People inspire, state shocks. On the current situation in Belarus – An Interview with Aleh Hulak

People inspire, state shocks. On the current situation in Belarus – An Interview with Aleh Hulak 900 450 HM-Berlin


People inspire, state shocks. On the current situation in Belarus  – An Interview with Aleh Hulak

Date published: 19.05.2021

The walls are closing in on civil society in Europe and globally. Human rights violations are part of the day-to-day life of many citizens. These regressions of fundamental rights and attacks on civil society increasingly diminish the democratic space for activism and threaten the safety of its defenders. In this interview series, Hafiza Merkezi Berlin wants to highlight the struggles for human rights and against the shrinking civic space by interviewing the people on the frontlines. In these national and transnational cases, we find patterns of attacks, but also examples of local, national, and transnational solidarity that empower and equip civil society in the struggle.
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The presidential election in Belarus in 2020 made as many news headlines worldwide as never before. First came the surprising popularity of an oppositional “female-trio”, then unprecedented political mobilisation of the traditionally passive Belarusians, and finally mass peaceful protests against the electoral fraud by Alexander Lukashenka for half a year. The unbelievably inhumane state repressions after the elections were shocking even for a 26-year-old Belarusian autocracy. Even though Belarus only rarely gets international media mentions nowadays, the situation there remains dramatic and demands international solidarity and help.

Olga Dryndova spoke to Aleh Hulak, chairman of the human rights organisation “Belarusian Helsinki Committee” in Minsk, for Hafiza Merkezi Berlin about the disappearing rule-of-law state, the new political reality, and his hopes for a better Belarus.

Aleh, could you explain to us in what way the current level of human rights violations in Belarus is different from the previous one? It is not that easy to understand for those who never lived in an autocracy.

Aleh Hulak (AH): Well, it all started with the scope of repressions before the elections. We have never seen that many preventive measures towards civic activists, bloggers, and potential candidates before. One had a feeling that everybody who could have been active during the electoral campaign was already in prison before it started. During the elections, we had also never seen so many arrests before. Election observers were detained by the police at the polling stations, just for doing their job. We also understood that our electoral system actually cannot organise elections properly. Electoral participation in Belarus 2020 was so high that there were not enough ballots at some polling stations, and those pictures of long queues of voters – we have never had it in Belarus. There was this feeling of a majority in the air – a majority against Lukashenka. That is why OMON (special police forces) came to take members of the election commissions out of the buildings after the counting was over. They were afraid of people not believing in the final numbers they pronounced.

The most shocking violations happened during the first nights after the elections, though. Thousands were tortured in prisons, there were cases of rape by the police, flashbang grenades, water cannons, and tear gas against protesters – all that was a new reality even for an autocratic Belarus. But also, the scale of protests was new – they lasted for half a year, which is almost unbelievable for politically passive Belarusians.

The aim of the authorities was to frighten people, to show the horror of repressions to all. But they had an opposite effect: they united people against the state terror, they made them showing solidarity to each other, and caused the biggest protests in Belarusian history.

"The aim of the authorities was to frighten people, to show the horror of repressions to all. But they had an opposite effect: they united people against the state terror, they made them show solidarity to each other, and caused the biggest protests in Belarusian history."

What about the current state of the rule of law in Belarus? Some experts speak of a “default of the legal system”. Do you agree with such evaluation? I mean, Belarus has actually never been a functioning rule-of-law state.

AH: Yes, but not to such a scale. Before, we at least had functioning legal mechanisms: formal answers, possibility for an appeal etc. Now we do not have any reaction from the legal system at all. There is not a single investigated case of torture; people are persecuted for reporting cases of torture, even in hospitals; lawyers are also under threat.

The Belarusian legal system has become completely grotesque – one has a feeling of living in an anti-utopian paradox. For example, you can be arrested for wearing white-red-white socks, or for decorating your window with red and white colors for Christmas (white-red-white are colours of oppositional symbols). Another example: a river rescue team was arrested for rescuing protesters who jumped in the river to escape the police. Even Lukashenka stated after the elections that “sometimes it is not about laws”. This turns out to be true – legal procedures seem to have been “dissolved”. We have been descending for over nine months already, but still have not reached the “legal bottom”. And it is not even on the horizon… What is frightening is that we do not know how to stop it, and people start getting used to it.

One more important thing is that we, human rights defenders, saw repressions in Belarus before, also tortures. But “normal” people seem to have understood only in August 2020 in what kind of autocracy they live in. Most of them could not imagine that kind of repressions in the middle of Europe, in the 21th century. They know it only from history books. Sometimes I hear comparisons with the Stalin time, with the year 1937. For me personally, it is difficult to make such comparisons – but what I definitely see in common is that repressions have suddenly become a state policy. And this is a Belarusian national disaster.

Tell me a bit more about how the new political reality is affecting the work of your organisation and your personal life. What has changed?

AH: Well, everything. We had to re-orient our priorities, we almost do not do any strategic planning, do not deal with long-term problems. We are overflooded with the running requests. People are now better informed about what human rights organisations are and how they can help them.

We used to cooperate with authorities, for example on the issue of death penalty, which is still implemented in Belarus. But now it is all over. We are actually a registered organisation in Belarus, although our bank account was closed by the authorities. Earlier we at least understood the “rules of the game”. Now it is unclear. I cannot separate my work from my private life – I do understand that my arrest is a question of political order.

Also, other NGOs face difficulties: a lot of criminal cases are in process, also against individuals (over 3000 in total for April, 2021), possibilities for international financial help get even more limited. Anything is under pressure that can help a street activity: educational activities, donation platforms, networking formats etc. We have never had such a long anti-NGO wave here.

"We had to re-orient our priorities, we almost do not do any strategic planning, do not deal with long-term problems. We are overflooded with the running requests. People are now better informed about what human rights organisations are and how they can help them."

What are the processes one can observe now in the Belarusian society? What has changed after 2020?

AH: Definitely a broad politicisation, a sudden interest for politics among Belarusians. I would also mention a prompt “jump” in civic consciousness – it does not mean we have suddenly built a developed civil society like in western Europe, but we are on the way. Also, impressive solidarity and self-organisation, including readiness for crown-funding – it all started during the pandemic, as the authorities denied the danger of Covid-19. And all this happens after 26 years of systematic suppression of any civic initiative. The paternalistic Belarusian state strived for years for a monopoly of problem-solving; now people want to solve their problems on their own. In addition to that: the feeling of an anti-Lukashenka majority – I can perceive it even now after mass protests have gone. I see a certain split in society between those in favour and against Lukashenka. Though the level of hysteric hatred to the opponents comes more from state media, not from people. People are more afraid of the police, not of the other citizens with different political views.

What stands behind the peaceful nature of the mass protest in spite of the unprecedented police violence? What does it tell us about the Belarusian society?

AH: You know, for me, it was more a celebration, not a protest. I saw those happy and inspired faces, those flowers, and peaceful and humorous posters. We got a feeling that we were People. Maybe for the first time, it was a collective feeling. And the agenda was positive, unlike during the election protests in 2006 or 2010. I thought of those mass celebrations in the Soviet Union – they all were somehow artificial for me. During the protests-2020, for the first time, I saw people I really wanted to live together within one city. Even after the escalation of repressions in November, 2020 people stayed peaceful. I think there is a request for a peaceful future in Belarus – without violence, without a war, without revenge. But the people’s mood can change, of course.

"Even after the escalation of repressions in November, 2020 people stayed peaceful. I think there is a request for a peaceful future in Belarus – without violence, without a war, without revenge."

What are the international (solidarity) networks that are helpful for the Belarusian protest movement? Do they have any political leverage?

AH: Different international networks existed before, of course. But now they became more active and new players appear. We know about the International Accountability Platform for Belarus (IAPB) which is a union of European and American human rights organisations with the aim to collect and preserve evidence of grave human rights violations. We observe Lithuania trying to apply the principle of universal jurisdiction to prosecute the perpetrators in Belarus over their crimes under international law. These initiatives are very important for making pressure, showing solidarity, and preparing Belarus for the period after Lukashenka. But we should not have any illusion and hope it would be political leverage to make the current regime in Belarus change – for these aims, there are no direct pressure instruments.

I was also positively surprised by the activities of the Belarusian diaspora abroad – they have provided significant financial assistance to the protest movement, they managed to bring the crisis in Belarus to the agenda in the Western media, and they successfully lobbied the Belarusian question on the political level.

Also, the “soft-power” of professional communities and business plays a crucial role. Sportsmen, medical staff, students, workers, women … – they can all show solidarity with their Belarusian counterparts, and we should not underestimate the effect it has on people in Belarus. They really need every word of support not to give up. The abolition of the Ice Hockey Championship in Belarus 2021 is a good example of international solidarity. The human rights-based approach should become decisive in international business.

Do you think the West understands what is going on in Belarus? What help do you expect from the EU or its member states? 

AH: If we compare the scale of repressions and the reaction of the EU on it in 2010 and 2020, it is anything else than proportional. The repressions in Belarus are unprecedented, while the EU-answer is a moderate one. But we also understand that the EU has to deal with other problems now: pandemic, democracy deficits within the EU, security challenges in Europe, etc. Belarus is not at the centre of the agenda, we know that.

Also, our situation is so difficult to explain through the language of reports and figures… You should feel it, and it is possible, only if you live in the country, if every noise in front of your door makes you startle, thinking they might have come to “take you”. It is devastating.

Is there still anything that could be done to help us? Of course!

First, try to keep Belarus high on the agenda. Both in the media and in politics. This could be done by journalists, civil society, diaspora. Second, please help our disappearing civil society – it could be financial help, networking, capacity building, the spread of information, cooperation, etc. Third, be solidaric – everywhere! In politics, sports, business, universities. Fourth, think of a “positive” agenda and the future of cooperation with Belarus in the long run, not only of the current problems, repressions and hopelessness. Finally, try not to be too radical about Belarus – many think either the revolution wins, or Belarus becomes part of Russia. There is always a middle, Belarus is and will remain a European country, we are all part of a common home named “Europe”.

"Our situation is so difficult to explain through the language of reports and figures. You should feel it, and it is possible, only if you live in the country, if every noise in front of your door makes you startle, thinking they might have come to “take you”. It is devastating."

What surprised you most of all in 2020? What was most shocking? What gave you hope and admiration?

AH:  I was disappointed by some reputable colleagues, I mean people working in the legal system and producing “fake sentences” on such a scale. How could they stay in the “system” under such conditions? What reasons did they find to go on? Is it money? Status? I am clueless.  Or those working in state structures and denunciating their colleagues for political reasons. I can’t stop thinking of Germany in the 30s – of how those demoralization processes in society are similar to what is happening now in Belarus. History is not teaching us anything. It is just shocking.

What gave me inspiration? It is people, once again. Other people, new Belarusians. I was surprised how humane they are, how brave and how genuine – people I have been living close to for many years, not knowing anything about them. Now I love them, and they give me hope for a better Belarus.

Aleh Hulak is chairman of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, expert in human rights, business & human rights, equality and non-discrimination, human rights-based approach, and member of the Coordination Council for International Technical Cooperation under the Commission for International Technical Cooperation under the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus. He is a laureate of the German-French Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law (2016).

Olga Dryndova is a political scientist from Belarus. She is editor in chief of a German-language journal “Belarus-Analysen” at the Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen. She is also working as an independent consultant on Belarus, authoritarianism, and democracy assistance, and as a coordinator of a civil society international project “Network for Belarus”. Twitter: @OlgaDryndova

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