[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 46 (Tuesday, April 25, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H1714]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE PEOPLE OF BELARUS

  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the 
Special Order time of the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McHenry).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I was fortunate to be part of a foreign 
observer team to observe the failed Presidential elections in Belarus 
on March 19. Why was it a failure? One, because about 400 political 
activists were arrested prior to the election. There was prevoting that 
no one could account for and credit as being valid. I attended with a 
colleague of mine from Portugal, a member of Parliament, Suarez, and at 
the end of the evening after visiting 19 precincts, we were not allowed 
to see the ballots, nor were we allowed to observe the counting of the 
ballots. There was also no ability for the opposition candidates to 
campaign and get time on the state-sponsored TV station.
  Why is this important, and why do I bring this up today? Well, after 
the election there was a rally in Oktyabrskaya Square, and this is a 
photo from one, a protester with a banned flag. There were over 10,000 
folks that rallied at this square, many of them staying in the evening 
through the next day over a period of weeks until the regime finally 
got fed up, which resulted in a crackdown of the protesters and 
imprisonment of, and I think there were about 685 on this list, 700 
political activists who were jailed for protesting a failed election 
and rallying for the cause of freedom and democracy and the rule of 
law. In the square slogans that stated ``Long Live Belarus''; 
``Freedom''; the announcement of one of the Presidential candidate's 
names, Milinkevich, those were the cries of people who want freedom, 
democracy, and the rule of law.
  This was the regime's response. One of those jailed who is still in 
jail is opposition leader Alexander Kozulin. Kozulin was also a 
Presidential candidate. He remains in jail today and imprisoned 
unlawfully and will undoubtedly remain for the immediate future. On 
March 30 Dr. Kozulin was formally charged with two counts of 
hooliganism under part 2, article 339 of the Criminal Code. Now, 
hooliganism is taking part in a democratic rally and publicly speaking 
his concerns on freedom and democracy and the rule of law. Actions 
which disturbed the public peace, so the regime says, and active 
participation in them under article 342 is against the regime's laws. 
These crimes carry a maximum sentence of 6 years. Dr. Kozulin has yet 
to be assigned a trial date and will remain in prison until the regime 
succumbs to international pressure and assigns him a trial date to 
prove his innocence.
  Tomorrow, April 26, as was stated by another of my colleagues 
tonight, is the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. Now, Chernobyl 
is in the Ukraine, but much of the fallout area is in the country of 
Belarus, and the prodemocratic organizations and movements and the 
political activists will be rallying again for freedom, democracy, and 
the rule of law.
  The President/dictator of Belarus is an individual named Lukashenko, 
and since the election is now over and many of the international media 
has left the country, he may feel that it is within his power to 
continue to be ruthless and destroy and suppress the freedom movement 
in Belarus. My time tonight is to just talk to him, the folks in the 
country of Belarus and the people who yearn for freedom and democracy 
that the world will be watching the events of tomorrow's rally.
  I hope that my colleagues here on the floor will stand with me in 
support of freedom of Belarus during this time and will work with the 
Belarusian people to bring free and fair elections to their country. 
Countries that are democratic historically have peaceful relationships 
with their neighbors who are also democratic. It is incumbent upon this 
House that is the bastion of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law to 
be of aid to those people who yearn to be free. That is what this 
Special Order is about tonight.

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