Dissident
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A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When individual dissidents unite in a common cause they may become known as a dissident movement.
The noun was first used in the political sense in 1940, with rise of totalitarian systems, in particular to the Soviet Union.[1][2]
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[edit] Soviet dissidents
The term dissident was used in the Soviet Union during the period of 1965–1985, including Brezhnev stagnation, for citizens who overtly (or sometimes even subtly) criticized the practices or the authority of the Communist party. The people who used to write and distribute non-censored non-conformist samizdat literature were criticized in the official newspapers without any of his works being published. Then, many people accepted the term dissident with respect to themselves.[3] This radically changed the meaning of the term: instead of meaning a criminal, who opposes society, the term came to mean a non-conformist, who insists on the enforcement of officially published laws, including the international agreements, signed by the Soviet government.[4][5][6] An important part of the activity of dissidents was informing society (both inside the Soviet Union and in foreign countries) about violation of laws and human rights: see Chronicle of Current Events (samizdat) and Moscow Helsinki Group.
[edit] Cuba
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Cuba is the world's second biggest prison for journalists.[7] Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, a jailed journalist, received the International Press Freedom Award in 2008.[8]
[edit] Republican dissidents in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
The term "dissidents" has become the primary term to describe Irish republicans who politically continue to oppose Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and reject the outcome of the referenda on it.
Unlike Sinn Féin, they oppose the Northern Ireland Executive.
The political expression of Irish republican dissidents are Republican Sinn Féin, the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and the Irish Republican Socialist Party.
In addition to these political parties and groups, there are also a number of dissident Irish republican paramilitary groups which espouse violent methods to achieve a United Ireland.
These groups are: the Continuity IRA (founded in 1986) and the Real IRA (founded in 1997) and Óglaigh na hÉireann (a CIRA splinter that emerged in 2006). Another group, the Irish National Liberation Army is currently on ceasefire.[9]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Harper, Douglas. "dissident". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=dissident. Retrieved on 2009-03-29.
- ^ Dictionary.com.
- ^ Chronicle of Current Events (samizdat) (Russian)
- ^ Universal Declaration of Human Rights General Assembly resolution 217 A (III), United Nations, 10 December 1948
- ^ Proclamation of Tehran, Final Act of the International Conference on Human Rights, Teheran, 22 April to 13 May 1968, U.N. Doc. A/CONF. 32/41 at 3 (1968), United Nations, May 1968
- ^ CONFERENCE ON SECURITY AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE FINAL ACT. Helsinki, 1 aug. 1975
- ^ "CPJ's 2008 prison census: Online and in jail". http://cpj.org/reports/2008/12/cpjs-2008-prison-census-online-and-in-jail.php.
- ^ "Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, Founder and contributer, Grupo de Trabajo Decoro". The Committee to Protect Journalists. http://cpj.org/awards/2008/guit.php.
- ^ Who are the dissidents? , BBC News, 10 March 2009.
[edit] External links
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Look up dissident in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- Free dictionary, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dissident
- Dissident Movement. Russian History Encyclopedia, http://www.answers.com/topic/dissident-movement
