Dissident

A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since 18th century, and in the political sense since 1940, coinciding with the rise of totalitarian systems, especially the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and Saudi Arabia.[1]

Religious dissenter
Main article: English Dissenters

Eastern bloc dissidents
See also: Left Communism, Anti-Stalinist left, and Anti-Leninism

The term dissident was used in the Eastern bloc, particularly in the Soviet Union, in the period following Joseph Stalin's death until the fall of communism. It was attached to citizens who 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. Soon, many of those who were dissatisfied with the Soviet Bloc began to self-identify as dissidents.[2] This radically changed the meaning of the term: instead of being used in reference to an individual who opposes society, it came to refer to an individual whose non-conformism was perceived to be for the good of a society.[3][4][5]

Soviet dissidents
Moscow Helsinki Group members Yuliya Vishnevskya, Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Dina Kaminskaya, Kronid Lyubarsky in Munich, 1978
Main article: Soviet dissidents
See also: Anti-Sovietism, Anti-Soviet agitation, and Anti-Soviet partisans

Soviet dissidents were people who disagreed with certain features in the embodiment of Soviet ideology and who were willing to speak out against them.[6] The term dissident was used in the Soviet Union in the period following Joseph Stalin's death until the fall of communism.[2] It was used to refer to small groups of marginalized intellectuals whose modest challenges to the Soviet regime met protection and encouragement from correspondents.[7] Following the etymology of the term, a dissident is considered to "sit apart" from the regime.[8] As dissenters began self-identifying as dissidents, the term came to refer to an individual whose non-conformism was perceived to be for the good of a society.[3][4][5]

Political opposition in the USSR was barely visible and, with rare exceptions, of little consequence.[9] Instead, an important element of dissident activity in the Soviet Union was informing society (both inside the Soviet Union and in foreign countries) about violation of laws and human rights. Over time, the dissident movement created vivid awareness of Soviet Communist abuses.[10]

Soviet dissidents who criticized the state faced possible legal sanctions under the Soviet Criminal Code[11] and faced the choice of exile, the mental hospital, or the labor camp.[12] Anti-Soviet political behavior, in particular, being outspoken in opposition to the authorities, demonstrating for reform, writing books were defined in some persons as being simultaneously a criminal act (e.g., violation of Articles 70 or 190-1), a symptom (e.g., "delusion of reformism"), and a diagnosis (e.g., "sluggish schizophrenia").[13]

Republican dissidents in Ireland
See also: Dissident republican

The term dissident 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 referendums on it. These political parties also have paramilitary wings which espouse violent methods to achieve a United Ireland.

Irish republican dissident groups include the Irish Republican Socialist Party (founded in 1974 – its currently-inactive paramilitary wing is the Irish National Liberation Army), Republican Sinn Féin (founded in 1986 – its paramilitary wing is the Continuity IRA), and the 32 County Sovereignty Movement (founded in 1997 – its paramilitary wing is the Real IRA). In 2006 the Óglaigh na hÉireann emerged, which is a splinter group of the Continuity IRA.[14]

Dissidents and new technologies

Dissidents and activists were among the earliest adopters of encrypted communications technology such as Tor and the dark web, turning to the technology as ways to resist authoritarian regimes, avoid censorship and control and protect privacy.[15][16][17]

Tor was widely used by protestors on Mubarak regime in Egypt in 2011. Tor allowed dissidents to communicate anonymously and securely, while sharing sensitive information. Also, Syrian rebels widely used Tor in order to share with the world all of the horrors that they witnessed in their country.[18] Moreover, government dissidents in Lebanon, Mauritania, as well as Arab Spring nations widely used Tor in order to stay safe while exchanging their ideas and agendas.[19]

Dissidents from the Middle East
Saudi Arabian dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi (left) at a 2018 Project on Middle East Democracy forum in Washington, D.C.

Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi-American dissident and journalist. He was murdered inside a Turkish embassy by Saudi Arabian authorities.[20]

Various other Human rights activists from Saudi Arabia have been either silenced or punished. This also happens if the individual is outside the country. Deportation is used if they are not Saudis.

See also

References
  1. "the definition of dissident". www.dictionary.com.
  2. Chronicle of Current Events (samizdat) (in Russian)
  3. Universal Declaration of Human Rights Archived December 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine General Assembly resolution 217 A (III), United Nations, 10 December 1948
  4. 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
  5. CONFERENCE ON SECURITY AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE FINAL ACT. Helsinki, 1 aug. 1975 Archived 2011-05-31 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Carlisle, Rodney; Golson, Geoffrey (2008). The Reagan era from the Iran crisis to Kosovo. ABC-CLIO. p. 88. ISBN 978-1851098859.
  7. Smith, Stephen (2014). The Oxford handbook of the history of communism. OUP Oxford. p. 379. ISBN 978-0199602056.
  8. Taras, Raymond, ed. (2015) [1992]. The road to disillusion: from critical marxism to post-communism in Eastern Europe (2 ed.). Routledge. p. 62. ISBN 978-1317454793.
  9. Barber, John (October 1997). "Opposition in Russia". Government and Opposition. 32 (4): 598–613. doi:10.1111/j.1477-7053.1997.tb00448.x.
  10. Rosenthal, Abe (2 June 1989). "Soviet dissenters used to die for speaking out". The Dispatch. p. 5.
  11. Stone, Alan (1985). Law, psychiatry, and morality: essays and analysis. American Psychiatric Pub. pp. 5. ISBN 978-0880482097.
  12. Singer, Daniel (2 January 1998). "Socialism and the Soviet Bloc". The Nation.
  13. "Report of the U.S. Delegation to Assess Recent Changes in Soviet Psychiatry" (PDF). Schizophrenia Bulletin. 15 (4 Suppl): 1–219. 1989. doi:10.1093/schbul/15.suppl_1.1. PMID 2638045.
  14. "Who are the dissidents?". BBC News. 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  15. Bartlett, Jamie (June 2015), How the mysterious dark net is going mainstream, TEDGlobalLondon
  16. Hern, Alex (23 August 2017). "The dilemma of the dark web: protecting neo-Nazis and dissidents alike". The Guardian.
  17. David Kushner (October 22, 2015). "The Darknet: Is the Government Destroying 'the Wild West of the Internet?'". Rolling Stone.
  18. "Cryptopolitik and the Darknet". Survival. 58 (1, p7–38. 32p).
  19. Croke, Paul (15 July 2015). "Dark Net: Secret basement of the Internet". Baltimore Post-Examiner. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  20. Harris, Shane (16 November 2018). "CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi's assassination". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
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