Mutual assistance and solidarity is what we can do right now

Autumn is coming into its own: the grass and leaves turn yellow, nature and life freeze, preparing for winter. The sunny days are getting shorter and shorter, and the mood is trying to slide somewhere into melancholy and sadness. Moreover, there are no significant positive changes observed either in the region or in our country.

However, everything looks this way only at first glance. Today we will talk about just that positive thing that can bring a little light to the surrounding reality, which mainly consists of a viscous jelly of successive crises. Namely about solidarity.

Throughout the history of independent Belarus, the country has seen a confrontation between authoritarianism, dictatorship and violation of human rights on the one hand and freedom, independence and democracy on the other. At times this confrontation took truly fierce forms; it always had its heroes, villains and a huge number of victims. Every small victory of democracy and the forces opposing Lukashenko’s regime was most often met with a real tsunami of reaction, sometimes sweeping away the achieved heights of freedom. We can recall numerous clashes with the regime, most often timed to coincide with presidential elections in the country, when the united opposition forces went into head-on confrontation with armed bandits in the squares of the capital and beyond. It is known how all such battles ended - dozens of criminal cases, beatings, broken destinies of people, torture and even murders of those undesirable by the regime.

Action dedicated to missing journalists and politicians

Time passed, and for various reasons, the practice of persecuting dissent in Belarus expanded, and the methods of suppressing the rebels were improved. Time after time, mass marches, rallies, strikes and demonstrations were broken by punitive shields and criminal sentences for the protest leaders. So has all political and civil life in the country really come to naught over time? In no case! Freedom always finds space to sprout. And at this point I would like to turn to historical information regarding the political movement in the country, which was perhaps the most uncompromising opponent of the dictatorship - the anarchist one.

At the moment when anarchists began to represent a real political force and actually flourished in all the variety of different activities from free libraries and educational circles to radical rebels, the general space of acceptable freedom in the country was completely collapsing. Most of the large party associations have outlived their usefulness, turning into small circles of trusted persons, or more often - simply structures infiltrated by KGB agents. Political and civil life consisted of rare bursts of situational protests, which were a response to the regime’s too obvious attacks on the rights of citizens, for example, the protest against the “decree on parasites.” Why is it that at this very time, various anarchist associations and circles begin to appear like mushrooms after rain, capable at a critical moment of not only repelling punitive forces at street protests, but also leading rallies and demonstrations? The answer lies in the structure within which cooperation between members of the movement took place. To be more precise - lack of structure .

Anarchists have always adhered to the tactics of affinity groups , which were formed from close friends, acquaintances and trusted guys. With rare exceptions, such groups consisted of up to 10 people and were engaged in clearly defined activities. Those who were going to engage in education read books and organized independent, open spaces and libraries of radical thought, while others learned to mix Molotov cocktails and be sure to run, because “ do good and run ” has not been canceled. These groups could not be infiltrated by agents of the regime, they could not be controlled, it was impossible to keep track of everyone, and repression of part of the movement could not destroy it entirely. The commonality of interests and the desire to confront the main enemy made it possible, if necessary, not only to mobilize one’s own forces, but also to include or be included in mass actions as part of a common opposition front. This was achieved through painstaking work to establish communication networks with representatives of all existing active opponents of Lukashenko’s dictatorship. But let’s write the chronicle and fast forward to August 2020 and the following months.

The obvious fact was that in extreme situations, even people unfamiliar with each other are capable of communicating and even collaborating. Having been defeated in yet another head-on clash with the trained and equipped killers of the regime, the Belarusians moved on to more long-term and sustainable confrontation tactics. It was then that people first realized how much they had in common, including the desire for change in political life, and many literally met their neighbors for the first time in the stairwell, sheltering each other from raids by crazed scum in uniform. The self-formed associations at this stage resisted the punitive expeditions of the regime’s security forces for months, supporting each other who suffered from repression and continuing to organize protests. This was the beginning of a rather long phase of the Belarusian revolution, which was fundamentally based on horizontal ties between people and communities.

Memorial event at the site of the murder of Roman Bondarenko

Many of these associations laid the foundation for entire communities of opponents of the regime in exile, some remained and continue quiet but very important activities, many are waiting for the moment to once again stretch these networks of solidarity and mutual assistance throughout the country.

And here we are, in the fall of 2023, suppressed by the endless stream of repressions from Belarus, mired in the horrors of news from Ukraine, not quite understanding what to do. We will share our vision of what we are doing, and maybe this will be the answer to many important questions. We (human rights organizations, civil activists, relief funds and various initiatives) have long been doing nothing but living in the web. It's in the web. First of all, most of us realized that alone and even in relatively large groups it would be difficult for us to resist the machine of the state system, whose goal is the destruction of rights and freedoms. Slowly we emerged from the shadows and tried to discern others like ourselves in the surrounding darkness. There were a lot of them. We realized that we are different: we have different visions and methods, our goals may also differ, but the commonality of principles and values is obvious. Then we decided not to build a huge hive organization for everyone, where the role of each and everyone would be reduced to the role of a worker bee, and a small group of drones would enjoy all the preferences. No, we decided to create a web, to establish a connection that only points the direction and gives some support.

Literally, it works as if someone needs help, he just pulls a thread, pulls it, and those who are nearby are already ready to help and advise, or send this message further along our common web. After all, somewhere in it there will definitely be someone or someone who can help. Yes, we also have problems and misunderstandings, because this world is not ideal. Among us right now there are clumsy, selfish bugs who are only interested in quantitative indicators and who, with awkward movements, sometimes spoil the filigree pattern of our common solidarity. But we learn, teach others and continue to weave this pattern no matter what. We are confident that many of you have come into contact with the networks we have spread and, perhaps, are full-fledged partners in a common cause. Because if not, you have this opportunity right now. Just contact one of us, think about how you can help, or maybe what kind of help you need - at this moment you are already with us, a full-fledged participant in the spread of solidarity and respect for human rights.

We don't know which example of horizontal, peer-to-peer collaboration is clearest, or which you would consider most effective today or tomorrow, but we are confident that now is the time to try. While in Belarus, form a group of like-minded people and educate people, gain skills for certain actions with comrades and comrades, volunteer within a human rights organization or initiative, register a fund to help victims of emigration, or simply help people on an ongoing basis or situationally - you can choose anything . We need everything. Let's weave solidarity together!