[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 49 (Thursday, April 5, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E573-E574]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 ATMOSPHERE OF TRUST MISSING IN BELARUS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 4, 2001

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, this fall, the Belarusian 
Government is planning to hold their second presidential elections 
since independence. Judging by the continuing actions of the repressive 
regime of Aleksandr Lukashenka, free, fair, and transparent elections--
consistent with Belarus' freely undertaken OSCE commitments--will be 
very difficult to achieve. Democratic elections require an all-
encompassing atmosphere of trust and a respect for basic human rights. 
Unfortunately, recent actions in Belarus do nothing to encourage such 
trust.
  Most recently, on March 25, Belarusian authorities cracked down on 
participants of the

[[Page E574]]

Independence Day march, arresting and beating several protestors, 
subsequently fining and jailing some, including Belarusian Popular 
Front Chairman Vintsuk Vyachorka, who received a 15-day sentence on 
March 29, Ales Byaletsky, head of the human rights center ``Viasna'', 
who received a 10-day sentence, and Yuri Belenky, acting chairman of 
the Conservative Christian Party, who also received a 10-day sentence. 
Also detained and beaten was 17-year-old Dmitri Yegorov, a 
photojournalist for a Grodno-based, non-state newspaper.
  On the day of the march, Belarusian state television accused the 
opposition of ``seeking to draw Belaras into some bloody turmoil'', 
reflecting its increasingly shrill tone of late. Earlier this year, for 
instance, Belarusian television claimed the CIA was intensifying 
``subversive activity'' as the presidential election draws nearer. On 
March 24, Belarus' KGB chief pledged on Belarusian television to 
intensify surveillance of foreigners in order to prevent them from 
interfering in the country's domestic matters.
  On March 12, Lukashenka signed Decree #8, which essentially imposes 
restrictions from abroad offered to NGOs for democracy building and 
human rights, including election monitoring. Moreover, the Belarusian 
Government has claimed that the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group's 
(AMG) domestic election observation project does not conform with the 
Belarusian Constitution and
  Mr. Speaker, I am also concerned about recent assaults on religious 
communities. Last month, the Council of Ministers restricted visits by 
foreign clergy for ``non-religious'' purposes--including contact with 
religious and other organizations, participation in conferences and 
other events, or charitable activities. Government officials are also 
refusing to register some Reform Jewish communities because they do not 
have ``legal'' addresses. In February, state-controlled Belarusian 
television aired a documentary alleging Catholicism as a threat to the 
very existence of the Belarusian nation. And in January, leaders of 
Belarus' Protestant community alleged that state newspapers carried 
biased articles that present Pentecostals as ``wild fanatics.''
  Religious freedom is not the only liberty in peril. Freedom of the 
press and of self expression are also in jeopardy.
  Editors of a variety of newspapers are being fined on fictitious and 
trumped-up charges for violating the Law on Press and Other Mass Media. 
Various periodicals are being confiscated and destroyed, and 
distributors of independent newspapers have been arrested. Youth 
organizations have been accused of engaging in activities that weaken 
the Belarusian statehood and undermining socioeconomic stability. 
Teenagers have been arrested for picketing and protesting, and others 
have been detained for distributing newspapers or pasting stickers 
advocating reform and calling on the authorities to solve the cases of 
political disappearances. Belarusian Television and Radio (BTR) has 
also canceled scheduled addresses to be made by potential presidential 
candidates or opposition leaders. The Deputy Minister of Education has 
ordered heads of the educational community to ban seminars conducted by 
the People's University.
  Lukashenka has also undertaken repressive acts against the potential 
presidential candidates and their families in an attempt to thwart 
their campaign progress.
  Family members of former Prime Minister Mikhail Chigir have become 
the target of persecution. Chigir's wife has been accused of 
interfering with the work of the police, and his son, Alexander, has 
been charged with large scale larceny. Chigir is not the only potential 
candidate whose actions have been thwarted by Lukashenka. Semyon 
Domash's meeting with potential voters at the Tourist Hotel was 
canceled on orders from the Mogilev authorities and a director of the 
clubhouse of the Brest Association of Hearing-Impaired People lost her 
job after hosting a February 3 voters' meeting with Domash. Vladimir 
Goncharik, a labor leader, has had to deal with newly state-created 
``unions'' trying to muscle out unions supporting him. Two officials of 
a manufacturing plant were reprimanded by a Borisov city court for 
hosting a meeting between Chigir and employees at the plant.
  When one looks at these and other recent actions of the Lukashenka 
regime, the inescapable conclusion is that the regime has created an 
unhealthy environment in advance of the elections. Mr. Speaker, the 
regime's behavior is obviously not conducive to the promotion of free 
and fair elections. A few weeks ago, President Lukashenka stressed the 
need to establish an atmosphere of trust in bilateral Belarusian-U.S. 
relations. I strongly encourage Mr. Lukashenka to translate his words 
into concrete deeds that will encourage this trust and lead to the 
emergence of Belarus from its self-imposed isolation from the Euro-
Atlantic community of democracies.

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