Belarusian Republican Youth Union
The Belarusian Republican Youth Union (BRSM) (Russian: Белорусский республиканский союз молодежи, БРСМ) is an organized youth group in the Eastern European country of Belarus. The goals of the BRSM are to promote patriotism and to instill the group's moral values into the youth of Belarus. The organization, which was created by a merger of other youth groups in 2002, is very similiar to the Soviet Young Communist League (Komsomol). The BRSM has been accused of using methods of coercion and empty promises to recruit members and that the organization is being used as a propaganda tool by the Lukashenko Government.
Creation
The BRSM was created on September 6 2002 with the merger of two Belarusian youth groups: the Belarusian Patriotic Youth Union and the Belarusian Youth Union. The Belarusian Youth Union was considered the "legal successor" of the Soviet Lenin Communist Youth League (Komsomol) and the Belarusian Patriotic Youth Union was created in 1997 by Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus since 1994. Lukashenko not only issued a decree calling for the creation of the BRSM, he also issued decrees that gives the BRSM governmental support, mostly from the Ministry of Education and the Presidential Administration. [1] President Lukashenko stated in his 2003 address to the nation the need for the BRSM to be a key role in Belarusian life: "The youth — our major pillar — is at the heart of our plans and targets. We have hardly used its powerful potential yet. We often "brush aside" youth's initiatives. Many managers avoid direct contact with the youth, they are afraid of acute questions. They are incapable of involving young people into useful public activities. We should work in this direction. It will help avoid a number of negative phenomena in the youth environment. This situation calls for a greater role of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union. It should demonstrate its abilities as an organizer, a leader of the national youth movement." [2]
Membership and structure
To join the BRSM, they must be between the ages of 14 and 31, be able to send a photo of themselves and if they are between the ages of 14 and 16, written permission from their parents or legal guardian must be granted. [3] A person must also pay a one time fee of 1,400 rubles (0.65 USD) [4] and must pay a mid-year fee to continue their membership in the BRSM. The total amount of the fee is adjusted based on the person's working and living status and fee waivers are granted for children who are orphaned or disabled. [5] In the past, President Lukashenko stated that while membership in the BRSM is not required for advancing into the higher ranks of the government, it is possible for a person who joins the BRSM to increase their chances for success. An example would be that members can be recommended to the Ministry of Defense by the BRSM for service in the Armed Forces. [6]
The BRSM national headquarters is located in Minsk, the national capital of Belarus. Each province of Belarus, Minsk, Brest, Vitebsk, Gomel, Gordno and Mogilev, have their own branches of the BRSM. The BRSM has estimated that there are 6803 branches the number of branches of the BRSM located inside Belarus and a count in 2003 by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting showed that the BRSM membership at that time had roughly 120,000 members. While the exact yearly and total funding of the BRSM is not know, the State Committee for Youth Affairs is the government agency that is providing funding to the BRSM. [7]
The national leadership of the BRSM is controlled by the Central Committee (Центрального комитета), which is headed by the First Secretary of the Central Committee (Первый секретарь Центрального комитета). Below the First Secretary are the Second Secretary of the Central Committee (Второй Секретарь Центрального комитета), the Chairman of the Central Investigation Commission (Председатель Центральной контрольной комиссии) and three Secretaries of the Central Comiittee (Секретарь Центрального комитета). Collectively, these leaders are also referred to as the Secretariat of the BRSM (Секретариат ЦК ОО «БРСМ»).
Symbols
The BRSM has three official symbols: the emblem (ЭМБЛЕМА), flag (ФЛАГ) and scarf. The emblem, which is based off of the VLKSM badge, has a red bar and a green bar. Modeled from the Belarusian flag, the design of the emblem has the initials of the BRSM in gold in the red section and a golden olive branch in the green section. The flag of the BRSM has the same elements as the emblem, but the reverse of the flag has the organization's full name, written in gold, placed in the red section and nothing in the green section. [8] Each member is also presented a scarf, which is also colored in red and green. The scarf is worn around the neck and tied in a knot in the front to stay in place.
Activities
The main activities of the BRSM involve the promotion of patriotism for their country. They accomplish this activity by participating in wreath laying ceremonies at various memorials around the country. During national holidays, the BRSM passes out a ribbon that resembles the national flag of Belarus. The ribbon is worn on shirt or jacket and also might be tied into a bow. This program, along with other events, is part of their "ЗА БЕЛАРУСЬ" (For Belarus!) campaign. BRSM members also participate in competitions amongst themselves or other foreign groups that are similar to the BRSM. Most of the activities the BRSM does are very similar to those that were performed by the Soviet Komsomol. The United Nations Joint Programee on AIDS/HIV lists the BRSM as helping reduce the infection rate of AIDS and the HIV virus in the city of Minsk. Some of the things the BRSM does is by educating the public about the disease and overall health issues, counseling and preventing the spread of these and other sexually transmitted infections in the general population. [9] While the BRSM does not get involved with politics, their leader, M. Orda, signed a letter signed by other public officials denouncing the Belarus Democracy Act passed by the United States Congress in 2004. [10] Also, President Lukashenko has issued a decree that allows for representatives from the BRSM to sit in on meetings of various government ministries and committees and also allowed them to operate a radio station called Radio Stil. The BRSM is the only youth group in Belarus that was given permission to operate a radio station. [11] At a meeting of the 39th Congress of the BRSM, the organization was displaying two medals: the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner. The orders, which were awarded during the Soviet Union, were awarded to the Komsomol for it's work during the Soviet-era. [12]
Criticism
Inside of Belarus, the BRSM has been accused of using unethical methods to increase their membership. The claim, made by teachers and students in Belarus, is that members that joined the BRSM either did so by coercion or lured by promises, which included discounts at local businesses, living in good dormitories, and assistance in finding a job after college. However, some teachers at these schools might lose their jobs if they do not join the BRSM. [13] Belarusian political activists have also began to call the BRSM "Lukamol," a combination of the words Lukashenko and Komsomol, because of the BRSM being used as a tool by Lukashenko to further his political base and his cult of personality.
Human Rights Watch, a group that monitors human rights abuses around the world, has also criticized the BRSM for limiting academic freedom on Belarusian college campuses. HRW noted in a report filed in 1999 that "although (the BRSM are) ostensibly politically neutral, the centralization of appointments of rectors and the increasingly institutionalized position occupied by the BRSM in student life have created a campus environment conducive to propagation of political orthodoxy and the squelching of independent views rather than one conducive to the open-ended inquiry and expression essential to academic excellence." [14] HRW also noted that BRSM members are present during entrance exams and BRSM members influence the entrance board to exclude candidates who use the Belarusian language as their preferred language or those who have opposite political point of views.
The United Nations has stated that Lukashenko's government has, either directly or indirectly, created NGO's that are used as government as tools of publicity. The UN contends in a report released in early 2003 that the BRSM will mostly be used by President Lukashenko as a tool to recruit officials into his government. The same report also commented on how other youth NGO's are having problems with funding and that their members face expulsion from their schools, thus having to join groups like the BRSM as a last resort. [15]
References
- ^ Address by President of the Republic of Belarus at a seminar on matters of ideology participated by top–level officials of the central and local government bodies., March 27 2003, from the presidential web site, President Lukashenko's speech about the creation of the BRSM, "All that happens with the full connivance of the Ministry of Education,", verified August 10 2005.
- ^ Message by the President of the Republic of Belarus to Belarusian People and Parliament of the Republic of Belarus. April 16 2003, from the presidential web site, President Lukashenko's 2003 speech telling that the BRSM will be a key factor in geting the youth involved, "This situation calls for a greater role of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union. It should demonstrate its abilities as an organizer, a leader of the national youth movement.,", verified August 10 2005.
- ^ How to become a member (Russian)
- ^ BYR to USD conversion (figure in the article as of August 5, 2005)
- ^ Membership fees (Russian)
- ^ Ministry of Defense recomendation from the BRSM
- ^ BRSM and their funding. December 1998, report by Galina Drakokhrust, Ph.D., "Most youth organizations have few members, the only exception being the pro-presidential Belarusian Union of Patriotic Youth, which is directly financed from the budget, and the Belarusian Youth Union, which managed to retain lots of Komsomol's property and a source of regular financing, the State Committee for Youth Affairs.", verified August 10 2005
- ^ BRSM symbols (Russian)
- ^ BRSM and UNAIDS
- ^ Protest of the Belarus Democracy Act
- ^ BRSM and other youth groups in Belarus
- ^ Photo source showing the two orders the BRSM received while it was part of the Komsomol
- ^ BRSM news report by the IWPR
- ^ HRW 1999 report on Belarus
- ^ Nations in Transit 2003: Country Report of Belarus (pg 135) (en)
External links
- BRSM website (Russian)