One Week After Election, Belarus Sees Giant Protests Against ‘Europe’s Last Dictator’
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Protesters gather near the Minsk Hero City Obelisk in Belarus on Aug. 16 to protest the results of last week’s presidential election, which are widely seen as fraudulent.
Valery Sharifulin/Valery Sharifulin/TASS
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Women In Belarus Take To The Streets To Protest Post-Election Crackdown
In her message, Tikhanovskaya also called for mayors across the country to organize peaceful rallies over the weekend.
«There are new types of peaceful protests on the streets of our cities,» she said. «Women with flowers are coming out in solidarity. They are not belligerent in any way. They are showing the whole world that we Belarusians are open and honest people, and we are against violence.»
Sunday’s demonstrations were a continued response to more violent scenes from earlier in the week, when police cracked down on peaceful protesters in what Amnesty International described as a «campaign of widespread torture and other ill-treatment.»
Police used unnecessary and excessive force on protesters in the streets and in detention centers, according to human rights groups and eyewitness accounts.
The Belarusian Ministry of the Interior said 6,700 people were detained over the first four days of protests. The ministry said that as of Friday, some 2,000 detainees were released as part of a gradual process, the Associated Press reported.
According to local media reports, the whereabouts of about 80 detainees were unknown as of Sunday.
At least 250 people were injured since the start of the demonstrations, according to the United Nations. Amnesty International said two protesters have died, one in a crowd in Minsk and one in custody in the city of Brest.
Amnesty said that with the aid of local human rights groups it has collected numerous testimonies from protesters across Belarus who described being tortured in detention centers «starting from the moment when they are dragged inside police buses.» Reports include being stripped naked, severely beaten and threatened with rape.
Dan Peleschuk, a freelance journalist detained in Minsk earlier this week, recalled his own experience and described the riot police as «violence-crazed thugs with great authority and a great amount of resources by the state» in an interview with NPR on Sunday.
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An Update On Ongoing Protests In Belarus
An Update On Ongoing Protests In Belarus
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He also noted that protesters come from all walks of life, including students, technology workers, small business owners and factory workers.
«There is no sense of radicalization among these protesters,» Peleschuk said. «It’s sort of a united front of social discontent.»
Absolutely insane scenes from Minsk. Hundreds of thousands of people, "paratroopers are with the people", "Beltelecom are on line with the people", underground metro drivers are with the people! This the the beginning of a beautiful story! pic.twitter.com/KIjvkGOFjl
— Tadeusz Giczan (@TadeuszGiczan) August 16, 2020
Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said earlier in the week that the massive arrests were a clear violation of international human rights standards.
«People have the right to speak up and express dissent, even more in the context of elections, when democratic freedoms should be upheld, not suppressed,» she said.
Bachelet called for the immediate release of everyone unlawfully detained and for thorough investigations into all allegations of human rights violations.
On Friday, EU foreign ministers echoed those calls, affirming their support for the protesters and saying they do not accept the election results because they consider them to have been falsified.
«Ministers also agreed on the need to sanction those responsible for violence, repression and the falsification of election results,» according to a statement from the office of Josep Borrell, the high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy. «The work on additional listings within the existing sanctions framework for Belarus will start immediately.»
So too has the Trump administration. In a statement last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, «We strongly condemn ongoing violence against protesters and the detention of opposition supporters, as well as the use of internet shutdowns to hinder the ability of the Belarusian people to share information about the election and the demonstrations.»
Pompeo also said the United States was «deeply concerned about the conduct of the August 9 presidential election in Belarus, which was not free and fair.»
Questions remain about the potential geopolitical ramifications of last week’s elections, including as they relate to the relationship between Belarus and Russia.
Lukashenko spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin twice over the weekend, who said Russia is ready to provide «comprehensive security assistance» in Belarus.
Also at Sunday’s rally, Lukashenko took issue with NATO military exercises happening in neighboring Poland and Lithuania and voiced concerns about foreign interference.
In response, a NATO spokesperson said on Twitter that there is no NATO buildup in the region. She described its presence in the eastern part of the alliance as «strictly defensive, proportionate & designed to prevent conflict & preserve peace.»
- Belarus election
- Alexander Lukashenko
- protests to bring change
- Minsk
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