Subr
Subr ( Belarusian : ЗУБР ; English Zubr ) was a youth organization in Belarus , which was in opposition to President Aljaksandr Lukashenka . It was influenced by the Otpor student movement and by Gene Sharp's writings on Nonviolent Action . Subr became internationally known when the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met her leaders in Lithuania in 2005 .
The organization is named after the bison ( Latin bison bonasus ; Russian Зубр ), which is revered as a heraldic animal in Belarus. As a founding year of Subr 2001 applies, when President Lukashenka introduced two years after the expiry of his term in office for the first time for re-election. In protest against the suppression of the opposition, youth groups formed (mainly in the regional capitals of the country) who wanted to draw attention to the illegality of the election with unorthodox forms of protest and supported the opposition candidate Uladsimir Hancharyk . It was noteworthy that Subr had relatively expensive materials without any organizational connection to the established political forces in the country, so that not only was speculation from the government side, the groups received financial support from western countries.
In fact, in addition to the organization of spontaneous demonstrations , the targeted placement of stickers with slogans and symbols of the organization in public space was one of the forms of action Subrs , which was associated with some financial expense with the Belarusian income situation at the time and doubts about the self-image as a largely decentralized youth organization are being voiced let. However, during its existence between 2001 and 2006, the organization was denied official registration under the given political conditions, so that a large part of its activities took place in an illegal or semi-legal framework, which left space for diverse speculations and assumptions. In addition to financing, this also includes the question of authorship for opposition campaigns:
In the American media, for example, it is claimed that the attempt to build on the Orange Revolution in Ukraine with a Belarusian jeans revolution in the presidential elections in 2006 goes back to Subr .
The members of the organization were often persecuted and arrested under the authoritarian state structures in Lukashenka’s Belarus. On December 23, 2005, activists Pawel Modscharo , Aljaksandr Marosau and others were arrested for illegally possessing drugs that had previously been slipped to them by plainclothes police. On February 16, 2006 , Subr leaders Aleh Mjazelitsa and Pawel Juchnewitsch were arrested after the police had stopped a peaceful demonstration for the release of various political prisoners . Two other members were arrested for distributing stickers critical of Lukashenko on February 20, 2006.
During the 2006 elections, Subr was closely tied to the opposition candidate of the United Democratic Forces Belarus, Alyaksandr Milinkevich . In the run-up to the elections, Subr organized demonstrations against election fraud, but, unlike the student organizations in Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine, was unable to achieve their goals. The tent camp that they set up in Minsk was finally evacuated by police force and the protests came to an end.
Subr continued to work after the elections, but had to withstand increased state repression. In May 2006, the organization announced the end of its activities under the name Subr and merged with various other Belarusian opposition forces.
Web links
- BELL campaign by Students for Global Democracy
- Belarusians Wear Jeans in Silent Protest
- Banana Revolutions and Banana Skins
Individual evidence
- ↑ Radio Free Europe : Belarus: Young People Demonstrate Against Lukashenka , accessed on May 17, 2011.
- ↑ Radio Free Europe : Belarus: Security Bill To Criminalize Range Of Political Activities , accessed May 17, 2011
- ↑ These speculations were mainly fueled by the arrest of foreign supporters of Subrs - for example from Georgia , whose rose revolution of 2003 was also suspected to have Western supporters.
- ↑ Man's Disappearance Spurs Wife's Activism , accessed May 17, 2011.
- ↑ ABC News : Belarusians Wear Jeans in Silent Protest , accessed May 17, 2011.
- ↑ see e.g. Radio Free Europe of October 20, 2004: Belarus: Scores Arrested, Opposition Leader Hospitalized After Minsk Protests , accessed on May 17, 2011.
- ↑ Radio Free Europe : Results Show Lukashenka Victorious, And Thousands Protest , accessed May 17, 2011.