[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.
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