[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 681 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 681

 Recognizing the ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression and human 
rights in Belarus a year after the 2020 election, calling for an end to 
   Alyaksandr Lukashenka's continued campaign of repression against 
   peaceful protesters, journalists, cultural workers, human rights 
 defenders, trade union activists, political activists, and government 
     critics, and expressing solidarity with the Belarusian people.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 24, 2021

Mr. Cohen (for himself, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Fitzpatrick, 
Mr. Hudson, and Mr. Cleaver) submitted the following resolution; which 
            was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Recognizing the ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression and human 
rights in Belarus a year after the 2020 election, calling for an end to 
   Alyaksandr Lukashenka's continued campaign of repression against 
   peaceful protesters, journalists, cultural workers, human rights 
 defenders, trade union activists, political activists, and government 
     critics, and expressing solidarity with the Belarusian people.

Whereas, on August 9, 2020, the Government of Belarus conducted a Presidential 
        election that was marred by arrests of leading opposition candidates, 
        groundless refusals to register certain opposition candidates for the 
        ballot, and allegations of widespread fraud;
Whereas, on November 18, 2020, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 8438: 
        The Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020;
Whereas, on April 20, 2021, the House of Representatives passed H. Res. 124: 
        Supporting the people of Belarus and their democratic aspirations and 
        condemning the election rigging and subsequent violent crackdowns on 
        peaceful protesters by the illegitimate Lukashenka regime;
Whereas, on July 27, 2021, President Biden met Belarusian opposition leader 
        Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya at the White House and declared that ``The 
        United States stands with the people of Belarus in their quest for 
        democracy and universal human rights.'';
Whereas, on August 9, 2021, the Biden administration imposed a new round of 
        economic sanctions targeting officials, companies, and state-owned 
        enterprises in Belarus who fund the government of Alyaksandr Lukashenka 
        in response to his ongoing abuses 1 year after the emergence of protests 
        against his rule;
Whereas in the following months, hundreds of thousands of Belarusian citizens 
        engaged in peaceful protests demanding the resignation of Alyaksandr 
        Lukashenka;
Whereas these protests were met with unprecedented violence and repression by 
        the Belarusian authorities, which repeatedly attacked the rights to 
        freedom of expression and assembly and targeted peaceful protesters, 
        journalists, cultural figures, and other Belarusian citizens;
Whereas a year later, Alyaksandr Lukashenka's government has continued, and at 
        points heightened, its campaign to silence critical voices, resulting in 
        the unprecedented closure of civic spaces and broader attacks on human 
        rights in Belarus;
Whereas, since August 2020, more than 35,000 peaceful protesters in Belarus have 
        been detained;
Whereas, as of September 17, 2021, Belarusian NGOs recognized more than 660 
        people who were detained or imprisoned in Belarus on politically 
        motivated charges, mostly in connection to their alleged involvement in 
        protests and other political activism during and after the Presidential 
        election;
Whereas the country's top rights group has testimony from more than 1,000 people 
        who detailed torture and other cruel and inhumane treatment against them 
        while in detention in 2020;
Whereas at least 23 lawyers have been disbarred since October 2020 in 
        retaliation for their human rights work, and new amendments to the Law 
        on Bar and Advocates further restrict the independence of Belarusian 
        lawyers;
Whereas Belarusian authorities received over 4,644 complaints concerning police 
        brutality in protests and detentions by late November 2020;
Whereas at least four protesters died as a result of police brutality, one 
        political activist died in prison, and one teenager committed suicide 
        after being interrogated by security officials;
Whereas Belarus was the world's fifth highest jailer of writers and public 
        intellectuals with at least 18 behind bars in 2020, according to PEN 
        America's Freedom to Write Index;
Whereas at least 54 of the Belarusians currently imprisoned in retaliation for 
        their peaceful activism are cultural workers or figures, including 
        musician and opposition leader Maryia Kalesnikava who was abducted on 
        September 8, 2020, by masked police, jailed, and earlier this month was 
        sentenced to 11 years in prison;
Whereas, in the first 6 months of 2021, 621 cases of rights violations against 
        cultural figures took place in Belarus, including arrests, detentions, 
        ill treatment, dismissals, and other retributions;
Whereas, since August 2020, there have been at least 400 arrests based on the 
        use or display of national symbols, the white-red-white flag, and 
        clothes or objects containing a combination of red and white colors;
Whereas the Belarusian Government has attempted to suppress organized human 
        rights and cultural advocacy by putting more than 200 human rights and 
        other civil society organizations into dissolution procedures;
Whereas the Belarusian Justice Ministry shut down the 32-year old literary group 
        PEN Belarus on August 9, 2021, whose members have been forced to 
        evacuate and 4 of whom were detained in October 2020 for participation 
        in peaceful protests;
Whereas at least 40 Belarusian students currently face criminal prosecution for 
        participating in peaceful rallies, including 11 students recently 
        sentenced to 2 or 2\1/2\ sentences for peacefully protesting, as well as 
        student Katsyaryna Vinnikava who was sentenced to 15 days in prison 
        after giving a graduation speech in which she honored peaceful 
        protesters;
Whereas the 2021 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without 
        Borders, notes that Belarus fell 5 places to 158th out of 180 countries 
        this year, and is the most dangerous country in Europe for media 
        personnel;
Whereas, as of June 2021, there have been at least 580 instances of arbitrary 
        detentions of journalists since August 2020, with more than 3,000 days 
        spent in jail collectively;
Whereas at least 27 journalists are currently in jail in Belarus, including 
        Darya Chultsova and Katsiaryna Andreyeva, who were arrested in November 
        2020 after filming the dispersal of a peaceful protest and sentenced to 
        2 years in a penal colony;
Whereas Belarusian blogger and journalist Raman Pratasevich was abducted midair 
        during a commercial flight passing through Belarusian airspace from 
        Greece to Lithuania;
Whereas, in July 2021 alone, Belarusian authorities raided over 200 offices and 
        homes of journalists and activists;
Whereas Belarusian officials have launched a targeted campaign against 
        independent media, including labeling the Polish-funded Belsat broadcast 
        network as an ``extremist'' outlet and harassing and jailing journalists 
        working for the congressionally funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 
        service;
Whereas new amendments on Belarus' Mass Media Law will further enable the 
        repression of independent media, including by authorizing the 
        Information Ministry to shut down media outlets without a court order, 
        banning news media from reporting live from unauthorized mass 
        gatherings, and extending the right to block and censor websites to 
        local prosecutors;
Whereas the Belarusian Government has repeatedly violated user rights online by 
        employing systematic harassment, invasion of privacy, and increased 
        surveillance to monitor expression online;
Whereas the Belarusian Government has continually blocked political opposition 
        content online and forcibly removed politically sensitive content from 
        digital platforms; and
Whereas the Belarusian Government has blocked at least 20 websites in a further 
        effort to suppress the free flow of information, including 1 of the 
        country's most popular websites, TUT.BY, an independent news, media, and 
        service internet portal: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns Belarusian authorities' egregious assault on 
        freedom of expression and human rights in Belarus since the 
        August 2020 Presidential election;
            (2) condemns Belarusian authorities' ongoing attacks 
        against peaceful protesters, cultural figures, journalists, 
        lawyers, and human rights defenders;
            (3) calls for the immediate release of journalists, 
        cultural figures, and dissidents currently held as political 
        prisoners in Belarus;
            (4) condemns Belarusian authorities' violations of user 
        rights and curtailment of expression online, use of 
        surveillance to monitor expression, suppression of media access 
        to digital platforms, and blocking of political opposition 
        content from digital platforms, as noted in the Belarus 
        Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020;
            (5) calls for the countering of the Belarusian authorities' 
        internet censorship and use of repressive surveillance 
        technologies that seek to limit free association, control 
        access to information, and prevent citizens from engaging in 
        free expression;
            (6) calls on the Biden administration to support 
        initiatives to assist survivors of torture and other human 
        rights violations from Belarus, including by working with 
        allies in the region to grant them protection and providing 
        avenues for them and their families to access safety in the 
        United States;
            (7) commends the bravery of Belarusians who have created 
        innovative ways to protest Lukashenka's autocracy and applauds 
        the Belarusian diaspora's efforts to maintain international 
        focus on the deteriorating political situation;
            (8) calls on the Biden administration to examine all 
        available accountability options for violators of human rights 
        and fundamental freedoms;
            (9) calls on the Biden administration to demand that 
        Belarus cooperate fully with international partners and 
        organizations, including in particular the United Nations High 
        Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights 
        Council Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in 
        Belarus, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation 
        Moscow Mechanism Rapporteur on Human Rights; and
            (10) supports the aspirations of the Belarusian people in 
        their struggle for freedom and human rights.
                                 <all>