[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 11, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S1011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          BELARUSIAN AUTHORITIES CONTINUE TO STIFLE DEMOCRACY

  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, as co-chairman of the Commission on 
Security and Cooperation in Europe, I want to update colleagues on 
developments in the Republic of Belarus, a country with the poorest 
human rights record of any country in Europe today. In the last year, 
Belarusian dictator Lukashenka's assault on civil society has steadily 
intensified, with the liquidation of NGOs, violence against opposition 
activists, and repression of the independent media and trade unions. 
The situation in Belarus continues its downward spiral with daily 
reports of growing repression and new human rights violations.
  Since the beginning of the still relatively new year, NGOs such as 
the Belarusian Language Society and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee 
have stepped up harassment. The Minsk City Court has ordered the 
liquidation of the Independent Association of Legal Research. Leaders 
of the opposition ``Five Plus'' bloc, who are in Washington this week, 
were recently detained and searched by customs officials at the Polish-
Belarusian border. The officials were reportedly looking for printed, 
audio or video materials that could ``damage the political and economic 
interests of the country.'' Human rights activists or independent 
journalists such as Natalya Kolyada, Nina Davydowskaya, Iryna 
Makavetskaya, Aksana Novikava and Aleksandr Silitsky continue to be 
subjected to threats, detentions or heavy fines. Others, including 
activists of the youth group ZUBR, have been arrested for holding an 
unauthorized picket demanding a thorough investigation of the 
disappearances of three democratic opposition members Yuri Zakharenka, 
Victor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, and journalist Dmitri Zavadsky.
  Independent media outlets also continue to feel the wrath of the 
powers that be, including libel proceedings against Narodnaya Volya, 
Belarus' largest independent daily; the confiscation of Asambleya, a 
bulletin of the Assembly of the Belarusian Democratic NGOs; the refusal 
by the Belarusian Postal Service to distribute the independent 
newspaper Regionalniye Novosti; the confiscation of copies, in the town 
of Smorgon, of the independent newspaper, Mestnaya Gazeta; and the 
censoring of the independent newspaper Volnaya Hlybokaye in the Vitebsk 
region. Several Jewish cemeteries are being destroyed, Baptist 
congregations are being fined and Krishna followers detained.
  In an unusual step, the International Labor Organization, ILO, has 
established a commission of inquiry--only the eleventh time in the 
body's 84-year history--to examine violations of trade union rights in 
Belarus. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of 
Europe's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights unanimously 
ratified a report on political disappearances in Belarus. The just-
released report severely criticizes the Belarusian authorities, stating 
that ``steps were taken at the highest level of the State actively to 
cover up the . . . disappearances'' of several high-profile members of 
the opposition in 1999 to 2000 and that senior Belarusian officials may 
be involved.
  Last year I introduced the Belarus Democracy Act of 2003, S. 700, 
which is designed to help promote democratic development, human rights 
and rule of law in the Republic of Belarus, as well as encourage the 
consolidation and strengthening of Belarus' sovereignty and 
independence.
  While some might be tempted to dismiss Belarus as an anomaly, the 
stakes are too high and the costs too great to ignore. It is important 
for us to stay the course and support Belarus in becoming a genuine 
European state, in which respect for human rights and democracy is the 
norm and in which the long-suffering Belarusian people are able to 
overcome the legacy of dictatorship--past and present. The Belarus 
Democracy Act--which enjoys bipartisan support--is an important, 
concrete way to exhibit our support. I urge colleagues to support this 
measure and look forward to timely consideration of the Belarus 
Democracy Act.

                          ____________________