[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 53 (Wednesday, May 3, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H2425-H2428]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    EXPRESSING CONDEMNATION OF CONTINUED HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN 
   REPUBLIC OF BELARUS AND CALLING ON RUSSIAN FEDERATION TO RESPECT 
                         SOVEREIGNTY OF BELARUS

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 304) expressing the condemnation of 
the continued egregious violations of human rights in the Republic of 
Belarus, the lack of progress toward the establishment of democracy and 
the rule of law in Belarus, calling on President Alyaksandr 
Lukashenka's regime to engage in negotiations with the representatives 
of the opposition and to restore the constitutional rights of the 
Belarusan people, and calling on the Russian Federation to respect the 
sovereignty of Belarus.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 304

       Whereas the United States has a vital interest in the 
     promotion of democracy abroad and supports democracy and 
     economic development in the Republic of Belarus;
       Whereas in the Fall of 1996, Belarusian President 
     Alyaksandr Lukashenka devised a controversial referendum to 
     impose a new constitution on Belarus and abolish the 
     Parliament, the 13th Supreme Soviet, replacing it with a 
     rubber-stamp legislature;
       Whereas President Lukashenka organized a referendum in 
     violation of the 1994 Belarusian Constitution, which 
     illegally extended his term of office to 2001;
       Whereas Lukashenka's legal term in office expired in July 
     1999;
       Whereas Belarus has effectively become an authoritarian 
     police state, where human rights are routinely violated;
       Whereas Belarusian economic development is stagnant and 
     living conditions are deplorable;
       Whereas in May 1999, the Belarusian opposition challenged 
     Lukashenka's unconstitutional lengthening of his term by 
     staging alternative presidential elections, unleashing the 
     government crackdown;
       Whereas the leader of the opposition, Semyon Sharetsky, was 
     forced to flee Belarus to the neighboring Baltic state of the 
     Republic of Lithuania in fear for his life;
       Whereas several leaders of the opposition, including Viktor 
     Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, and Yuri Zakharenka have 
     disappeared;
       Whereas the Belarusian regime harasses and persecutes the 
     independent media and works to actively suppress freedom of 
     speech;
       Whereas former Prime Minister Mikhail Chygir, who was a 
     candidate in the opposition's alternative presidential 
     elections in May 1999, was held in pretrial detention on 
     trumped up charges from April through November 1999;
       Whereas the Lukashenka regime provoked the clashes between 
     riot police and demonstrators at the October 17, 1999, 
     ``Freedom March'', which resulted in injuries to 
     demonstrators and scores of illegal arrests;
       Whereas hundreds of peaceful demonstrators and over thirty 
     journalists were arrested during a March 25, 2000, pro-
     democracy rally in Miensk, once again illustrating the 
     Lukashenka regime's disregard for freedom of assembly, 
     association, and information;
       Whereas the Lukashenka regime has refused to engage in 
     meaningful dialogue with the opposition and has used the 
     tactics of delay and obfuscation in disregarding the 
     Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)-
     mediated dialogue process;
       Whereas genuine dialogue with the opposition and 
     legitimate, free and fair elections cannot take place in the 
     present climate of repression and fear existing in Belarus;
       Whereas on April 3, 1996, Russian Federation President 
     Boris Yeltsin and President Lukashenka signed an agreement to 
     form a Union State of Russia and Belarus;
       Whereas there have been credible press reports that the 
     Government of the Russian Federation has been providing 
     assistance to the Lukashenka regime since the signing of the 
     agreement to form a Union State, such as official Russian 
     Federation Government credits, uncollected customs duties, 
     assistance for export sales of Belarusian arms and joint 
     manufacturing of arms, and reduced prices for energy 
     supplies;
       Whereas there has been a credible estimate cited in press 
     reports that Russian Federation economic subsidies to Belarus 
     reached $1,500,000,000 to $2,000,000,000 in 1996 and 1997 
     alone, enabling the Lukashenka regime to maintain a large 
     police force and state control of the economy;
       Whereas the Union Treaty, signed on December 8, 1999, by 
     Belarus and the Russian Federation, undermines Belarus 
     sovereignty and the prospect of democracy;
       Whereas the Consultative Council of Belarusian opposition 
     parties appealed to the Government of the Russian Federation, 
     the State Duma, and the Federation Council calling for a 
     cessation of support for the Lukashenka regime;
       Whereas the former Chairmen of the Belarusian Supreme 
     Soviet, Stanislav Shushkevich and Semyon Sharetsky, have 
     stated that economic support from the Russian Federation has 
     been crucial to the survival of the Lukashenka regime;
       Whereas a Union Treaty between the Russian Federation and 
     Belarus was ratified by the Russian Parliament and the 
     illegitimate parliament of Belarus;
       Whereas the Union Treaty between the Russian Federation and 
     the Lukashenka regime violates Russian Federation Government 
     respect for the sovereignty of Belarus per the memorandum on 
     security guarantees signed by Russian Federation President 
     Boris Yeltsin at the December 1994 Summit of Organization for 
     Security and Cooperation in Europe Heads of State in 
     Budapest, Hungary; and
       Whereas the introduction of any nuclear weapons on the 
     territory of Belarus, a declared non-nuclear state under the 
     Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, would be 
     a violation of Belarus's obligations under that Treaty: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That the Congress--
       (1) condemns continued egregious violations of human rights 
     by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime in the Republic 
     of Belarus;
       (2) further condemns the Lukashenka regime's conviction and 
     sentencing of Andrei Klimov, Vasiliy Leonov, and Vladimir 
     Koudinov on politically motivated charges and urges their 
     release;
       (3) is gravely concerned about the disappearances of Viktor 
     Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, and Yuri Zakharenka and calls on 
     the Lukashenka regime to ensure a full and timely 
     investigation of these cases;
       (4) calls for immediate dialogue between the Lukashenka 
     regime and the opposition and the restoration of a 
     democratically elected government in Belarus;
       (5) urges the Lukashenka regime to respect and ensure the 
     human rights of all Belarusian citizens, including those 
     members of the opposition who are currently being illegally 
     detained in violation of their constitutional rights and 
     further urges the regime to respect the rule of law and an 
     independent judiciary;
       (6) further urges Lukashenka to hold legitimate, free and 
     fair parliamentary elections in accordance with Organization 
     for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) standards;
       (7) supports the appeal by the Consultative Council of 
     Belarusian opposition parties to the Government of the 
     Russian Federation, the State Duma, and the Federation 
     Council calling for a cessation of support for the Lukashenka 
     regime;
       (8) calls on the international community to support the 
     opposition in Belarus by continuing to meet with the 
     legitimately elected parliament;
       (9) supports Belarus's sovereignty, independence, and 
     territorial integrity, as well as its market democratic 
     transformation and integration among the broader trans-
     Atlantic community of nations;
       (10) calls on the President of the United States--
       (A) to ensure assistance to and cooperation with Belarusian 
     opposition figures;
       (B) to ensure that adequate resources are made available on 
     an urgent basis to support those programs aimed at 
     strengthening independent media, human rights, civil society, 
     independent trade unions, and the democratic opposition in 
     Belarus; and
       (C) to support the free flow of information into Belarus;
       (11) calls on the President of the United States to raise 
     the issue of financial support provided by the Russian 
     Federation to the Lukashenka regime at the highest levels of 
     the Russian Federation Government;

[[Page H2426]]

       (12) calls on the President of the United States to urge 
     the Government of the Russian Federation, in accordance with 
     its international commitments, to fully respect the 
     sovereignty of Belarus, particularly in light of the 
     illegitimate nature of the Lukashenka regime; and
       (13) calls on the President of the United States to prepare 
     and transmit to the Congress a report on--
       (A) the human rights situation, democratic process, 
     elections, independence of the media, and the Lukashenka 
     regime's control of the economy in Belarus;
       (B) the steps undertaken by the United States to persuade 
     the Russian Federation Government to end support to the 
     Lukashenka regime in Belarus; and
       (C) the status of Russian Federation-Belarus military 
     integration.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Gilman) and the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Gejdenson) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman).
  (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)


                             General Leave

  Mr. Gilman. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on H. Con. Res 304.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution is extraordinarily important for the 
people of Belarus, for their liberty and their freedom. I want to thank 
our ranking minority member on the Committee on International 
Relations, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Gejdenson), for 
introducing this measure which calls it like it really is in Belarus, 
pointing out quite simply that the regime of Belarusan President 
Alyaksandr Lukashenka is unconstitutional and illegitimate. It points 
out that the Lukashenka regime uses the very worst of Soviet-style 
tactics to repress political opposition and democratic government and 
to deny the people of Belarus their fundamental human rights. It points 
out that the Lukashenka regime is, in short, nothing less than a 
dictatorship, pure and simple.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been pleased to join the ranking member as an 
original sponsor of this resolution, not just for those important 
reasons, but because it also points to some very troubling facts with 
regard to the foreign policy of Belarus' neighbor, Russia.
  First, as this measure notes, the Government of Russia has been 
pursuing a reunification with Belarus and is actively pursuing such 
reunification just as we speak. Such a reunification is inappropriate 
and I believe an affront under international law for the following 
reasons: The president of the Belarusan parliament is an illegitimate 
one, having been dissolved by the President, and no such negotiations 
should be conducted with it or, much less, agreements ratified with it.
  Any such reunification of results in Russia extending its military 
nuclear forces to cover Belarus would, I believe, be a violation of 
Belarus status as a nonnuclear state under the Nuclear Nonproliferation 
Treaty.
  Mr. Speaker, the second important point raised by this resolution 
regarding Russia is the fact that Russia has been providing 
considerable financial support, billions of dollars worth of such 
support, to that dictatorship in Belarus, and at a time when the 
Russian government is getting hundreds of millions of dollars in aid 
from our Nation to pay its costs for reducing its arms under the START-
I Treaty, at a time when the Russian government is seeking billions of 
dollars in debt forgiveness from foreign governments, including our own 
Nation, at a time when the Russian government has received billions of 
dollars in loans from international financial institutions, and at a 
time when our Nation is turning over to the Russian government hundreds 
of millions of dollars in monies earned from the sale of donated 
American food in Russia, it is nothing less than shocking that the 
Russian government is spending millions of dollars to support a brutal 
dictatorship in Belarus and to fight a war in Chechnya that has killed 
thousands of innocent civilians.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe that this resolution should be a wake-up call 
to our President that now is the time to take action, appropriate 
action, that Russia cease its support for Lukashenka and his 
dictatorship. This resolution calls on the President to raise the issue 
of Russian financial support for the Lukashenka regime and to report to 
the Congress on the steps undertaken to persuade it to end that kind of 
support.
  Once again, that simply has to come to an end, and our Nation should 
make it clear that we not going to support further IMF loans, debt 
forgiveness or other forms of assistance of importance to the Russian 
government until it ends this kind of support to Belarus.
  Mr. Speaker, let me state in closing that there are some important 
issues that, regrettably, are not raised in this measure, including the 
mysterious incident in September of 1995 in which a Belarusan 
helicopter gunship shot down an American hot air balloon involved in an 
international race, killing two American civilians; Lukashenka's 
eviction of our American ambassador from his official residence, in 
violation of international diplomatic conventions; and, finally, 
reports that the illegitimate government in Belarus may be engaged in 
the proliferation of advanced military technology to other such regimes 
around the world.
  This comprehensive resolution does not go into those issues, but, as 
I have noted, it makes it clear that now is the time to halt Russian 
support for the Lukashenka dictatorship, and it does indeed do a great 
service to the repressed people of Belarus simply by stating the 
obvious, that the government of Belarus is nothing but a dictatorship.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for the Russian government to cease its 
financial support for the regime in Minsk, to halt its moves to reunify 
its government and military with Lukashenka's regime and its Armed 
Forces, to respect the sovereignty of Belarus, and to join us in 
sincerely working for the cause of true democracy in that suffering 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, I fully support the passage of this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GEJDENSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I join with my chairman, the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Gilman), in support of this resolution. It was interesting that in 
less than half an hour on this floor we had over one-quarter of the 
Members join us as cosponsors of this legislation. If we had spent any 
time, we would have had virtually every Member joining us.
  This resolution may not even be directed at Mr. Lukashenka, because 
it is clear he is not listening. He is not listening to his own 
citizens who have experienced some of the worst economic hardship in 
the former Soviet Union. He is not listening to the international 
community. His country today is among the most isolated of the former 
Soviet countries. While many are moving towards democratic institutions 
and a better standard of living for their citizens, Belarus sadly 
continues to see both its democratic institutions and its economy 
deteriorate.
  The people of Belarus deserve better. They have suffered so much 
through World War II in history, as the armies of Germany and Russia 
pushed back and forth, and you need only go to the capital city of 
Minsk to see that virtually no buildings remain from the pre-war era.

                              {time}  1130

  So hopefully, those in the government in Belarus who recognize that 
what Mr. Lukashenka is doing to their country is wrong, is damaging, 
will join with the opposition, join to bring about change to work out a 
new democratic agreement to develop a civil society there.
  We hope that Mr. Putin and the Russians will put pressure on Belarus 
to move forward to try to attain democratic institutions and a free 
economy. It is in Russia's interests to see that its neighbor be 
developed in a democratic way and have a stronger economy. Russian 
subsidies of the Lukashenka government and cheap energy will only 
continue to harm the Russian economy, whereas a strong, independent, 
democratic and free Belarus would actually help the Russian economy and 
society.

[[Page H2427]]

  Mr. Speaker, we have all seen the abuse by the government in Minsk, 
Mr. Lukashenka's attack on people who want to protest for freedom. He 
is robbing the political system of the proper election process, and we 
now hear that he may be involved in illegal arms sales to the 
government of Saddam Hussein.
  Mr. Speaker, every Member of this House who treasures democracy, 
every one of our allies in the world today recognizes that sadly it is 
Belarus alone that has the worst of the post-Soviet era, a crumbling 
economy, a lack of democracy; and the fact that the dialogue continues 
to deteriorate is a very bad sign there. It will not go unnoticed in 
this Chamber. It is one place where our European allies stand with us 
in opposition to the Lukashenka government. We will not end this 
struggle until the good people of Belarus have their chance at freedom 
and a better life.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith).
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. 
Gejdenson) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) for their 
leadership in constructing this resolution condemning violations of 
human rights and the erosion of democracy in Belarus in calling upon 
the Lukashenka regime to restore the constitutional rights of the 
Belarusian people and on the Russian Federation to respect the 
sovereignty of Belarus.
  In March, Mr. Speaker, I chaired a second Helsinki Commission hearing 
on Belarus which addressed many of the issues that are very importantly 
highlighted in this resolution. The hearing featured key leaders of 
Belarus's opposition, including Semyon Sharetsky and two leading State 
Department officials as well as the person in the OSCE Parliamentary 
Assembly, Adrian Severin, who was attempting to forge dialogue between 
the Belarusian authorities and the opposition. This hearing was a 
follow-up to our April 1999 hearing on Belarus. In the last year our 
commission has made repeated and consistent intercessions, including 
through the OSCE, to draw attention to the deplorable situation in 
Belarus and to encourage the establishment of a democracy there.
  As my friend and colleague from Connecticut just pointed out, there 
are the allegations, and they would seem to be real, that have been in 
some of the newspapers, including the London Sunday Telegraph about the 
Russians brokering an arms deal to rebuild the Iraqi air defenses using 
the Belarusians as the conduit. The Telegraph reported that 
Beltechexport, the State-owned Belarusian military hardware company, 
has agreed to upgrade Iraqi's air defense systems to reequip the Iraqi 
Air Force and to provide air defense training for Iraqi troops. The 
deal is estimated to be worth about $90 million. It was signed in the 
middle of April, or last February, I should say, during a visit to 
Baghdad by high-ranking Belarusians.
  It also points out, the article, that Belarusian officials have 
agreed to undertake a detailed overhaul of 17 Soviet-made Iraqi war 
planes which had been in Belarus since the late 1980s.
  Again, Mr. Speaker, this directly puts our pilots at risk who are 
trying to enforce the no-fly zone, and I think this resolution again 
gets this Congress focused on the egregious human rights situation and 
also the military implications of the Belarusian regime.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this Resolution, of 
which I am proud to be an original co-sponsor. I would like to praise 
the sponsor, the Gentleman from Connecticut, Mr. Gejdenson, for 
introducing this Resolution, and to thank both the Ranking Member and 
the Chairman of the International Relations Committee, Mr. Gilman, for 
bringing the Resolution to the Floor of the House so quickly.
  Mr. Speaker, while there have been many success stories among the new 
independent states of the former Soviet Union and the other former 
Warsaw Pact nations, Belarus has not been one of them. Over nearly a 
decade of independence, the promise of democracy, freedom of expression 
and association, and a new flowering of a national identity have not 
come to pass for the Belarusan people. The fault for this sad state of 
affairs rests with President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The President has 
illegally extended his term of office beyond the legally mandated 
expiration date. Throughout his tenure, President Lukashenka has 
monopolized the mass media, undermined the constitutional foundation 
for the separation of powers, used intimidation and strong-arm tactics 
against the political opposition, suppressed freedom of the press and 
expression, defamed the national culture, maligned the national 
language and eroded Belarus's rightfull position as a sovereign nation.
  Apart from the daily deprivations and indignities that the Belarusan 
people must endure, perhaps the saddest outcome of Mr. Lukashenka's 
rule is that his efforts have created the impression--a false one--that 
Belarus really has no distinct national culture or character. Nothing 
could be further from the truth. But the formation of the Union State 
between Russia and Belarus only serves to further perpetuate this false 
impression. While the tragic reality is that Belarus has been dominated 
politically for centuries by Russia, the fact remains that Belarus has 
its own national symbols and a distinct language.
  It's no coincidence that authoritarian President Lukashenka has 
targeted such national symbols as the nation's flag and coat of arms. 
As part of this campaign, Lukashenka's regime has ordered that schools 
go back to using Soviet-Russian textbooks, while the Russian language 
has been made the official language of the Belarusan Parliament in 
Minsk. Lukashenka's strategy has been to create conditions to justify 
the claim that history, language and culture inevitably tie the two 
countries together.
  The Belarusan language endures to this day as a key to national 
survival, both for the people living in the Republic of Belarus and 
among the Belarusan diaspora in the U.S. and elsewhere. There are 
centuries-old legal documents and religious texts written in the 
Belarusan language, as well as modern literary and historic works. 
Despite Lukashenka's repression, the cause of Belarusan nationalism 
still burns in the heart of the Belarusan people, with the Belarusan 
language the means of expressing it.
  Failure to acknowledge the harm done to Belarusan culture and 
national singularity by the Russian-Belarus merger can only give 
comfort to Lukashenka and the Russian-Soviet irredentists.
  Mr. Speaker, the negligence and mismanagement of Mr. Lukashenka's 
regime has also put at risk the nation's environment and the health of 
the people. Just last week, former Belarusan President Stanislau 
Shushkevich spoke at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) 
Washington office on the occasion of the 14th anniversary of the 
Chernobyl nuclear disaster in neighboring Ukraine. More than 70 percent 
of the radioactive fallout from the world's worst nuclear accident fell 
on Belarusan territory. While there is plenty of blame to go around for 
mishandling of this disaster--among Soviet officials, and post-Soviet 
officials in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus--President Lukashenka 
exacerbates the problems by insisting that all aid to Chernobyl victims 
pass through his hands. These funds often are diverted to other uses. 
Fortunately, some Western NGOs and religious organizations have 
bypassed Lukashenka to get aid to the people who really need it.
  Also last week, RFE/RL President Thomas A. Dine denounced efforts by 
the Belarusan KGB to intimidate journalists from that organization 
working in Belarus. Mr. Dine's statement came in response to the 
threats against Yahor Mayorchyk, a reporter for the news service funded 
by this Congress to provide objective information to people from the 
region. A KGB officer told Mr. Mayorchyk that the ``same thing will 
happen to you as to Babitsky,'' a reference to RFE/RL journalist Andrei 
Babitsky who was arrested for his coverage of the war in Chechnya and 
faces trumped-up charges in Moscow.
  Mr. Speaker, the abuses of the Lukashenka regime have been a source 
of concern for at least the past four years. In 1996, I introduced a 
Resolution expressing concern over the Lukashenka regime's violations 
of human and civil rights in direct violation of the Helsinki accords 
and the constitution of Belarus, and expressing concern about the union 
between Russia and Belarus. That Resolution also recognized March 25 as 
the anniversary of the declaration of an independent Belarusan state. A 
year later, I worked with leaders of the International Relations 
Committee to include language in the State Department Authorization 
bill, which passed the House, calling for our President to press the 
Government of President Lukashenka on defending the sovereignty of 
Belarus and guaranteeing basic freedoms and human rights.
  For years now, the Belarusan-American community has been trying to 
inform the American people about the truth in Belarus, that President 
Lukashenka's actions do not have widespread support and his regime has 
lost any sense of legitimacy it once may have had. I want to thank the 
Belarusan-American

[[Page H2428]]

community in New Jersey and throughout the nation for continuing to 
speak the truth about events in the land of their ancestors.
  Obviously, President Lukashenka has not been moved by these 
expressions of concern by the United States and the international 
community. But we must not give up. We should go on record condemning 
the abuses that have taken place, and continue to take place in 
Belarus. We must urge our President and State Department to keep the 
pressure on President Lukashenka--and also Russian President Vladimir 
Putin.
  For these and many other reasons, I urge my colleagues to support 
passage of this Resolution.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gutknecht). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) that the 
House suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. 
Res. 304.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________