Charter 97: Belarusians similar to Czechs will Wait for the Changes to Come :: Charter'97 :: News

30 years ago at the beginning of December 1977 the Charter 77, manifesto of the Czech dissidents, was published in the western press. According to the estimation of Vaclav Havel, one of the Charter’ founders, who later moved from the dissidents to the presidents , the Charter served the model of how to oppose the totalitarian regime which had all the powerful devices in its hands. The Charter’s experience was followed by Belarusian as well as by North-Korean, Cuban and Burma dissidents. It seems that charter has brought something that has survived the epoch of the Communism crash,” finishes Vaclav Havel.

The principle of the Charter is based on the intention to demand from the Communism everything that it declared on paper .Thus, in the first document of the Charter its authors demanded from the then-power to implement the provisions of the Constitution of the CSSR, to respect human rights as the power was bound by the previously signed Helsinki pact. The Charter 77 was signed by such persons as Vaclav Havel and Pavel Kohout, playwrights, Irgi Nemec, a philosopher, Pavel Landovsky , an actor, Jan Patočka, a professor, Ivan Klima and Ludwig Vaculik , writers, Piotr Ugle, a journalist and others –totally around 250 people. The regime answered by hard countermeasures, trying to make other famous persons sign the Anticharter. The same year Vaclav Havel was imprisoned. However that couldn’t terminate the process of the society’s wakeup for freedom. It was 12 years before the velvet revolution in the country.

When in Czechoslovakia the Charter 77 appeared for protection of the Czech rock-musicians, the Charter 97 in Belarus was initiated by the journalists. 1997 is remembered in Belarus for the arrest of the ORT journalists, for closing the “Svaboda” newspaper, for pressure at the independent press.

According to the reminiscences of Zmitser Bandarenka,” At that moment of announcing the Charter in Belarus there existed rather diversified structures of different political parties which participated in elections. And at the moment of the Charter 77 the situation was different. But both Charters were united by the common struggle for freedom , for independence of their countries. We can find much in common between them. When meeting the veterans of the Charter 77 we feel that they very well understand our situation.

In Belarus the Charter 97 was first signed by 100 famous persons and totally it has been signed by 100 thousand people. The information on the charter foundation was published by the Belarusian mass media. And is there any sense in further signing of the Charter 97?

“At present it is senseless. At that time among the major reasons it was the integration of democratic forces. There was also the desire for new democratic persons to appear. At the first press-conference, when the initiative of the Charter97 was declared Alayksandr Milinkevich, Viktar Karnienka, Alyaksandr Dabravolsky, Liudmila Hryaznova, Andrei Sannikov, Nikalay Chalezin were present. The organizing committee was at different times represented by Viktar Ivashkevich, Vintsuk Vyachorka… we can mention many more. But when the coordination union of democratic forces was organized in 1998 we generally decided that the aim had been attained. At that time the integration really took place .It was the real consensus under those conditions at that time,” says Bandarenka.

Both the Charter’97 and the Charter 77 were opposed by the anticharters The anticharter in Belarus was initiated by Viktar Chykin the –then communist leader. Mister Chykin suggested the Charter 98.According to Mr. Bandarenka it was a propagandistic step and very soon the initiative was over.

“And nowadays when Belarusian TV channels demonstrate the Charter’97site the Charter 98 is never recalled as a counter-variant. Nobody remembers it,” says the fighter for human rights .
What did the Charter’97 inherited from the Czech experience?

“The major experience is the attention to every struggling person. And today the facts that the families of the repressed get support and assistance, that the information about political prisoners is instantly distributed worldwide , the information on Lukashenka’s dictatorship, the facts that repressed Belarusian students are given the possibility to study abroad-that is the major inheritance. In the history of the Belarusian opposition such word-combination as the Charter’97 will remain,”- is sure Zmitser Bandarenka.

The Czech Charter’97 actually gained the establishment of democracy in the country 12 years after, when the velvet revolution took place. What are the prospects for Belarus from the viewpoint of the Charter’97?

“It took them 12 years. In our case, only 10 years passed. There are another two years in store for us to achieve the goal .Though, certainly, we dreamed that the changes would take place in Belarus much quicker, we do not doubt for a single moment that Belarus will become a democratic country, friendly to the European Union,” declares Zmitser Bandarenka.