[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 41 (Thursday, March 17, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1875-S1877]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CONDEMNING THE ELECTIONS IN BELARUS

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that we proceed to 
the immediate consideration of S. Res. 105.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 105) to condemn the December 19, 
     2010, elections in Belarus, and to call for the immediate 
     release of all political prisoners and for new elections that 
     meet international standards.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, much of the world's recent attention has 
understandably been on the Middle East--and of course this week on the 
terrible situation with one of America's closest allies--Japan. I 
understand that USAID has sent disaster relief teams to help in the 
earthquake and tsunami devastated cities and that the U.S. aircraft 
carrier USS Ronald Reagan is off the coast to help with relief 
operations.
  Events there are truly heartbreaking and we stand in solidarity with 
our Japanese friends during this time of continued crisis and 
rebuilding.
  Amid these major global events I want to make sure we don't lose 
sight of the continuing political repression in the last dictatorship 
of Europe--Belarus.
  You see, despite the transformations that swept through eastern and 
central Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarus 
remains stuck in time under the tyranny of Alexander Lukashenko, who 
has ruled the country with an iron fist for most of the last two 
decades.
  Lukashenko's security forces that help prop up his illegitimate 
regime are actually still called the KGB--and they have the same 
despicable tactics as the old Soviet KGB.
  Under Lukashenko's regime, those who dare to speak up against the 
government or attempt to participate in any semblance of democratic 
activity find themselves arrested, beaten, or worse.
  In December, six of the seven candidates who chose to run against 
Lukashenko were arrested on election day when protesting the sham 
electoral process. Some were beaten and one, Vladimir Nekliaev, was 
even yanked out of a hospital and taken for interrogation by 
Lukashenko's KGB henchmen.
  Over 600 other protesters were also arrested.
  I had the opportunity to visit Belarus some weeks after the election 
and meet with the family members of these brave candidates and 
activists and I must tell you, it was a very moving experience.
  I want to tell you about Milana Mikhalevich a 34-year-old mother of 
two, whose husband Ales was a Presidential candidate.
  She told me of her harassment by Belarusian officials since her 
husband's arrest; how they denied her access to see him or even 
exchange letters. Any attorneys brave enough to defend him faced 
disbarment or criminal charges.
  As she described this Lukashenka nightmare, Milana's 14-month-old 
daughter Alena scrambled around her feet--her father held somewhere in 
a Lukashenka KGB nightmare.
  Just a few weeks ago Ales was finally released from detention. He 
promptly issued a statement detailing the abuse and torture that he 
endured in his 2-month KGB detention, including being beaten, stripped 
naked, and hung by his hands.
  He said that following his torture he was forced to sign a document 
in which he pledged to cooperate, noting ``after my joints crunched I 
did all they wanted.''
  Madam President, can anyone believe this kind of barbarism is still 
happening in Europe?
  At the end of January, following repeated condemnations of the 
December election and demands for the release of all political 
prisoners, the United States and the European Union imposed targeted 
travel and financial sanctions on Lukashenko and his group of enablers.
  Tragically, since then, Lukashenko's KGB has continued daily raids on 
the homes and offices of those suspected of ties to the democratic 
opposition, human rights organizations, or independent media.
  Lukashenko has ignored election monitor reports questioning the 
credibility of the election and international demands to release all 
political prisoners. He has pulled his country even further into 
isolation and made it the subject of international scorn.
  Following the old Soviet playbook, his government has tried to blame 
outside forces and other countries--everyone but Lukashenko himself--
for the shameful political mess he has created.
  You may have read his very troubling interview recently in the 
Washington Post in which he brazenly claimed ``We told you clearly that 
there is no less democracy in Belarus than there is in the United 
States'' and that despite the international condemnation and sanctions, 
he would order the same arrests and repression on election night all 
over again given the chance.
  Just last week his government formally sentenced a number of 
protesters to terms of between 3-4 years in a high security prison. 
Others still face trials and possible 15 year sentences.
  That is why last week, Senators Lieberman, McCain, Cardin, Shaheen, 
Graham, Kyl, Barrasso, Mark Udall, Kirk, Lautenberg and I submitted a 
Senate resolution on Belarus that, among other things:
  Condemns the December election as illegitimate and fraudulent and 
calls for new elections that are genuinely democratic; calls for the 
immediate release of all political prisoners in

[[Page S1876]]

Belarus and an end to the harassment of their families and lawyers; and 
urges the U.S. and the EU to expand the list of Belarussian officials 
and their families responsible for maintaining Lukashenko's rein of 
tyranny to be subject to travel and asset sanctions.
  The resolution also calls on the International Ice Hockey Federation 
to suspend its 2014 International World Ice Hockey championship to be 
hosted in Minsk, Belarus until all political prisoners are released.
  No such distinguished international sport championship should be 
awarded to Lukashenko's dictatorship while political prisoners are 
rotting away and being tortured in his secret KGB prisons.
  Madam President, the people of Belarus only want the same basic 
freedoms that so many of us take for granted--and that so many are 
protesting for in the Middle East--the freedom to choose one's own 
government, to be free from indiscriminate arrest and torture, and to 
speak and debate issues freely within a democratic process.
  We in the Senate owe the Belarusian people nothing less than to stand 
in solidarity with them as they continue their struggle.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, 
the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related 
to the resolution be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 105) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 105

       Whereas the people of Belarus have lived under the brutal 
     dictatorship of Alexander Lukashenko for almost 2 decades;
       Whereas, under Mr. Lukashenko's rule, Belarus--which is 
     known as ``the last dictatorship of Europe''--has defied the 
     post-Soviet democratic transformation that swept eastern and 
     central Europe by maintaining an abhorrent human and 
     political rights record and denying its citizens fundamental 
     freedoms;
       Whereas, according to the United States Department of State 
     2009 Human Rights Country Report on Belarus, elections in 
     Belarus are consistently unfair and undemocratic; politically 
     motivated arrests and detentions are ongoing; Belarus' 
     judiciary is not independent; beatings, poor treatment, and 
     disease are widespread in prisons in Belarus, where detainees 
     lack access to food, proper clothing, and medical treatment; 
     and the Government of Belarus has severely and systematically 
     restricted basic freedoms of press, speech, assembly, 
     association, and religion;
       Whereas Mr. Lukashenko had an opportunity to move Belarus 
     closer to the community of democracies by holding free and 
     fair presidential elections on December 19, 2010, and 
     allowing for multiple opposition candidates to run for 
     president;
       Whereas the Lukashenko regime squandered this opportunity 
     for the people of Belarus by orchestrating a fraudulent 
     election that failed to meet minimal international standards;
       Whereas, following the elections, the Lukashenko regime 
     arrested 5 of the 6 opposition presidential candidates, 
     severely beating one candidate, Uladzimir Niakliayeu, and 
     arbitrarily beating many of the thousands of Belarusians who 
     were peacefully protesting the stolen election in the largest 
     public demonstration the country had seen in over 5 years;
       Whereas, during the course of election day and its 
     aftermath, Lukashenko's security forces, the State Security 
     Agency (KGB), detained or arrested over 600 additional 
     people, including journalists, civil society representatives, 
     political activists, and ordinary Belarusians who were 
     peacefully seeking to exercise their fundamental human rights 
     to free assembly and expression;
       Whereas the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 
     Europe's Election Observation Mission, which monitored the 
     election in Belarus, issued a statement of preliminary 
     findings and conclusions on December 20, 2010, that 
     criticized the election's campaign environment as 
     ``characterized by the lack of a level-playing field'' and 
     reported that international observers assessed the vote count 
     as ``non-transparent'' and ``bad or very bad in almost half 
     of all observed polling stations'';
       Whereas, according to Organization for Security and 
     Cooperation in Europe observers, prominent international 
     websites, including Gmail and Hotmail, and Belarusian 
     websites including Charter97.org, euroradio.by, gazetaby.com, 
     and zapraudu.info were rendered inaccessible on election day;
       Whereas, on February 22, 2011, the Organization for 
     Security and Cooperation in Europe stated in its final report 
     on the December 19, 2010, election that the final vote count 
     was ``flawed and lacked transparency'';
       Whereas Department of State spokesperson Philip J. Crowley 
     said on December 20, 2010, ``We cannot consider the election 
     results as legitimate.'';
       Whereas, on December 20, 2010, the Obama Administration 
     called for the release of all detained presidential 
     candidates and protestors arrested around the election and 
     strongly condemned the violence used by the Lukashenko regime 
     to ``undermine the democratic process'';
       Whereas on December 23, 2010, Secretary of State Hillary 
     Clinton and European Union High Representative for Foreign 
     Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton strongly 
     condemned the Lukashenko regime's disproportionate use of 
     violence and called for ``the immediate release of the 
     presidential candidates and the over 600 demonstrators who 
     have been taken into custody in the wake of the presidential 
     elections in Belarus'';
       Whereas the heads of the foreign affairs committees of the 
     German and Polish parliaments issued a joint statement on 
     December 31, 2010, stating that the presidential election in 
     Belarus showed ``a complete lack of respect for European 
     values and standards'';
       Whereas, on January 20, 2011, the European Parliament 
     adopted a resolution that condemns the December 19, 2010, 
     elections in Belarus and their violent aftermath; demands the 
     immediate and unconditional release of political prisoners; 
     and calls for ``new elections to be held'' in Belarus under 
     ``free and democratic conditions'' and ``according to OSCE 
     standards'';
       Whereas, on December 31, 2010, the Government of Belarus 
     refused to extend the mandate of the Organization for 
     Security and Cooperation in Europe office in Minsk, thereby 
     shuttering the democratic institution building efforts of the 
     Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 
     Belarus;
       Whereas, on January 4, 2011, Department of State 
     spokesperson Philip J. Crowley and Darren Ennis, Spokesperson 
     for European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton, 
     issued a joint statement expressing regret over the closure 
     of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
     Office in Belarus and calling on authorities in Belarus ``to 
     fulfill their commitments to the OSCE by reforming the 
     election process and providing greater respect for human 
     rights'';
       Whereas the Belarusian KGB continues to detain at least 32 
     political opposition leaders and activists associated with 
     the December 19, 2010, elections who face dubious charges 
     that carry prison sentences up to 15 years;
       Whereas, on February 28, 2011, Ales Mikhalevich, a 
     presidential candidate who was arrested following the 
     December 19, 2010, elections and released on January 19, 
     2011, issued a statement detailing the abuse and torture that 
     he endured during his 2-month detention by the Belarusian 
     KGB, in violation of existing Belarusian laws as well as 
     international agreements, including the Convention against 
     Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or 
     Punishment, done at New York December 10, 1984, to which 
     Belarus has been a signatory since December 1985;
       Whereas families of presidential candidates and political 
     opposition leaders and their lawyers face continued 
     harassment and intimidation by Lukashenko's KGB, including 
     repeated interrogations, raids, pressure, and threats of 
     dismissal from places of employment and schools;
       Whereas the detained presidential candidates and political 
     opposition leaders are being denied regular access to family, 
     lawyers, medical treatment, and open legal proceedings;
       Whereas authorities in Belarus continue to carry out 
     searches and seizures across the country, including the 
     offices and homes of journalists, political activists, civil 
     society representatives, former presidential candidates and 
     their advisers, and ordinary Belarusians with tenuous 
     connections to members of the political opposition;
       Whereas, according to the Stockholm International Peace 
     Research Institute, an internationally reputable source on 
     global arms trade, the Lukashenko regime delivered a shipment 
     of military equipment to the Qaddafi regime in Libya in 
     February 2011, just before Qaddafi prepared to initiate the 
     widely condemned bloody crackdown undertaken against the 
     people of Libya;
       Whereas, on January 31, 2011, the United States and the 
     European Union imposed targeted travel and financial 
     sanctions on an expanded list of officials of the Government 
     of Belarus, including Alexander Lukashenko and those helping 
     prop up his regime;
       Whereas, on January 31, 2011, the United States Government 
     also restricted economic transactions with Lakokraska OAO and 
     Polotsk Steklovolokno OAO, 2 subsidiaries of Belarus's 
     largest state-owned petroleum and chemical conglomerate, 
     Belneftekhim;
       Whereas, on February 2, 2011, the United States Government 
     pledged to supplement its democracy assistance to Belarus by 
     $4,000,000 in fiscal year 2011;
       Whereas, on March 2, 2011, Lukashenko's regime sentenced 3 
     of the political detainees, Alyaksandr Atroshchankau, 
     Zmitster Novik, and Alyaksandr Malchanau, to between 3 and 4 
     years in a top-security prison;
       Whereas on March 4, 2011, Department of State Spokesman 
     P.J. Crowley said, ``The United States remains gravely 
     concerned over the continuing post-election crackdown

[[Page S1877]]

     by the Government of Belarus on civil society, independent 
     media, and the political opposition. Through its ongoing 
     detentions, trials, and harsh prison sentences, the 
     government is creating new political prisoners. We urge the 
     unconditional release of those detained in the crackdown 
     without trials, and the creation of space for the free 
     expression of political views, the development of civil 
     society, and the ability of citizens to expand their contact 
     with open societies.''; and
       Whereas Congress passed the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 
     (Public Law 108-347) and the Belarus Democracy 
     Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-480) as 
     expressions of support consistent with these aims: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the December 19, 2010, election in Belarus as 
     illegitimate, fraudulent, and not representative of the will 
     or the aspirations of the voters in Belarus, and joins the 
     European Parliament in calling for new elections to be held 
     in Belarus that meet international standards;
       (2) condemns the beating, arrest, fining, and imprisonment 
     of presidential candidates, opposition leaders, and activists 
     by Alexander Lukashenko's KGB in the wake of the December 19, 
     2010, election;
       (3) condemns the Lukashenko regime's systematic efforts to 
     prevent freedom of expression and association in Belarus, 
     including its efforts to censor the Internet and stifle 
     freedom of the press;
       (4) stands in solidarity with the people of Belarus, those 
     political prisoners being unjustly detained, and those who 
     continue to fight for peaceful democratic change and their 
     fundamental human rights in Belarus;
       (5) applauds the pledges of the United States Government 
     and the European Union to impose targeted sanctions, 
     including visa bans and asset freezes, on Belarusian 
     officials and their associates responsible for the recent 
     crackdown and human rights abuses against the people of 
     Belarus;
       (6) applauds the decisions of the United States Government, 
     the European Union, and other democratic allies to expand 
     assistance to civil society in Belarus;
       (7) calls on the Lukashenko regime--
       (A) to immediately and unconditionally release all 
     political prisoners in Belarus who were arrested in 
     association with the December 19, 2010, election, including 3 
     presidential candidates, Andrei Sannikov, Nikolai Statkevich, 
     and Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu, who are still in prison or under 
     house arrest;
       (B) to immediately cease the harassment of the families, 
     friends, and lawyers of political prisoners in Belarus;
       (C) to authorize the extension of the mandate of the 
     Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Office in 
     Belarus;
       (D) to hold new presidential and parliamentary elections in 
     Belarus that are free, fair, inclusive, and meet 
     international standards; and
       (E) to meet its international obligations and cease any 
     illegal efforts related to the provision of arms to rogue 
     regimes;
       (8) urges the President and the Secretary of State--
       (A) to continue to closely coordinate United States and 
     European Union policies towards Belarus;
       (B) to resume direct technical and material support to the 
     opposition and civil society in Belarus, including political 
     parties, civic groups, and independent media outlets;
       (C) to ensure that the United States list includes any 
     other officials of the Government of Belarus responsible for 
     the crackdown following the December 19, 2010, election in 
     Belarus, associated human rights abuses, and the continued 
     detention, prosecution, and mistreatment of all political 
     prisoners, and to impose targeted sanctions on those 
     individuals and their family members where warranted; and
       (D) to identify any other entities that enrich Mr. 
     Lukashenko and his regime at the expense of the people of 
     Belarus and prohibit business with and freeze the assets of 
     such entities;
       (9) urges the European Union--
       (A) to join the United States in prohibiting business with, 
     and freezing the assets of, the Belarusian state-owned oil 
     and petrochemicals company Belneftekhim and its subsidiaries 
     Lakokraska OAO and Polotsk Steklovolokno OAO, as well as 
     other entities that enrich Mr. Lukashenko and his regime at 
     the expense of the people of Belarus;
       (B) to cut all European projects linked to the authorities 
     in Belarus responsible for the crackdown and associated human 
     rights abuses and to exclude officials of the Government of 
     Belarus from meetings under the European Union's Eastern 
     Partnership policy--including the planned European Union 
     summit with post-Soviet countries scheduled to take place in 
     Budapest in May 2011--but to ensure that this suspension not 
     apply to nongovernmental and civil society organizations in 
     Belarus;
       (C) to ensure that the European Union list includes any 
     other officials of the Government of Belarus responsible for 
     the crackdown following the December 19, 2010, election in 
     Belarus, associated human rights abuses, and the continued 
     detention, prosecution, and mistreatment of political 
     prisoners, and to impose targeted sanctions on those 
     officials and their family members where warranted; and
       (D) to increase support to the opposition and civil society 
     in Belarus, including political parties, civic groups, and 
     independent media outlets;
       (10) calls on other members of the international community, 
     including Russia, to take similar targeted actions against 
     the leaders of the Government of Belarus;
       (11) calls on the Government of Lithuania, as chair of the 
     Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for 2011, 
     to make the reestablishment of the Organization for Security 
     and Cooperation in Europe Office in Belarus one of its chief 
     priorities for its tenure; and
       (12) calls on the International Ice Hockey Federation to 
     suspend its 2014 International World Ice Hockey championship 
     to be hosted in Minsk, Belarus until all political prisoners 
     in Belarus are released.

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