Gorbachev's foreign minister declared that "nothing and no one could justify the deaths of innocent people." He went on to say that the world "puts so much hope in perestroika that no one can be indifferent to any threat to it, either from irresponsible people who interpret democratization and glasnost too freely or those who hold various responsibilities and are unable to break with the false principles of the past." Shevarnadze blamed the child casualties on adults who exploited their inexperience to mobilize them in protests. The fault for the massacre was put on the republic authorities, who were supposed to have called the military in, a mistake that had been redeemed by the "moral example" offered by the resignation of the Georgian secretary, Patiashvili. The fact remains that the massacre was carried out by all-Union troops. Indeed, there were rumors of clashes between them and Georgian police. And the revelations about the use of poison gas have come from the Georgian minister of health. At the same time, the central party leadership has been bringing strong pressure to bear on the party in neighboring Armenia in particular to harden it up against nationalist pressures.
Undoubtedly, the tangle in Tbilisi will take a long time to unravel. But it already illustrates clearly two points. First, while the Gorbachev leadership is ready to crackdown hard to stop perestroika from getting out of hand, it cannot afford to lose its liberalizing image. Secondly, the attempt to shift from open terror to political means of retaining control puts tremendous pressure on the intermediate and lower levels of the bureaucracy. They are damned if they yield too much to local pressures and damned if they do not give enough and in time. That risks undermining very quickly the bureaucracy's essential instrument of power. *
T HERE CAN BE no doubt about
What the massacre was intended to accomplish. The scenes filmed by Georgian oppositionists show an overwhelming display of force, a line of tanks advancing on protesters in a confined space and firing gas grenades. The effect must have been terrifying.
The authorities' original story was that the protesters had stampeded and were therefore responsible for the fate of the victims in their own ranks. The pictures made this charge untenable. If there was a stampede, it could be accounted for by the armored charge of the military. Covering a crowd with teargas in a confined space itself could create panic.
Now, Soviet authorities themselves have admitted that poison gas was used that could have long-term effects on those exposed. That is a very effective form of intimidation. Like a police dossier, it is a threat that continues to hang over you.
Immediately after the slaughter in Tbilisi, tanks were sent clattering through the streets of the capitals of the Baltic republics, striking fear into the populations. This was only a couple of weeks after the elections that produced majorities for the Baltic national democratic fronts.
Mute message of the tanks
The mute message of the tanks was made explicit in Pravda of April 11. The editorial was a broadside against "abuses" of perestroika. It took up the Georgian events only half way through. Fire was focused on "motley grouplets, who, while they present themselves as champions of perestroika, 28 are in fact shameless opponents of it. "The are in fact shameless opponents of it." The editorial hailed a new law, the text of which International Viewpoint #162 • May 1, 1989 was also printed on the front page.
Notably, the new legislation makes illegal "deliberate actions designed to arouse national or racial antagonisms or conflicts, diminishing national honor and dignity, or limiting the direct or indirect prerogatives of citizens on the basis of their race or nationality." That is punishable by ten years in prison. Furthermore, the law makes it illegal "to insult or discredit" official bodies or officials.
Potentially witch-hunting legislation This extremely vague legislation could be used to suppress any criticism of the Soviet authorities and, in particular, any movement against national oppression. It should be remembered that even the expression of pride in the Kazakh-language press at seeing schools filled with "darkeyed" Kazakh children was denounced as "racist" by the Soviet central press. Notably, protests against Russification in the Baltic republics have been denounced as attacks on the rights of Russians who have come into these small countries after their forcible incorporation into the Soviet Union. This potentially witch-hunting legislation was defended by explicit reference to reactionary legislation in capitalist coun tries. "In all countries there are legal norms defending their systems. For example, in the USA, for anti-state crimes, the law provides for fines of $20,000 or prison terms of 20 years. In Spain, anyone who deliberately damages the authority or the power of the government, who authors or propagates false, distorted or tendentious rumors or reports or perpetrates any action to achieve such ends is punished by six to twelve