Expressing Support for the Republic of Belarus to Establish a full Democracy
EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS TO ESTABLISH A FULL DEMOCRACY -- (House of Representatives - March 08, 2006)
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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 673, sponsored by our distinguished colleague from Illinois, Mr. Shimkus, expresses support and solidarity for the efforts of the people of Belarus to establish a full democracy, the rule of law and respect for fundamental human rights. It also urges the Government of Belarus to conduct free and fair Presidential elections on March 19.
I would like at the outset to commend our distinguished colleague, Mr. Shimkus, for his hard work on this resolution and his great interest and passion for supporting freedom in Belarus and in other countries of the former Soviet Union.
Belarus, as my colleagues know, is often described as ``the last dictatorship in Europe.'' In the past 3 or 4 years, especially since the 2004 parliamentary elections and referendum, President Alexander Lukashenko has increased repression against NGOs, media outlets, any opponents of the government, including youth groups. Perhaps most disturbing are the cases of forced disappearances of lawmakers and journalists and others who have dared to criticize the Lukashenko dictatorship.
To date, the Government of Belarus has refused to conduct an impartial investigation into these disappearances and has refused to allow an independent U.N.-appointed investigator to look into these cases.
Sadly, Mr. Speaker, the Lukashenko regime has only become more dictatorial with the passage of time. The assault on civil society, the NGOs, the independent media, democratic opposition, and increasing pressure on unregistered and minority religious groups has only intensified, becoming daily occurrences. Despite innumerable calls for Belarus to live up to its freely undertaken OSCE election commitments, elections in 2000, 2001, and 2004 were neither free nor fair.
It follows along a downward trajectory that began a decade ago when Lukashenko, through an illegitimate referendum, took control over the legislature and the judiciary and manipulated the Constitution to remain in power.
Mr. Speaker, Belarus, which borders on EU and NATO member countries, has become an increasingly stark anomaly in a growing democratic Europe. The Belarusian people have become even more isolated from the winds of democracy following neighboring Ukraine's Orange Revolution. Lukashenko's fear that the people would follow the Ukrainian example has led to further clamping down on those who dare to speak out for freedom.
Among the numerous examples that can be cited here on the floor: Just last week, one Belarusian opposition candidate running for next week's elections was detained by security forces and severely beaten. Yesterday we received reports that five members of the campaign of the United Opposition Candidate, Alexander Milinkevych, was held by police and driven away. In recent weeks Lukashenko has launched an intensive campaign to encourage a climate of fear and stoke hostility among the Belarusian people through a Soviet-style propaganda campaign against the opposition: Europe and the United States.
Mr. Speaker, as the prime sponsor of the Belarus Democracy Act, which was signed into law by President Bush, I welcome the administration's growing engagement with the people of Belarus. I am pleased that President Bush and other high-ranking officials met with Irena Krasovska and Tatyana Zavadska, two of the wives of opposition figures believed to have been murdered with the complicity of Belarusian senior officials. I would note, parenthetically, that I have had the privilege of meeting with them and others on a number of occasions over the last 6 years and have admired their determination and courage to seek an accounting of their loved ones, in most cases their missing, possibly murdered husbands.
Given the disturbing, Mr. Speaker, preelection environment, where meaningful access to the media by opposition candidates is denied, where independent voices are stifled, and where the regime maintains pervasive control over the election process, it is very hard to imagine that next week's elections will be free. They are already not fair. In the event that protests are held in response to electoral fraud, we are reminded by Belarusian authorities that the right to peaceful assembly is a fundamental human right and a basic tenet of the OSCE. Any violent suppression of peaceful protests will have serious repercussions and only deepen Belarus' self-imposed isolation.
Over the course of the last century, the Belarusian people have endured great suffering at the hands of murderous dictators such as Stalin and Hitler. Twenty years ago they endured, and continue to endure, Chernobyl's dark cloud. The Belarusian people deserve the freedom and the dignity long denied them, and Belarus deserves its rightful place in a free, prosperous and democratic Europe.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of our time.
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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) for authoring this legislation. It sends a clear, unmistakable message to the Lukashenko dictatorship, and a message of solidarity and concern to the people that hopefully there will be a brighter day for this important country. But it is only because of ongoing, dogged determination on the part of the pro-democracy advocates inside that country and their friends outside, like Mr. Lantos, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Shimkus, and others; that we keep the pressure on from without so that someday human rights and democracy will flourish in Belarus.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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