World Wide Wave

23 Dec 2013

Belarus: Courageous in the face of oppression

Europe

Caroline Shepherd is impressed. And, as campaign coordinator for Amnesty International Australia, she’s seen a lot.

But the resiliance in Belarus is impressive. “It’s just sort of inspiring to see that despite the intimidation and the violence people face that they are determined and that they are still a very strong community,” says Ms Shepherd.

The laws in Belarus are quite repressive. Belarussians can’t have any organisation or hold a public event unless they get permission from the authorities – even a one person picket has to get permission. “In the case of LGBTQI events it is very rarely if ever granted,” observes Ms Shepherd.

As World Wide Wave covered in February, after Gay Belarus tried to register as a legitimate organisation, in the weeks following that there was a whole series of police raids and intimidation.  LGBTQI night clubs were raided, people were photographed and at least 60 of the people involved in trying to set up this LGBTQI organisation were summoned for questioning by police.

Despite all this ongoing repression, despite the violence, despite the attacks by police…LGBTQI people in Belarus are incredibly courageous and are finding many ways to continue their activities. “Last year, a group of LGBTQI activities hired a tram and held a party on a tram without the authorities interference,” said Ms Shepherd.

Find out more on W3JOY’s Belarus webpage.

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