1.This Act may be cited as the
Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act
of 2011
.
2.Findings;
Statement of policySections 2
and 3 of the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 (Public Law 109–480; 22 U.S.C. 5811
note) is amended to read as follows:
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)The Government of
Belarus has engaged in a pattern of clear and uncorrected violations of human
rights and fundamental freedoms.
(2)The Government of
Belarus has engaged in a pattern of clear and uncorrected violations of basic
principles of democratic governance, including through a series of
fundamentally flawed presidential and parliamentary elections undermining the
legitimacy of executive and legislative authority in that country.
(3)The Government of
Belarus has subjected thousands of pro-democratic political activists to
harassment, beatings, and jailings, particularly as a result of their attempts
to peacefully exercise their right to freedom of assembly and
association.
(4)The Government of
Belarus has attempted to maintain a monopoly over the country’s information
space, targeting independent media, including independent journalists, for
systematic reprisals and elimination, while suppressing the right to freedom of
speech and expression of those dissenting from the dictatorship of Aleksandr
Lukashenka, and adopted laws restricting the media, including the Internet, in
a manner inconsistent with international human rights agreements.
(5)The Government of
Belarus continues a systematic campaign of harassment, repression, and closure
of nongovernmental organizations, including independent trade unions and
entrepreneurs, and this crackdown has created a climate of fear that inhibits
the development of civil society and social solidarity.
(6)The Government of
Belarus has subjected leaders and members of select ethnic and religious
minorities to harassment, including the imposition of heavy fines and denying
permission to meet for religious services.
(7)The Government of
Belarus has attempted to silence dissent by persecuting human rights and
pro-democracy activists with threats, firings, expulsions, beatings and other
forms of intimidation, and restrictions on freedom of movement and prohibition
of international travel.
(8)The dictator of
Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenka, established himself in power by orchestrating an
illegal and unconstitutional referendum that enabled him to impose a new
constitution, abolishing the duly elected parliament, the 13th Supreme Soviet,
installing a largely powerless National Assembly, extending his term in office,
and removing applicable term limits.
(9)The Government of
Belarus has failed to make a convincing effort to solve the cases of
disappeared opposition figures Yuri Zakharenka, Viktor Gonchar, and Anatoly
Krasovsky and journalist Dmitry Zavadsky, even though credible allegations and
evidence links top officials of the Government to these disappearance.
(10)The Government of
Belarus has restricted freedom of expression on the Internet by requiring
Internet Service Providers to maintain data on Internet users and the sites
they view and to provide such data to officials upon request, and by creating a
government body with the authority to require Internet Service Providers to
block Web sites.
(11)On December 19,
2010, the Government of Belarus conducted a presidential election that failed
to meet the standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) for democratic elections.
(12)After the
December 19, 2010, presidential election the Government of Belarus responded to
opposition protests by beating an unknown number of protestors and detaining
more than 600 peaceful protestors.
(13)After the
December 19, 2010, presidential election the Government of Belarus jailed seven
of the nine opposition presidential candidates and abused the process of
criminal prosecution to persecute them.
(14)After the
December 19, 2010, presidential election, the Government of Belarus disrupted
independent broadcast and Internet media, and engaged in repressive actions
against independent journalists.
(15)After the
December 19, 2010, presidential election, Belarusian security services and
police conducted raids targeting civil society groups, individual pro-democracy
activists, and independent media.
(16)After the
December 19, 2010, presidential election, Belarusian officials refused to
extend the mandate of the OSCE Office in Minsk.
(17)The Department of
State, the Department of the Treasury, and other executive branch agencies have
heretofore made effective use of this Act to promote the purposes of this Act,
as stated in section 3 of this Act.
3.It is the policy of the
United States to—
(1)condemn the
conduct of the December 19, 2010, presidential election and crackdown on
opposition candidates, political leaders, and activists, civil society
representatives, and journalists;
(2)continue to call
for the immediate release without preconditions of all political prisoners in
Belarus, including all those individuals detained in connection with the
December 19, 2010, presidential election;
(3)continue to
support the aspirations of the people of Belarus for democracy, human rights,
and the rule of law;
(4)continue to
support the aspirations of the people of Belarus to preserve the independence
and sovereignty of their country;
(5)continue to
support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in Belarus, with
the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in that country;
(6)continue to refuse
to accept the results of the fundamentally flawed December 19, 2010,
presidential election held in Belarus, and to support calls for new
presidential and parliamentary elections, conducted in a manner that is free
and fair according to OSCE standards;
(7)continue to call
for the fulfillment by the Belarusian government of Belarus’s freely undertaken
obligations as an OSCE participating state;
(8)continue to call
for a full accounting of the disappearances of opposition leaders and
journalists in Belarus, including Victor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, Yuri
Zakharenka, and Dmitry Zavadsky, and the prosecution of those individuals who
are in any way responsible for the disappearance of those opposition leaders
and journalists;
(9)continue to work
closely with the European Union and other countries and international
organizations, to promote the conditions necessary for the integration of
Belarus into the European family of democracies; and
(10)remain open to
reevaluating United States policy toward Belarus as warranted by demonstrable
progress made by the Government of Belarus consistent with the aims of this Act
as stated in this section.
ridi
.
3.Assistance to
promote democracy and civil society in BelarusSection 4 of the Belarus Democracy Act of
2004 (Public Law 109–480; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note) is amended—
(1)in subsection
(a)—
(A)in paragraph (1),
by striking community
and inserting family
;
and
(B)in paragraph (2),
by striking internationally accepted standards and under the supervision
of internationally recognized observers
and inserting OSCE
standards and monitored by OSCE observers
;
(2)in subsection (b),
by striking primarily for indigenous
and inserting for
independent, indigenous
;
(3)in subsection
(c)—
(A)by amending
paragraph (1) to read as follows:
(1)facilitating the development of
independent, indigenous print, radio, television, and Internet broadcasting,
whether working within Belarus or from locations outside the
country;
;
and
(B)by redesignating
paragraphs (3) through (8) as paragraphs (2) through (7), respectively;
and
(4)in subsection
(d)(1), by striking such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal
years 2007 and 2008
and inserting an amount not to exceed the
amount appropriated for fiscal year 2008 for each of fiscal years 2012 through
2014
.
4.Radio and
television broadcasting to BelarusSection 5 of the Belarus Democracy Act of
2004 (Public Law 109–480; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note) is amended to read as
follows:
5.Radio,
television, and internet broadcasting to BelarusIt is the sense of Congress that the
President should continue to support radio, television, and Internet
broadcasting to the people of Belarus in languages spoken in Belarus, by Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Voice of America, European Radio for Belarus,
and
Belsat.
.
5.Sanctions against
the Government of BelarusSection 6 of the Belarus Democracy Act of
2004 (Public Law 109–480; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note) is amended—
(1)in subsection
(b)—
(A)in paragraph (1),
by inserting or expression, including those individuals jailed based on
political beliefs or expression in connection with repression that attended the
presidential election of December 19, 2010
before the period at the
end;
(B)in paragraph (2),
by inserting , including politically motivated legal charges made in
connection with repression that attended the presidential election of December
19, 2010
before the period at the end;
(C)in paragraph (5),
by inserting and violations of human rights, including violations of
human rights committed in connection with the presidential election of December
19, 2010
before the period at the end; and
(D)in paragraph (7),
by striking internationally recognized observers
and inserting
OSCE observers
;
(2)in subsection
(c)—
(A)in paragraph
(2)—
(i)by
striking subparagraph (A)
and inserting paragraph
(1)
; and
(ii)by
striking or
at the end;
(B)in paragraph (3),
by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and
(C)by adding at the
end the following new paragraphs:
(4)is a member of any
branch of the security or law enforcement services of Belarus and has
participated in the violent crackdown on opposition leaders, journalists, and
peaceful protestors that occurred in connection with the presidential election
of December 19, 2010; or
(5)is a member of any
branch of the security or law enforcement services of Belarus and has
participated in the persecution or harassment of religious groups, human rights
defenders, democratic opposition groups, or independent media or
journalists.
;
(3)in subsection (e),
by striking of each international financial institution to which
and inserting at each international financial institution of
which
; and
(4)in subsection
(f)(2)(B)(ii), by striking (as defined in section 40102 of title 49,
United States Code)
.
6.Section 8(a) of the Belarus Democracy Act of
2004 (Public Law 109–480; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note) is amended—
(1)in the matter
preceding paragraph (1)—
(A)by striking
this Act
and inserting the Belarus Democracy
Reauthorization Act of 2011
; and
(B)by inserting
and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
after
appropriate congressional committees
;
(2)in paragraph (1),
by striking sale or delivery of weapons or weapons-related
technologies
and inserting sale or delivery or provision of
weapons or weapons-related technologies or weapons-related
training
;
(3)in paragraph (2),
by striking involved in the sale
and inserting or
weapons-related training involved in the sale or delivery or
provision
;
(4)in paragraph (3),
by inserting or weapons-related training described in paragraph
(1)
before the period at the end; and
(5)by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
(5)The cooperation of the Government of
Belarus with any foreign government or organization for purposes related to the
censorship or surveillance of the Internet, or the purchase or receipt by the
Government of Belarus of any technology or training from any foreign government
or organization for purposes related to the censorship or surveillance of the
Internet.
.
7.Section 9 of the Belarus Democracy Act of
2004 (Public Law 109–480; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note) is amended—
(1)in paragraph (1),
by striking Committee on International Relations
and inserting
Committee on Foreign Affairs
; and
(2)in paragraph
(3)—
(A)in subparagraph
(B)(i), by striking and prosecutors
and inserting ,
prosecutors, and heads of professional associations and educational
institutions
; and
(B)in subparagraph
(C), by striking Lukashenka regime
and inserting
Government of Belarus
.