Introduction

Instances in which attacks from the opposition are met by violent attacks from the state, or examples of civil society protesting against a repressive government, can be found from all around the globe. President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has increasingly used repression, torture and political imprisonment to silence his opponents and to intimidate potential protesters against his regime; any calls for strikes by the main opposition party are immediately silenced by security forces. In 2002, a major strike organized by labour unions, industrial magnates and oil workers in Venezuela against President Chavez, resulted in the firing of the management of the state-run petroleum company and the dismissal of thousands of its employees, but overall comparatively limited violence was used to end this form of dissent. In Tibet during March 2008, Buddhist monks demonstrated peacefully against religious restrictions by Chinese authorities. Chinese security forces arrested large numbers of the protesters, which further escalated the display of dissent. This, in turn, led to the escalation of violence between the Tibetan protesters and Chinese police.