Harmful economic systems: Keeping people oppressed

In essence,  there is part of the population that is living well because of their control of assets and people. The people whose assets and income have been reallocated don’t like this and thus there is the threat of revolution— overturning the minority in benefit of the majority.  This is prevented in a number of ways.

One favorite way  of maintaining oppression is to stay in power for a long time, frequently by manipulating or subverting an ostensibly democratic legal framework. Election fraud/rigged elections is a principal way of staying in power. A second way— certainly a very clear way— of keeping people oppressed and unable to move to a situation that might be characterized as democratic, is terrorizing the subject population, including beatings, murder and torture. Especially important is killing leaders of the subject population(s) or otherwise keeping them from being a source of  unrest (by such means as imprisonment, exile, or bribery).  Controlling how people are able to communicate, including tracing what they say for possible reprisal, is also important.

Hands reach to touch the hand of Aung San Suu Kyi after her release from house arrest in Yangon. Photo: AP

Democracy leader Suu Kyi urges 'real genuine talks' in Burma Steve Finch and John Pomfret Washington Post, November 15, 2010 Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi freed in Rangoon as crowds celebrate Steve Finch Washington Post November 13, 2010 Burmese election won by military-backed party. Opposition parties concede defeat to USDP but accuse junta of fraud as Barack Obama says election was stolen. Reuters/Gardian.co.uk November 9, 2010

Pakistan government failed to do enough to protect  former president Benazir Bhutto and  failed to properly investigate her murder,  UN commission finds  Al Jazeera April 16, 2010

Many governments target  rights defenders in order to suppress human rights, Human Rights Watch says in a 90 country report Hunger Notes February 5, 2010 

Some excerpts from the above article, with links to brief country reports. 

Attacks on human rights monitors are not limited to authoritarian governments like Burma and China, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch noted that some governments are so abusive against individuals and organizations that no domestic human rights movement can function, citing  Eritrea, North Korea, and Turkmenistan.

The introduction to the report said that in addition to Russia and Sri Lanka, other countries where human rights monitors were murdered in order to silence them in included Kenya, Burundi, and Afghanistan.

Human Rights Watch cited Sudan and China as countries that routinely shut down human rights groups and Iran and Uzbekistan as countries that openly harass and arbitrarily detain human rights workers and other critics. Colombia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua threaten and harass rights defenders. Human rights advocates face violence in countries such as The Democratic Republic of Congo and Sri Lanka. Some governments such as Ethiopia and Egypt use extremely restrictive regulations to stifle the work of nongovernmental organizations. Other countries use the disbarment of lawyers (China and Iran, for example), criminal charges - often faked from staged attacks (Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan), and criminal libel laws (Russia and Azerbaijan) to silence critics.

North Korean currency crackdown fuels food shortages; government's aim is to decrease reliance on markets, which now provide about half of North Korea's food, but which also represent an alternative source of economic, and thus political, power  Blaine Hardin Washington Post January 8, 2010

The two men were also convicted of leaking details of a network of tunnels reportedly being built in Burma. It is thought the tunnels were built to house communications systems, possible weapons factories and troops in the event of an invasion. Photo: BBC

Burmese officials sentenced to death for revealing government visits to Russia and North Korea and information about military tunnels BBC News January 7, 2010

Leading Chinese dissident, Liu Xiaobo, gets 11 year term for subversion after he helped draft a petition known as Charter 08 that demanded the right to free speech, open elections and the rule of law  Andrew Jacobs New York Times  December 24, 2009  With harsh sentence of Liu Xiaobo, China threatens democracy and human rights activists and signals to the West that its concerns don't matter much Andrew Jacobs New York Times  December 25, 2009

Three accused in 1981 murder of Chilean president Alexei Barrrionuevo New York Times  December 7, 2009

There are two powerful ways of changing a harmful economic system--through revolution, or through democracy.  Revolution has been the most common way to attempt to do so in the past--though frequently thwarted by successful opposition by the existing government and its allies or by a revolutionary movement evolving into an oppressive government.  Currently the most frequently used method is by democratic change.  See the further discussion under Reducing harm below.

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