The message conveys both a desire to provoke and desperate frustration over the absence of rule of law in society. For many years law enforcement has served the powers that be in a highly selective pursuit of justice. Numerous cases of human rights abuses and attacks by law enforcement upon ordinary citizens have resulted in pent up anger that now appears to be boiling over.
While the Kyiv Post empathizes with this sentiment, it does not condone the acts of hanging dummy caricatures of law enforcement workers. Such acts can only cause further friction in society and incite mob rule.
There are far more productive and effective ways to conduct advocacy campaigns for change in society. Formulas vary, but they usually require organized, coordinated efforts of awareness building, mobilization and leadership with clear visions and goals.
Unfortunately, recent actions by Ukrainian politicians have not helped alleviate the anger. The Interior Ministry initially brushed off a brutal gang rape in the southern town of Vradiyivka, allegedly by two police lieutenants, leading locals to come to Kyiv and protest. There, they were further harassed when police expelled them from their tent city on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the symbol of people’s power in Ukraine.
Nor is civic activism made easy. Attempts to set up a peaceful protest in front of President Viktor Yanukovych’s controversial residence in Mezhyhirya have been voided through court bans. When activists did show up, they were met by elite police units, arrested and in two cases sentenced to short jail terms. Two civil society leaders currently have a criminal investigation opened against them with police accusing them of being involved in a robbery and using a stolen car.
The recent cases of police stations being stormed show just how bad things can get when local residents feel the need to take justice into their own hands. Blocking legitimate forms of protest against government abuse only increases chances of actions that have no place in civilized society. Tensions are already high enough; there is no need to push any further.
Action, reaction
If the dummies of a police officer and judge that were hung in Kyiv this week were part of an art student’s project, then the Kyiv Post would like to proclaim that art can still shock the public. But if it wasn’t, it was shockingly disturbing to see someone’s resentment for widespread injustice in society expressed so immaturely.
