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This first selection here is chosen and introduced
by Roberta Bacic:
In June 2001 the War Resisters League in the
United States produced its 2002 calendar based on this topic.
It was edited by Tom Hastings & Geov Parrish. In their
introduction they wrote:
“In 1989 alone, 3 nations, comprising
1.695.100.000 people – over 32 percent of humanity experienced
nonviolent revolutions that succeeded beyond anyone’s
wildest expectations in every case but China. We heard much
about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the iron curtain, but
very little about how they fell . . .
It is a truism that the 20th century was the
bloodiest in human history. It is, however, also true that
the 20th century has given us a remarkable number of examples
of masses of people demanding, and frequently getting, greater
freedom and relief from tyranny through nonviolent means.
In telling these world’s stories, our media, our historians,
our generals, and our politicians gravitate toward war. It
is the rest of humanity that gravitates towards peace, and
it is our stories that this calendar tells.”
We could argue if, in the societies where these
nonviolent actions happened, people experience at present
freedom and a just society, but what we can not argue is that
these happened and that nonviolence is still a valid means
to struggle that allows the social body to participate actively.
The challenge is always how to get these processes triggered,
started, implemented, followed up, etc.
Here we present three of these ‘true stories’
in the hope we can keep once in a while sharing some others.
The three chosen follow no other criteria but that they are
known and part of my own life experience.
From the murderous 1973 coup that took the life
of President Salvador Allende through 17 years of military
rule, the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet used torture and
assassination to instil terror into the Chilean people. For
a brave few, the plan did not work.
Opposition groups sprang up almost immediately,
taking risks large and small to protest for human rights and
democracy. In an atmosphere of renewed repression, after ten
years of dictatorship, a small group prepared to confront
the regime more openly. They decided to protest at the site
where prisoners were being tortured. The groups gathered in
front of a clandestine jail; unfurled a banner that said,
“Torture is Happening Here,” pointed their fingers
to reveal brutality taking place in that building, and sang
a song of protest. Subsequent actions included padlocking
themselves to the buildings where torture was happening, bannering
during rush hour, leafleting on the metro, and protesting
at media offices, courts and churches.
Finally, in October 1988, the regime held a
plebiscite on military rule. In an atmosphere of fear, the
junta expected to win easily. But months of preparation taught
people techniques for dealing with intimidation and state
terrorism, and Chile’s people turned out in greater
numbers than expected – 91 percent eligible voters –
and voted Pinochet out of office and an end to military rule.
Chile will be remembered as the only nation to establish socialism
via parliamentary democracy and to end dictatorship at the
Peace Brigades International (PBI) was founded
in 1981 to provide nonviolent escorts for human rights workers
and opposition activists threatened by the governments. Observers
from the United States and Europe were sent to countries in
Latin America and Asia to deter violence.
PBI’s Colombia Project has provided protective
accompaniment to a growing number of human rights organisations
and defenders, including Mario Calixto, President of the Sabana
de Torres Human Rights Committee. Threats against Calixto
worsened when his group published a report entitled “The
Violence Continues.” The PBI Colombia Team began nearly
around-the-clock accompaniment and met with Colombian officials,
security forces, and diplomats.
On the evening of December 23, 1997, two armed
men forced their way into Calixto’s house, indicating
that they wanted to “have a chat” with Mario Calixto.
The two PBI volunteers quickly identified themselves, which
left the two men with a puzzled look. Mario took advantage
of the moment to flee out his back door. The two men held
both volunteers and the rest of the family at gunpoint and
continued making verbal threats until the hostages managed
to convince the men to leave.
The team immediately informed emergency contacts
in the PBI project office and support network. Within an hour
Colombian authorities received phone calls from PBI organisations
and supporters around the world, embassies, and the U.N. High
Commission on Human Rights Colombia office. This rapid reaction
forced the Colombian authorities and security forces to take
action and protect Mario Calixto and his family.
Latin Americans have used nonviolent action
to resist oppression for decades. In Argentina in 1974, the
Service for Peace and Justice (SERPAJ) was founded to more
systematically promote nonviolence to resist military rule.
In 1980 SERPAJ founder Adolfo Pérez Esquivel received
the Nobel Peace Prize, an honour that brought prestige and
financial support, allowing the network to spread to other
countries. One of those was Uruguay, which suffered widespread
torture and disappearances under a U.S.-backed military government.
In 1983, Father Lúis Pérez Aguirre
and two other supporters of SERPAJ initiated a simple nonviolent
action to support human rights and denounce state terrorism.
They fasted for fifteen days in a spirit of prayer and reflection,
asking other Uruguayans to reflect on their responsibility
for the atmosphere of repression that gripped the tiny nation.
The state reacted swiftly to isolate and snuff out this resistance.
No one was allowed near the SERPAJ office where the fasters
But word of this creative and dramatic
action went out. The rest of the nation showed support on
August 25, 1983, the fast’s final day. At 8p.m. virtually
everyone in Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, turned out
their lights. A few minutes later, a spirited protest broke
through the darkness as everyone began a caceroleada- the
banging pots and pans in protest. Police frantically shined
searchlights into private homes, trying to catch or intimidate
protest participants, but they failed. The fasters listened,
and the city listened to itself. The military listened and
knew that its days of power were numbered.
The (USA) War Resisters League website is at http://www.warresisters.org