[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 38 (Thursday, March 30, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1972-S1973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ANTI-DEMOCRATIC ACTIONS IN BELARUS

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise to speak today about the 
dramatically deteriorating situation in Belarus. As of Sunday, March 
26, more than 100 opposition activists remained in custody after a 
rally on Saturday that turned from a peaceful event into a 
demonstration that saw police clubbing protesters with nightsticks, 
hitting journalists covering the event and sending armored cars into 
Central Minsk. More than 500 people were detained, most of whom were 
not formally charged until Monday. This is only one of the examples of 
how, in Belarus, the Lukashenka regime continues to try to suppress the 
will of the people.
  In November, Senator Campbell and I introduced a resolution 
condemning the Lukashenka regime and its actions towards the country. 
The sad reality is that Belarus is being left behind while the rest of 
Europe is building a foundation of democratic governance, respect for 
human rights, and the rule of law.
  Since 1996, President Lukashenka has been responsible for numerous 
unconstitutional steps. He unilaterally extended his term until 2001 
after he promised to hold democratic elections in 1999. He replaced the 
13th Supreme Soviet with a rubberstamp parliament and he rewrote the 
country's constitution.
  Belarus has turned into a country where those who choose to 
participate in civil society by speaking truth to power must do so at 
great risk to their freedom, and even their lives, under Lukashenka's 
rule. Two prominent opposition figures--General Yuri Zakharenko and 
Viktor Gonchar--as well as another associate, Anatoly Krasovsky, have 
disappeared. Many of the people arrested on March 25 as well as other 
peaceful protesters were members of the opposition.
  Belarus' economy is apparently imploding and neighboring countries, 
Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia, are concerned about regional 
instability.
  Our resolution condemns the arrest of opposition figures and the 
disappearance of others; calls for a dialogue between Lukashenka and 
the opposition; calls for the restoration of a democratically-elected 
government and democratic institutions; calls on the U.S. President to 
fund travel by Belarusian opposition figures and non-governmental 
organizations in Belarus; and supports information flows into Belarus.
  Belarus is not making progress. We must do what we can to sustain the 
remarkable progress of the other countries that have transformed 
themselves into fully democratic market democracies, and encourage the 
development of a democracy in Belarus.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, on March 25, Belarusian authorities 
harshly suppressed a pro-democracy demonstration in the capital of 
Minsk, arresting and detaining hundreds of peaceful protestors, 
including nearly 30 domestic and foreign journalists. Riot police, 
deployed with dogs and armored personnel carriers, used excessive force 
against some peaceful demonstrators.
  Among those detained and beaten was democratic opposition leader 
Anatoly Lebedka, Deputy Chairman of the 13th Supreme Soviet. Many of my 
Senate colleagues met Mr. Lebedka last September when I introduced him 
right here on the Senate floor. Mr. Lebedka was just in Washington 
earlier this month to testify at a Helsinki Commission hearing about 
the deteriorating situation in Belarus.
  Based on information I obtained from the State Department, I am 
advised that Anatoly Lebedka was arrested by plainclothes police during 
the demonstration, kept in detention, and reportedly beaten over the 
course of two days. He spent most of Monday in a police van outside the 
courthouse awaiting trial, but was released at 5:00 p.m. His trial has 
been scheduled for April 4.
  Mr. President, the harsh overreaction by the authorities to this 
peaceful demonstration represents a clear violation of the freedom of 
association, assembly, and information guaranteed both by the 
Belarusian constitution and OSCE agreements. In addition, the 
Belarusian authorities detained a U.S. citizen who is an accredited 
diplomat and a member of the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in 
Belarus, and who was observing the demonstration in line with his 
official responsibilities. This action also violates international 
conventions.
  It appears that the green light for the most recent crackdown was 
given by Belarusian President Lukashenka, who praised the police for 
their actions. Reports indicate that earlier this month, he cautioned 
that the riot police will ``beat the stuffing out'' of any protestor 
who ``gets out of line.''
  Unfortunately, the suppression by the Belarusian authorities of 
peaceful protest, along with the sentencing last week of a prominent 
member of the opposition, does nothing to encourage a constructive 
dialogue with the democratic opposition that can lead Belarus

[[Page S1973]]

out of its continuing constitutional impasse and end its self-imposed 
international isolation.
  Mr. President, I call upon the Government of Belarus to thoroughly 
investigate reports of police brutality during the course of the 
demonstration and subsequent detentions and take measures to ensure 
that citizens are guaranteed their rights to engage in peaceful 
protests, keeping with that country's OSCE commitments.
  I was pleased to join Senator Durbin as an original cosponsor to 
Senate Concurrent Resolution 75 which we introduced last November. That 
resolution summarized many of the political problems facing the 
democratic opposition in Belarus expressing strong opposition to the 
continued egregious violations of human rights, the lack of progress 
toward the establishment of democracy and the rule of law in Belarus, 
and calls on President Lukashenka to engage in negotiations with the 
representatives of the opposition and to restore the constitutional 
rights of the Belarusian people. In light of the recent violent 
crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators last weekend, I urge my 
colleagues to support passage of the Durbin/Campbell resolution.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a news report from the 
Washington Post on this latest crackdown be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From the Washington Post, Mar. 26, 2000]

                  Belarus Police Crack Down on Protest

       Minsk, Belarus.--Hundreds of police beat back thousands of 
     protesters at an opposition rally, sending armored personnel 
     carriers into central Minsk and detaining 400 people in one 
     of the country's harshest crackdowns on dissent in recent 
     years.
       The rally was held to commemorate the founding of the 
     Belarusian Popular Republic on March 25, 1918, when German 
     forces were ousted from Minsk in the waning days of World War 
     I. The independent state was short-lived and within a year, 
     much of Belarus was part of the Soviet Union.
       Belarus' hard-line government had said it would allow the 
     rally to be held on the outskirts of Minsk, but several 
     thousand demonstrators went instead to a central square in 
     the capital.

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