[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 135 (Friday, December 8, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2212-E2214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             BELARUS DEMOCRACY REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2006

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 7, 2006

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge passage of H.R. 
5948, the Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act of 2006, to provide 
sustained support for the promotion of democracy, human rights and the 
rule of law in the Republic of Belarus, as well as encourage the 
consolidation and strengthening of Belarus' sovereignty and 
independence. Mr. Speaker, I especially thank you for your commitment 
to bring this legislation before this Congress. Your deep personal 
interest in the cause of freedom in Belarus, as demonstrated by your 
recent meetings in Vilnius with the leaders of the democratic 
opposition, has been particularly appreciated by those struggling for 
the rule of law and basic human freedoms. This legislation enjoys 
bipartisan support, and I want to recognize and thank the tremendous 
collaboration of Rep. Tom Lantos, an original cosponsor of this bill.
  As one who has followed developments in Belarus over many years 
through my work on the Helsinki Commission, I remain deeply concerned 
that the Belarusian people continue to be subjected to the arbitrary 
and self-serving whims of a corrupt and anti-democratic regime headed 
by Aleksandr Lukashenka. Since the blatantly fraudulent March 19 
presidential elections, which the OSCE condemned as having failed to 
meet international democratic standards, the pattern of repression and 
gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. While those 
who would dare oppose the regime are especially targeted, the reality 
is that all in Belarus outside Lukashenka's inner circle pay a price.


               recent news regarding lukashenka's regime

  Last week in Riga, President Bush pledged to help the people of 
Belarus in the face of the ``cruel regime'' led by President 
Lukashenka. ``The existence of such oppression in our midst offends the 
conscience of Europe and the conscience of America,'' Bush said, adding 
that ``we have a message for the people of Belarus: the vision of a 
Europe whole, free

[[Page E2213]]

and at peace includes you, and we stand with you in your struggle for 
freedom.'' Mr. Speaker, this legislation would be a concrete expression 
of Congress' commitment to the Belarusian people and would show that we 
stand as one in supporting freedom for Belarus.
  Just within the last few months, we have witnessed a series of 
patently political trials designed to further stifle peaceful, 
democratic opposition. In October, 60-year-old human rights activist 
Katerina Sadouskaya was sentenced to 2 years in a penal colony. Her 
``crime''? ``insulting the honor and dignity of the Belarusian 
leader.'' Mr. Speaker, if this isn't reminiscent of the Soviet Union, I 
don't know what is. And just a few weeks ago, in a closed trial, 
Belarusian youth activist Zmitser Dashkevich received a 1\1/2\ year 
sentence for ``activities on behalf of an unregistered organization.''
  A report mandated by the Belarus Democracy Act and finally issued 
this past March reveals Lukashenka's links with rogue regimes such as 
Iran, Sudan and Syria, and his cronies' corrupt activities. According 
to an October 9, 2006, International Herald Tribune op-ed: 
``Alarmingly, over the last 6 years, Belarus has intensified its 
illegal arms shipment activities to the point of becoming the leading 
supplier of lethal military equipment to Islamic state sponsors of 
terrorism.''

  I guess we shouldn't be all that surprised that in July, Lukashenka 
warmly welcomed to Minsk Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. In keeping with their 
bent, both pledged cooperation and denounced the West. More recently, 
Belarusian Foreign Minister Martynov traveled to Iran where President 
Ahmadinejad pledged further cooperation in the energy and defense 
industries. Not long ago, a member of Belarus' bogus parliament 
asserted on state-controlled radio that Belarus has the right to 
develop its own nuclear weapons. Mr. Speaker and Colleagues, Belarus is 
truly an anomaly in Europe, swimming against the rising tide of greater 
freedom, democracy and economic prosperity.


                            the legislation

  Three years ago, I introduced the Belarus Democracy Act which passed 
the House and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support and was 
signed into law by President Bush in October 2004. At that time, the 
situation in Belarus with respect to democracy and human rights was 
already abysmal. The need for a sustained U.S. commitment to foster 
democracy and respect for human rights and to sanction Aleksandr 
Lukashenka and his cronies, is clear from the intensified anti-
democratic policies pursued by the current leadership in Minsk. Mr. 
Speaker, I am pleased that countries throughout Europe have joined in a 
truly trans-Atlantic effort to bring the promise of freedom to the 
beleaguered people of Belarus. Prompt passage of the Belarus Democracy 
Reauthorization Act of 2006 will help maintain this momentum aimed at 
upholding the democratic aspirations of the Belarusian people. With the 
continuing decline on the ground in Belarus since the fraudulent March 
elections, this bill is needed now more than ever.
  This reauthorization bill demonstrates the sustained U.S. support for 
Belarus' independence. We seek to encourage those struggling for 
democracy and respect for human rights in the face of the formidable 
pressures and personal risks from the anti-democratic regime. The bill 
authorizes such sums as may be necessary in assistance for each of 
fiscal years 2007 and 2008 for democracy-building activities such as 
support for non-governmental organizations, including youth groups, 
independent trade unions and entrepreneurs, human rights defenders, 
independent media, democratic political parties, and international 
exchanges.
  The bill further authorizes monies for both radio and television 
broadcasting to the people of Belarus. While I am encouraged by the 
recent U.S. and EU initiatives with respect to radio broadcasting, much 
more needs to be done to penetrate Lukashenka's stifling information 
blockade. Mr. Speaker, I hope that the Administration will make this a 
priority.
  In addition, H.R. 5948 calls for selective sanctions against the 
Lukashenka regime, and the denial of entry into the United States for 
senior officials of the regime--as well as those engaged in human 
rights and electoral abuses. In this context, I welcome the punitive 
sanctions imposed by both the Administration and the EU which are 
targeted against officials--including judges and prosecutors--involved 
in electoral fraud and other human rights abuses.
  The bill expresses the sense of the Congress that strategic exports 
to the Government of Belarus should be prohibited, except for those 
intended for democracy building or humanitarian purposes, as well as 
U.S. Government financing and other foreign assistance. Of course, we 
would not want the exports to affect humanitarian goods and 
agricultural or medical products. The U.S. Executive Directors of the 
international financial institutions are encouraged to vote against 
financial assistance to the Government of Belarus except for loans and 
assistance that serve humanitarian needs. Furthermore, we would 
encourage the blocking of the assets (in the United States) of members 
of the Belarus Government as well as the senior leadership and their 
surrogates. To this end, I welcome the Treasury Department's April 10 
advisory to U.S. financial institutions to guard against potential 
money laundering by Lukashenka and his cronies and strongly applaud 
President Bush's June 19 ``Executive Order Blocking Property of Certain 
Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Belarus.''
  Mr. Speaker, I want to make it crystal clear that these sanctions are 
aimed not at the people of Belarus, but at a regime that displays 
contempt for the dignity and rights of its citizens even as the corrupt 
leadership moves to further enrich itself at the expense of all 
Belarusians.


                    ongoing anti-democratic behavior

  To chronicle the full litany of repression over the course of 
Lukashenka's 12-year misrule would go well beyond the bounds of time 
available here. Let me cite several more recent illustrations of anti-
democratic behavior which testify to the true nature of the regime.
  Belarus' March 19 presidential elections can only be described as a 
farce, and were met with condemnation by the United States, the OSCE, 
the European Union and others. The Lukashenka regime's wholesale 
arrests of more than one thousand opposition activists and dozens of 
Belarusian and foreign journalists, before and after the elections, and 
violent suppression of peaceful post-election protests underscore the 
contempt of the Belarusian authorities toward their countrymen.
  Illegitimate parliamentary elections in 2004 and the recently held 
presidential ``elections'' in Belarus brazenly flaunted democratic 
standards. As a result of these elections, Belarus has the distinction 
of lacking legitimate presidential and parliamentary leadership, which 
contributes to that country's self-imposed isolation. Albeit safely 
ensconced in power, Lukashenka has not let up on the democratic 
opposition. Almost daily repressions constitute a profound abuse of 
power by a regime that has blatantly manipulated the system to remain 
in power.
  In the last few months, the regime continues to show its true colors, 
punishing those who would dare to challenge the tinpot dictator. Former 
presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin was sentenced to a 
politically-motivated 5\1/2\ years' term of imprisonment for alleged 
``hooliganism'' and disturbing the peace. His health is precarious as 
he is now well into his second month of a hunger strike.
  In early August, authorities sentenced four activists of the non-
partisan domestic election monitoring initiative ``Partnerstva''. In a 
patent attempt to discourage domestic observation of the fraudulent 
March 19 presidential elections, the four had been kept in custody 
since February 21. Two were released, having served their 6-month 
sentences. Two others--Tsimafei Dranchuk and Mikalay Astreyka--received 
stiffer sentences, although Astreyka has been released from a medium 
security colony and is now in ``correctional labor''. Other political 
prisoners, including Artur Finkevich, Mikalay Autukhovich, Andrey 
Klimau, Ivan Kruk, Yury Lyavonau, Mikalay Razumau, Pavel Sevyarynets, 
Mikalay Statkevich also continue to have their freedom denied, 
languishing in prison or in so-called correctional labor camps.

  Administrative detentions of 10 or 15 days against democratic 
opposition activists are almost a daily occurence. Moreover, the 
Lukashenka regime continued to stifle religious expression. It refuses 
to register churches, temporarily detains pastors, threatens to expel 
foreign clergy, and refuses religious groups the use of premises to 
hold services. Despite the repressions, Protestant and Catholic 
congregations have increasingly become more active in their pursuit of 
religious freedom. I am also concerned about the recent explosion at a 
Holocaust memorial in western Belarus, the sixth act of vandalism 
against the monument in 14 years. Unfortunately, the local authorities 
have reportedly refused to open a criminal investigation. Lukashenka's 
minions have closed down independent think tanks, further tightened the 
noose around what remains of the independent media, suspended the 
activities of a political party, shut down the prominent literary 
journal Arche, and evicted the Union of Belarusian Writers from its 
headquarters. Of course, Lukashenka's pattern of contempt for human 
rights is nothing new--it has merely intensified with the passage of 
time.
  Moreover, we have seen no progress on the investigation of the 
disappearances of political opponents--perhaps not surprisingly, as 
credible evidence points at the involvement of the Lukashenka regime in 
their murders.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that the Belarus Democracy Reauthorization 
Act of 2006 will help end to the pattern of violations of OSCE

[[Page E2214]]

human rights and democracy commitments by the Lukashenka regime and 
loosen its unhealthy monopoly on political and economic power. I hope 
our efforts here today will facilitate independent Belarus' integration 
into democratic Europe in which the principles of democracy, human 
rights and the rule of law are respected. The beleaguered Belarusian 
people have suffered so much over the course of the last century and 
deserve better than to live under a regime frighteningly reminiscent of 
the Soviet Union. The struggle of the people of Belarus for dignity and 
freedom deserves our unyielding and consistent support.
  This legislation is important and timely because Belarus, which now 
borders on NATO and the EU, continues to have the worst human rights 
and democracy record of any European state--bar none.

                          ____________________