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Good morning. Since the election in Belarus on 9th August there have been thousands of peaceful demonstrators on the streets of Minsk every day. We’ve witnessed women – mothers, daughters, grandmothers dressed in white, each holding out a flower in response to fists, tasers, guns, grenades and unmarked vans to take people away. But yesterday, something changed. As police dragged a peaceful demonstrator away, many women decided that they now needed to see the faces of their oppressors and pulled the balaclava’s off young policemen, exposing the faces of men who did not want to be seen. The anonymity of violence can give it a symbolic power that is so much greater than a human face. An aggressive manner which does not acknowledge the name or individual worth of a person can be a corrosive shaming - that hopes to destroy someone’s voice. But these women’s actions are built on weeks of love in the face of violence and in their unveiling, they have matched the powerful symbol of a masked aggressor by showing the world a moving example of turning the other cheek. Of offering face to face, eye to eye and asking the aggressor if what is being done is truly human. You can imagine a grandmother unveiling a man the age of her grandson. But unveiling what has been hidden comes in different forms and I have also heard the story of a Polish folksong sung inside prison by Sergei Tikhanovsky who was running for election and is now behind bars. Vladimir, a protestor, translated the words of the song for me as follows ‘He lent them strength with his song and the walls will fall, the walls will fall,’. He went on to say we know he sings it inside prison - and outside the walls, we sing it with him.’ There are no official numbers for how many are behind bars, though we do have stories of torture from people finally released. For me, this song is an example of humanity unmasked song to song, soul to soul. A final story involves Vladimir Shcherban, co-founder of Belarusian Free Theatre which used to hide their subversive performances and were often arrested. He is amazed watching people present the constitution, criminal code and electoral law in films over social media. To unveil a face, a wall, a constitution could be seen as the miracle of love and the people of Belarus have placed their lives in this faith, as well as the belief that it will call human beings of similar hope to support that faith. Yanka Kupala a Belarusian poet wrote: But what then had these paupers in mind Suppressed through the centuries, deaf and blind? To be called humans.