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Dictatorship and Human Rights Abuse in Belarus

Anonymous 




Self-styled Europe's last dictator. That’s what the civil society and Belarussian opposition call Aleksander Lukashenko. He has been the president of the Republic of Belarus since 1994. How did he become the head of state? Has Belarus ever been a democratic country? How does current Belarussian government abuse human rights? How do parliamentary and presidential usually work? In this article, I will try to answer all of these questions and tell you about my own experience living in Belarus. 

 

Historical Background 

After the dissolution of USSR, the Belarussian parliament decided to create the country’s own constitution because the laws of USSR’s did not account for the office of the president, and, until 1994, the country was run by the Chairmen of the Supreme Council. Belarus was a parliamentary-presidential republic, where the council held the authority to enact legislation. Then, Aleksander Lukashenko won the first democratic presidential elections. It was the last democratic elections in my country.  

After a year of his presidentship, Lukashenko decided to change the country’s flag and emblem. To do that, he organized the referendum, which was falsified. These are the real and historical emblem and flag of Belarus from before the referendum: 

 





Figure 1. Historical Flag and Emblem of Belarus 

 

And these are the emblem and flag after the referendum. Notice how much they resemble the symbols of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic: 

 



Figure 2. Belarussian Flag and Emblem After the Referendum of 1995 

 

 



Figure 3. The Flag and Emblem of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic 

 

After the referendum in 1995, Lukashenko decided to amend the constitution. He wanted to have unlimited power in the country, so he held a new referendum in 1996. It, too, was non-democratic. Having discovered how falsified it was, the council decided to vote on presidential impeachment. In response, Lukashenko dissolved the council, while the country’s constitution prevented the members of parliament from counteracting his actions. He then extended his presidential term by two years and dissolved the parliament in order to establish a new one, which has been under his control ever since. What it means is that Belarus lost democracy in 1996.  

My grandparents remember those times very well. People weren’t ready to build building a new and independent country, and it was hard to think about democracy when you didn’t have any food in your fridge. People just wanted to live the life they had in USSR, and Lukashenko promised to give it to them.  

 

The 2020 Elections and Protests 

The 2020 elections sparked the biggest protest in my country. That was the time people decided to choose democracy and end Lukashenko’s dictatorship.  

There were a few other candidates who, in order to run in the elections, had to collect at least 400 000 signatures: Viktor Babaryko, Sergey Tikhanovsky and Valery Tsepkalo. Ultimately, none of them would be on the ballot. 

Tikhanovsky was a blogger, and he ran his own YouTube channel. He didn’t collect 400 000 signatures. He was sent to prison, and his family also lost any contact with him. After he was arrested, his wife Sviatlana decided to take part in the elections, instead. She was the only democratic candidate in the running. 

According to the government elections commission, Lukashenko won the 2020 elections with 80% of the vote, while Tikhanovskaya got only 10%. However, according to independent research, it was Tikhanovskaya who won the elections with at least 60% of the vote. On the day after the elections, Tikhanovskaya tried to complain about the falsification of the results. She was detained for seven hours and had to leave the country.  

I remember those days very well, and I hoped that she would win. I was very sad the morning the results were published. 

 



Figure 4. People Demonstrating with the Flag of Free Belarus 

 



Figure 5. Police Violence Towards Protesters 

 

 



 

Figure 6. Thousands of People Protesting Lukashenko's Dictatorship 

 

 

Figure 7. A Protester Detained by the Police in Minsk 

After the elections, Belarus fell into unrest and massive protests began. They were organized through Telegram, which was the safest messenger. In response, the government decided to turn off the internet connection in the whole country for three days.  

There were protests every Sunday until December 2021. I took part in one. It was a scary but interesting experience, and am I proud that I also tried to fight for my country’s freedom. Now, people are too afraid of jail and the government. Nobody is willing to protest because they know that it is a simple way to die in jail. 

Women also played a huge role in those protests. They often tried to protect men from police. They organized some peaceful demonstrations with flowers, but, unfortunately, they were also beaten and abused by the police. For example, my Russian teacher was seriously tortured by the police. She didn’t want to speak about it because it is a painful topic for her. I cannot say what the police did to her because it is too scary. My Belarussian teacher was also subjected to torture, but she saved her job only because the school needed teachers. When people started to leave the country, it was hard to find a good good teacher. 

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in September 2020, in total at least three and a half thousand protesters were detained. On several occasions, physical force and riot gear, including tear gas and water cannons, as well as warning shots in the air, were used against the protesters. 

 

Torture and Human Rights Abuse 

Protesters were tortured by the police. I know of cases when the police abused people who tried to hide from them in a grocery shop. Armed officers came into the shop and beat and tortured women and men while children and bystanders could only watch this happen. 

There was also torture in prisons. The most famous prison in Minsk is the Okrestina isolation centre. This is a place where they brought all captured protesters. They were usually sentenced for 15-30 days. I heard some stories that there were up to 20 people in one small jail cell, which was built for 8 people at the most, and there were no beds nor showers there. It was a hard experience for women because their relatives could not send them neither clothes nor hygiene products.  

The detainees didn’t have access to clear water, and they had to eat stale bread. They were also beaten by the police, and there were some reports of sexual violence, which I do not want to talk about because it is a painful topic for me.  




 



Figure 8. A Protester Showing Bruises and Wounds from Tortures, Okrestina, 2020. 

 

My Perspective and the Future 

This has been my first news report. I have really wanted to tell you everything you need to know about human rights abuse and the protests in my country.  

It has been really hard for me to write this. I was 13 years old and I had to grow up fast. I saw tortures with my own eyes, and, believe me, it’s is hard to understand that you don’t have any rights in your country.  

I heard about Okrestina from my history teacher. All these things are real, and they took place not so far from us, maybe 200-300 km. The biggest protest in my country happened in 2020. There were between 200.000-500.000 people in attendance. And it took place in Minsk. 

Sometimes I was bullied by my teachers in Belarus only because of my political views.  Now I have to check my mobile phone before I visit my country. And I do this only because the border control could do it, too. They usually look for photos from protests, and you may go to prison if you liked some post published by the opposition or free press in social medias. If you commented on such a post, you would definitely go to prison.  

Teenagers my age don’t want to think about the future. They want to have a good time today because they know there is no future in my country. An average teenager in Belarus dreams about leaving the country, but there are also those who enjoy the “democracy” there and don’t want to leave. 

 

Doronina, E. (2024, July 20). Belarus: Alexander Lukashenko has been in power 30 years. Deutsche Welle. https://www.dw.com/en/belarus-alexander-lukashenko-has-been-in-power-30-years/a-69716090  

Human Rights Centre “Viasna”. (2020). Human Rights Situation in Belarus in 2020. Spring96.org https://spring96.org/files/reviews/en/review_2020_en.pdf  

Okrestina. (2024, October 28). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Okrestina&oldid=1253858978  

 

 

 

 

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