able to publish a clandestine report in Geneva in April 1989. The report was published by the United Nations in July of the same year. This report was similarly critical, stressing conditions of extreme hunger, cold, and fear in Romani

Despite repeated attempts by the UN to free Mazilu, he remained under house arrest. In September 1989, four diplomats from the embassy of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States of America and Canada were prevented by the
Securitate The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the '' Siguranța'' with help and direction from the Soviet MG ...
to visit Mazilu. Several radio stations including the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
,
Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...
and
Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...
brought attention to the situatio

The United Nations eventually decided to take the situation to the
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...
in
the Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
. The subsequent hearing was held in October 1989 and in December 1989, Decision No 81/15 demanded that the Romanian authorities release Mazilu immediately and was voted upon unanimously, underling that Mazilu was to enjoy the diplomatic immunity of the United Nations as provided by Article 22 of the UN Convention on the privileges and immunitie


During the Romanian Revolution

On the night of 21 December, in the midst of the
Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...
, Mazilu was moved to prison along with his wife and son by the Securitate. The following day, after the Ceaușescu regime was overthrown, Mazilu and his family were released. The same day, Mazilu gave a speech at the government building now occupied by the National Salvation Front (Romania), National Salvation Front led by
Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as the second president of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, ...
detailing his opposition to
Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
br>
Mazilu proposed the following points of civic reform:Decembrie '89 – Grupul lui Mazilu
12 decembrie 2005, Alex Mihai Stoenescu, ''Jurnalul Național'', accesat la 3 iulie 2012
*The abandonment of a single party state and the bringing about a democratic system with various present systems of government. *The organization of free elections in the shortest possible time. *Separation of legislative, executive and judicial powers in the state and the choice of all political leaders for one or not more than two mandates, respectively for five or ten years. Unlimited power dressed pathological forms. Nobody can claim the power for life. *The restructuring of the entire national economy on the basis of the criteria of profitability and efficiency. The elimination of bureaucratic administrative methods of centralised economy driving and promoting entrepreneurship and competence in all sectors of the economy. *Restructuring of agriculture by passing the land in the hands of those who work, which are its real masters. *The reorganization of the Romanian education system according to the modern requirements. *The positioning of structures of Romanian culture on a democratic and humanistic basis. The elimination of ideological dogma which has caused so many damages to the Romanian people and the promotion of real values of humanity. The elimination of lies and of imposture and the bringing about some criteria of competence and justice in all fields of activity. The passage of the press, radio and television in the hands of a despotic family in the hands of the people. *Compliance with national minorities' rights and freedoms and ensure full their contracts enjoy equality of rights. *Re-orienting the entire external trade of the country, on the basis of the requirements of the satisfaction with first of all the needs of the population. Prohibition on transfer of resources to the national economy with a view to obtaining hard currency at any price. The adoption of the measures necessary for the carrying out of external trade with full compliance with the requirements of economic efficiency. *Changing the entire foreign policy of the country to serve the promotion of good-neighbourliness, friendship and peace in the world. After his speech was broadcast on television, Dumitru Mazilu was appointed Vice President of the National Salvation Front (Romania), National Salvation Front, which took power after Ceaușescu's removal. The FSN proclamation read by
Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as the second president of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, ...
on 22 December 1989 was written by Dumitru Mazilu with some editing by
Silviu Brucan Silviu Brucan (born Saul Bruckner; 18 January 1916 – 14 September 2006) was a Romanian communist politician. He became a critic of the dictatorship of Nicolae CeauÈ™escu. After the Romanian Revolution, Brucan became a political analyst. Ear ...
. Despite this brief cooperation, tensions between Mazilu and Iliescu began as a result of the
big tent A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a political party having members covering a broad spectrum of beliefs. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined ideology, seek voters who adhere to that ideology, and att ...
ideology adopted by the FSN to present a united front against
Nicolae CeauÈ™escu Nicolae CeauÈ™escu ( ; ;  â€“ 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...
. Brucan and Iliescu believed that
Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
should be kept in place, but Ceaușescu should be removed, whereas Mazilu believed that Communism was inherently flawed and was in need of replacement by
Capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
and Petre Roman believed that
Socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
was Communism's natural replacement. These tensions culminated when during a march of remembrance for the fallen of the revolution on 12 January 1990, Mazilu attempted to use the dissatisfaction of the crowd to seize leadership of the FSN from Iliescu. His attempt, which included him jumping on top of a tank and shouting, "death to the former Securitate officers!" was largely unsuccessful apart from the removal of a few former Communist activists from the leadership of the FSN. After Dumitru Mazilu's failure to gain prominence as a leader in the National Salvation Front (Romania), National Salvation Front, the newspaper, Free Romania published a piece made up of information from Mazilu's political biography. The information in the piece was largely about his past under the regime of
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian politician. He was the first Socialist Republic of Romania, Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ...
. After being discredited from public opinion, Mazilu resigned from the leadership of the FSN on 26 January 1990, accusing the
Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
practices within the political framework of the new political power of
Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...
. In March 1991, Dumitru Mazilu was reportedly attacked in
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
as he was preparing another report critical of the government. There was speculation that former
Securitate The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the '' Siguranța'' with help and direction from the Soviet MG ...
officers were behind the incident; furthermore, it was alleged that this was part of larger campaign of assaults on other journalists and opposition leaders, including the murder of
Ioan Petru Culianu Ioan Petru Culianu or Couliano (5 January 1950 – 21 May 1991) was a Romanian historian of religion, culture, and ideas, a philosopher and political essayist, and a short story writer. He served as professor of the history of religions at t ...
.Anton, Ted
"The Killing of Professor Culianu"
in ''
Lingua Franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...
'', Volume 2, No. 6 – September/October 1992


Post-Revolution activity

After the revolution, Mazilu left for a time to
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. In 1990, he was chosen as the chairman of the Romanian Institute for Human Rights and youth. In the years 1991–1993, Mazilu won a lawsuit filed by the Romanian authorities regarding his improper firing from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the Ceaușescu regime. He obtained his previously held role which he had lost in 1986 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mazilu returned to diplomacy, becoming the head of Romania's diplomatic mission in the Philippines (1993 and 1994). Dumitru Mazilu was appointed as ambassador to the international organizations in Vienna, and later, Romania's representative to
OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...
from 1994 to 1997. This saw another surge in Mazilu's diplomatic career. He held various positions of power including vice president of the United Nations Organization for the Development of Industry in 1995, vice president of the United Nations Commission for the peaceful uses of the cosmic space from 1995 to 1997, the chairman of the Working Group of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1996 to 1997, vice president and president of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law from 1998 to 2000, member of the International Diplomatic Academy in 2002. Presently, Mazilu holds a position as a Professor consultant at the
University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...
and is the author of several books. In 2003, he was nominated for a
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
by the International Diplomatic Academy. The same year, he became a member of the Scientific Council of the United Nations for distance learning. In December 2004 – the 15th anniversary of the revolution – there was a symbolic reconciliation between Mazilu and Iliescu, who with his cabinet had since adopted
social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
, thus quelling earlier ideological tensions between the two. Mazilu was appointed to the leadership of the Institute of the Romanian Revolution of December 1989. This institution is engaged in the study and study of the Romanian revolutionary process. In November 2013, Mazilu was interviewed in the General Prosecutor's Office as a further investigation of the events of 1989 in light of accusations surrounding Iliescu. "We hope to find the truth," he commented. The following year, Mazilu testified against Iliescu, stating "I am certain now that revolutions are conceived by idealists, enacted by fighters and taken advantage of by opportunists". Due to his role in the revolution, Mazilu's comments have raised him criticism with some Iliescu supporters branding him a traitor in light of the recent charges against Iliescu and the revolution of 1989. Mazilu is fluent in English, French, Russian and Italian.


Awards and recognition

Mazilu has been awarded the titles of Doctor Honoris Causa of both Romanian and foreign educational institutions, namely: American College of Switzerland (1991); of Bucharest (September 2002); Albert Schweitzer International University of
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
(November 2002); Honorary Member of the academic community of the (September 2003) of Bacău; Doctor of
Ovidius University Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the three ...
of
Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...
(April 2006). He is also a member of the Central European Science and Art Academy (since 2000); member of the Balkan Academy of Sciences (since May 2002); member of the International Diplomatic Academy (since June 2002); associate member of the European Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters (since July 2002). Mazilu has received numerous awards for his scientific and legal activity: "Simion Bărnuțiu" award of the
Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...
(1973); "Media Peace Prize" (Geneva, 1980); "Hugo Grotius" Award (New York, 1984); "Andrei Rădulescu" Award (1999) and "Vespasian Pella" (2002), awarded by The Jurists of Romania's Union of Excellence, awarded by Radio in Bucharest, January 2004. Also, in December 2004, his work "Diplomacy. Diplomatic and consular law" was recognized with the Jurists' Union's "Vespasian Pella" award in Romania. In 1999 he was awarded the "Medaglia Pontificia" by the
Vatican State Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and seat of the Catholic Church. It became independent from the Kingdom of Italy in ...
, and in 2003 – at the "new Architecture of Peace" Congress – he was awarded the title "Architecture of Peace". In 2002, he received the International order "Science – Education – Culture", Commander rank, awarded by the European information Academy. In 2004 he received the
Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...
, Knight rank. In recognition of his contribution to the defense of human rights during the years of the communist dictatorship in Romania, Mazilu was nominated for the
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
by the International Diplomatic Academy in 2003.


Published works

Mazilu has published 43 books and over 500 specialized studies and articles. These include the following. * ''Treaty on the Law of the sea'' (1980, as revised in 2002); * ''The Stolen Revolution'' (1991); * ''Peace Treaty on the right'' (1998); * ''General Theory of entitlement'' (1999); * ''Rights of Man – Concept, demanding and contemporary realities'' (2000); * ''Right of International Trade – the general part'' (2000); * ''Right of International Trade – Special Part'' (1999); * ''European integration. Community law and European Institutions'' (2000); * ''Public International Law'' (2 vol. 2001–2002); * ''Treaty on the theory and practice of the negotiations'' (2002); * ''Diplomacy. As the diplomatic and consular'' (2003); * ''The Law of Peace'' (2003); * ''Path to Truth'' (2003); * ''Prohibition of War as a Means of Solving International Conflicts'' (2003); * ''Peace – a dialectic Process'' (2004); * ''Right of International Trade. The current trends and developments'' (2004); * ''Fundamental principles and norms of the Law of Peace'' (2005); * ''Norms on organization and conducting war'' (2005); * ''European Diplomacy'' (2008).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazilu, Dumitru 1934 births Living people People from Bacău University of Bucharest alumni Romanian anti-communists Romanian diplomats Romanian dissidents People of the Romanian revolution National Salvation Front (Romania) politicians Members of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights Romanian social democrats Romanian democracy activists Knights of the Order of the Star of Romania