29 March 2024, Friday, 7:57
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Step To Law

7
Step To Law
Volha Mayorava

The society will inevitably react to the police’s mayhem. Our country has preserved the guerrilla traditions.

- Why aren’t you getting your salary for the third month in a row?

- I thought, like, “They gave me a bludgeon, so, as they say, only the fast survive!”

Here we go again – that policeman from a joke dated 90s is on stage again. However, it’s even worse now – the chieftain is running out of gold. So, it will soon become difficult to pay all those on whose backs the Belarusian regime is lying, with a pay card. As a result, the “bludgeon” started making frequent appearances in the media: a disabled person dragged down the stairs on his back, a young healthy man gets out of prison in a coffin, with traces of tortures on his body, a policeman beats a 9-year-old kid…

My hand gets frozen, refusing to write down the continuation of this sad list. I can see that the police violence is moving beyond the borders our society is used to. If earlier civil activists and journalists made the group of risk to be beaten by police, than now any person of any age is starting to realize they can be beaten with an absolute impunity.

The system will protect its people and let them continue carrying out their mayhem. Because, this system is ruled by the people wearing the NKVD uniform, thus demonstrating which “methods of work” they accept. Because in Belarus there are 7 times more policemen per capita than in civilized countries. Because, when a guy was expelled from a construction school for an academic failure, he came to work in the police. He cannot be trusted with a bricklayer's trowel, but they give him weapons.

The only question is whether the authorities realize, that the society’s reaction will inevitable come in a perspective (probably even close perspective), as the society will have nothing to fear – a person can be beaten or killed in any case, regardless of whether they come out to demonstrate or just return from a second job.

The society will react in any case. Our country has preserved the guerrilla traditions. However, we have no experience of civilized problem-solving, they don’t let us get it. We have no local self-governance, no elections, no open discussion on TV, no nothing.

We don’t have a single mechanism which would allow the civil society to control the force structures. Belarus has firmly stuck in the early- feudalistic swamp, and the rule of force defeated the force of law. Still, it would be enough to put our head out and poke how the world tends to solve similar problems.

There are two things which our Belarus apparently needs, and the absence thereof would surprise any European:

- The force structures should be headed by civil persons, who would have a clear concept in their heads that armed people are hired by the society for the society, not for creating their own state inside of a state;

- There is a need to launch an institution of a commissioner for human rights. As the disease of rightlessness and violence in our country remains chronic and has approached an advanced stage, we also need commissioners for children’s rights, and for convicts’ rights. Their high status should be confirmed by the Constitution and the special law.

In early 2010, the UN Human Rights Council recommended that the Belarusian authorities should establish such a position at the time of submission of the next report, that is, by the beginning of 2014. However, at the official level, this recommendation was ignored. Why? See the second paragraph above. However, the possibility to appoint a comfortable person at this position was considered. You and I should not even take the time to discuss this option. It is so obviously harmful and stupid.

Without civil control, without the reform of the judicial-legislative system, with the authorities paying the force structures by covering their crimes – do not complain, dear sirs. Do not accuse the opposition of destabilizing the society. You will be blamed for radicalization of the people’s moods alone. It’s you, and only you, who push the people to the vigilante justice, to the terrible ancient principle of “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”. Don’t ironize. Don’t wave off or hide behind your cynicism. It won’t be funny for anyone. Not you, not the police, not the citizens.

We have created a civil initiative and we named it “Step To Law”. We have done this also to remind about what I just said.

We offer reforms, public discussion. We offer to make a STEP TO LAW.

Volha Mayorava, specially for charter97.org

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