Zmister Dashkevich learned firsthand that in Belarus, collective action is too often met with violence and incarceration. Dashkevich was ushered into a Belarus prison for being the de facto leader of the political opposition group Youth Front. Formely a faction of the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), Youth Front has been fighting against the Belarusian regime since Alexandr Lukashenko took power in 1994. Some popular contentions with the regime include the ownership of all the media outlets, imprisoning or otherwise crushing political opposition, praising Adolf Hitler, and supporting Yugoslav war criminal Slobodan Milošević.

Enter Amensty International.

Amnesty was at the forefront in the campaign to release Dashkevich from prison. They organized a global campaign to send 10,000 paper cranes to the Belarus Minister of Internal Affairs as a sign of solidarity with the young activist.

Cranes came as far away as Mexico, Canada, and Croatia. Amnesty’s flikr account shows groups of smiling children folding cranes in the shape of a lit candle or a “Free Zmister” sign. Many of the cranes came from high schools, where Amensty helped educate students about free speech issues in Belarus and elsewhere. In colleges, student activist groups organized workshops to make cranes for Dashkevich and denim wristbands for other prisoners.

But the internet played a major role too.

Searching for Zmister’s name on Google leads you to a trail of bloggers, promoters, and Amnesty supporters urging people to send in their cranes, complete with a ready-made cutout and a how-to video to help people along. Bloggers reposted the call for action and reached many more people who were either unaware or not familiar with Amensty’s actions, including a “widget” that played John Lennon covers and linked to a petition to show support for Belarus.

Overall, the campaign was a huge success.

Zmister Dashhkevich was released from prison early, determined to keep fighting for representation and democracy in Belarus. Lukashenko has no intention of stepping down soon, but Amensty’s efforts are at least a small indication that his regime is not above international law, and it has made a small but noticable change in the country’s greater political climate.

-Vadim Gershteyn

-Filed in Ideas