Bye Bye Batka
Ceaușescu's fate awaits Belarusian strongman
It will take weeks, maybe a couple more months, before the 26-year reign of Alexander Lukashenko ends and angry Belarusians either arrest him or kick him out of the country.
That’s the good news. The bad news is western policy makers are still confused about whether preserving Belarus’s sovereignty should take precedence over observing human rights and whether to hold Lukashenko personally responsible for murdering his political opponents and various other crimes.
As we learned in Romania, pitting national sovereignty against human rights is a false contradiction and it is counterproductive. Human rights are the cornerstone underpinning the rule of law and state sovereignty.
That means it’s okay if the new rulers in Minsk establish an extraordinary military tribunal to try Lukashenko. To burnish their democratic credentials, maybe send him abroad, to Moscow, after the trial. That way he can avoid a firing squad.
(to be continued)