[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 132 (Thursday, October 19, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S10790]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      DEMOCRACY DENIED IN BELARUS

  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, I am pleased to join as an original 
cosponsor of this resolution introduced by my colleague from Illinois, 
Senator Durbin, to address the continuing constitutional crisis in 
Belarus.
  As Co-Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, during the 106th Congress 
I have worked on a bipartisan basis to promote the core values of 
democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Belarus in keeping with 
that country's commitments as a participating State in the Organization 
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Back in April the OSCE 
set four criteria for international observation of parliamentary 
elections held this past weekend: respect for human rights and an end 
to the climate of fear; opposition access to the state media; a 
democratic electoral code; and the granting of real power to the new 
parliament.
  Regrettably, the Lukashenka regime responded with at best half-
hearted measures aimed at giving the appearance of progress while 
keeping democracy in check. Instead of using the elections process to 
return Belarus to the path of democracy and end that country's self-
isolation, Mr. Lukashenka tightened his grip on power launching an 
intensified campaign of harassment against the democratic opposition 
and fledgling independent media. Accordingly, a technical assessment 
team dispatched by the OSCE concluded that the elections ``fell short 
of meeting minimum commitments for free, fair, equal accountable, and 
transparent elections.'' The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of 
the OSCE confirmed the flawed nature of the campaign period.
  We recently saw how Slobodan Milosevic was swept from power by a wave 
of popular discontent following years of repression. After his ouster, 
Belarus now has the dubious distinction of being the sole remaining 
dictatorship in Europe. Misguided steps toward recognition of the 
results of Belarus' flawed parliamentary elections would only serve to 
bolster Mr. Lukashenka in the lead up to presidential elections slated 
for next year.
  This situation was addressed today in an editorial in the Washington 
Times. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a copy of this 
editorial be printed in the Record following my remarks.
  I commend Senator Durbin for his leadership on this issue and will 
continue to work with my colleagues to support the people of Belarus in 
their quest to move beyond dictatorship to genuine democracy.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From the Washington Times, Oct. 19, 2000]

                           Battle for Belarus

       In Belarus last weekend, the opposition leaders did not 
     light their parliament on fire as their Yugoslavian 
     counterparts had the week before. They did not crush the 
     walls of the state media outlet with bulldozers or leave key 
     sites in their capital in shambles. No, the people living 
     under the last dictator of Europe met this weekend's 
     parliamentary elections with silence. Opposition parties 
     rallied the people to boycott, and what they didn't say at 
     the polls, the international community said for them.
       The U.S. State Department declared the results ``not free, 
     fair, or transparent'' and replete with ``gross abuses'' by 
     President Alexander Lukashenko's regime. The Organization for 
     Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of 
     Europe, the European parliament and the European Union said 
     the same. The dictator's allies got most of the 43 seats in 
     districts where the winner received a majority of the vote. 
     Where no candidate received a majority of the vote, run-offs 
     will occur Oct. 26, another opportunity for the dictator to 
     demonstrate his unique election methods. However, a record-
     low turnout in many towns, claimed as a victory by the 
     opposition, will force new elections in three months.
       What will it take for the people to push Mr. Lukashenko to 
     follow Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic into political 
     oblivion in next year's presidential election? Nothing short 
     of war, if one asks the international coordinator for Charter 
     '97, Andrei Sannikov. ``I don't know how the country 
     survives. [Approximately] 48.5 percent live below the poverty 
     level,'' Mr. Sannikov told reporters and editors of The 
     Washington Times. ``That increases to 60 percent in rural 
     areas. It would provoke an extreme reaction anywhere else. 
     Here, they won't act as long as there is no war''.
       But the people of Belarus are getting restless. Out of the 
     50 percent of the people who don't know who they support, 90 
     percent are not satisfied with Mr. Lukashenko and with their 
     lives in Belarus, Mr. Sannikov said. The dictator's behavior 
     before last weekend's elections didn't help any. In his 
     statement three days before the elections, Rep. Chris Smith, 
     chairman of the OSCE, listed just a few reasons why the 
     people should take to the streets: ``Since August 30, the 
     Lukashenko regime has denied registration to many opposition 
     candidates on highly questionable grounds, detained, fined or 
     beaten over 100 individuals advocating a boycott of the 
     elections, burglarized the headquarters of an opposition 
     party, and confiscated 100,000 copies of an independent 
     newspaper.''
       Mr. Sannikov, a former deputy foreign minister, was himself 
     a victim last year when he was beaten unconscious, and three 
     ribs and his nose were broken, in what he said was a 
     government-planned attack. He and the rest of the opposition 
     don't want to be victims in next year's elections. If the 
     opposition can rally behind one formidable leader, war won't 
     have to precede change--nor will Mr. Lukashenko once again 
     make democracy a fatality.

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