Day By Day

Sunday, March 27, 2005

The Limits of Reform -- Belarus cracks down

Gateway Pundit links to a report from the Human Rights Center Viasna to the effect that,
Belarusian authorities use more and more violent, ruthless and provocative methods of struggle with their opponents

Human Rights Center Viasna is extremely concerned with the intensification of repressions against representatives of democratic opposition during the last months. Well-known public and political activists of Belarus are put behind bolt and bar for the reasons that are invented or provoked by the authorities.

Read the whole thing here. This is the first case in which democracy protestors have encounted strong and effective resistance. If Belarusian authorities are successful in squelching the democracy initiative it will certainly not be the last.

It is quite possible that the early success of the global democracy movement was less revealing of the strength of democratic aspirations than the fragility of the authoritarian regimes that were toppled.

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