[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 345 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 345
Expressing the sense of the Senate on the political situation in
Belarus.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 9, 2021
Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Durbin, Mr.
Portman, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Markey, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Rubio,
Mr. Johnson, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Van Hollen, and Mr. Coons) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
November 16, 2021
Reported by Mr. Menendez, with an amendment and an amendment to the
preamble
[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[Strike the preamble and insert the part printed in italic]
February 1, 2022
Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate on the political situation in
Belarus.
Whereas the United States Senate has long maintained strong bipartisan concern
regarding the troubling lack of democracy in Belarus, highlighted by the
passing of the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-347; 22
U.S.C. 5811 note);
Whereas the 116th Congress, as referenced in H.R. 8438, the Belarus Democracy,
Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020, and Senate Resolution 658,
which both passed with unanimous support, stated its deep concern
regarding the fraudulent election in Belarus on August 9, 2020;
Whereas on September 17, 2020, the Moscow Mechanism of the human dimension of
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was
invoked by 17 participating states with regard to credible reports of
human rights violations before, during, and after the presidential
election of August 9, 2020, in Belarus;
Whereas, following Alyaksandr Lukashenka's inauguration on September 23, 2020,
the United States, the European Union, numerous European Union member
states, the United Kingdom, and Canada announced they did not recognize
the legitimacy of the election results;
Whereas after the August 9, 2020 presidential election, the Government of
Belarus responded to the resulting peaceful protests, the largest in the
country's history, with a violent crackdown, including the detention of
more than 10,000 peaceful protestors, according to the United Nations
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus;
Whereas the Government of Belarus, under the misrule of the Lukashenka regime,
continues to engage in a pattern of clear and persistent violations of
human rights and fundamental freedoms and disrespects the basic
principles of democratic governance by subjecting tens of thousands of
pro-democracy political activists, peaceful protesters, and ordinary
citizens to harassment, beatings, abductions, forced deportations, and
imprisonment and by committing acts of transnational repression to
punish any dissent expressed by Belarusian citizens;
Whereas the Lukashenka regime continues to silence independent media, such as
Nasha Niva, tut.by, and Belsat, and has unlawfully raided the offices of
media outlets, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and arrested
journalists;
Whereas on September 11, 2020, then-Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun
said that ``we stand by our long-term commitment to support the
sovereignty of Belarus as well as its territorial integrity, as the
aspirations of the Belarusian people to determine their own path remains
in front of us'';
Whereas on May 23, 2021, the Lukashenka regime forced a commercial airliner
flying between two European Union member states to land in Minsk in
order for the regime to arrest journalist Raman Pratasevich and his
partner Sofia Sapega, a violation of international law resulting in near
universal condemnation from the international community and coordinated
sanctions by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European
Union;
Whereas on May 28, 2021, the White House announced the re-imposition of full
blocking sanctions against nine Belarusian state-owned enterprises and
announced a new Executive order to increase sanctions on elements of the
Lukashenka regime;
Whereas the Lukashenka regime has actively encouraged or forced at gunpoint more
than 4,000 migrants from other countries to cross through Belarus into
European Union member states Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland, amounting to
people smuggling and obliging these countries to declare a state of
emergency;
Whereas on June 9, 2021, the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate held a
hearing regarding the political situation in Belarus, in which United
States Ambassador to Belarus Julie Fisher testified that ``Despite the
oppression, the violence, and the turmoil that followed the events of
the past year provide glimmers of hope. A new generation of brave
Belarusians, with courageous women at the front, have emerged. They
represent a Belarus determined to chart its own path. They represent a
Belarus in which wearing a red and white dress, hanging a flag, or
playing a particular song will not result in torture, forced
confessions, or even death.'';
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, President Biden--
(1) announced an Executive order authorizing the imposition of blocking
sanctions on certain sectors of the Belarus economy, including the potash,
tobacco products, and construction sectors; and
(2) pursuant to such executive order and Executive Order 13405, issued
additional sanctions on Belarusian individuals and entities, including
Belaruskali (a state-owned potash fertilizer company) and the Belarus
National Olympic Committee; and
Whereas Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya continues to
represent the widely shared desire of the Belarusian people for free and
fair elections and democracy: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) continues, on the first anniversary of the illegitimate
presidential election in Belarus on August 9, 2020, to refuse
to recognize Alyaksandr Lukashenka as the legitimately elected
leader of Belarus;
(2) condemns Lukashenka's ongoing crackdown on members of
the pro-democracy movement, senior members of the Coordination
Council, peaceful protesters, employees from state-owned
enterprises participating in strikes, independent election
observers, independent journalists and bloggers, medical
professionals, professors, teachers, athletes, and cultural
leaders;
(3) continues to call for the fulfillment by the Government
of Belarus of Belarus' freely undertaken obligations as an
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
member and accept the OSCE's offer to facilitate a national
dialogue and fully participate in the OSCE process;
(4) calls for new presidential and parliamentary elections
to be held in Belarus, conducted in a manner that is free and
fair according to OSCE standards and under the supervision of
OSCE observers and independent domestic observers;
(5) welcomes the United States Government's close
coordination with the European Union, the United Kingdom,
Canada, other allied and partner countries, and international
organizations to promote the principles of democracy, the rule
of law, and human rights in Belarus and encourages continued
coordination to apply maximal pressure on the Lukashenka
regime;
(6) continues to call for the immediate release, without
preconditions, of all political prisoners in Belarus;
(7) calls for the unconditional release of all political
prisoners and journalists detained on dubious charges,
including opposition candidates Sergei Tikhanovsky and Viktar
Babaryka, pro-democracy activist Maria Kalesnikava, and Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalists Ihar Losik, Aleh
Hruzdzilovich, and Andrey Kuznechyk;
(8) condemns the forced diversion of Ryanair Flight 4978 to
arrest Raman Pratasevich and his partner Sofia Sapega, which
violated international civil aviation law and risked the lives
of innocent passengers and crew, and calls for their immediate
unconditional release;
(9) 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;
(10) lauds the extraordinary support offered by the
Governments of Lithuania, Ukraine, and Poland to support the
people of Belarus, including support for the political
opposition, accommodation of political refugees, and backing a
free media;
(11) calls on the Lukashenka regime to immediately halt
exploiting and instrumentalizing migrants and to stop directing
individuals to the borders of Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland;
(12) welcomes the Executive order announced on August 9,
2021, that applies additional sanctions on the Lukashenka
regime and urges the Biden Administration to consider further
tools at its disposal to support democracy in Belarus;
(13) welcomes the European Union sanctions imposed on the
Lukashenka regime and urges the United States to continue to
coordinate additional measures with the European Union; and
(14) emphasizes that the United States supports the people
of Belarus in their quest to maintain their sovereignty, choose
their own leadership, and live in freedom, and recognizes the
extensive efforts of the Belarusian opposition to coordinate
efforts with the United States, the European Union, the OSCE,
and the United Nations to bring free and fair elections to its
people.
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