[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 194 (Friday, December 16, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8728-S8729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ANNIVERSARY OF BELARUS ELECTION
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to the
courageous men and women who are struggling for freedom in Belarus.
Almost 1 year ago, on December 19, 2010, elections took place in
Belarus. At that time, some in the United States and Europe hoped that
this vote would be a turning point for Belarus and that its
authoritarian ruler, Aleksandr Lukashenko, would finally begin to
pursue the political and economic reforms demanded by his people.
In fact, the December 19 election was a turning point for Belarus--
but not in the way that some had hoped. It soon became obvious that the
election had been egregiously rigged by the regime. In response,
thousands of Belarusians from every background peacefully took to the
streets in protest. It was the most significant public demonstration
the country had seen in over a half decade, and the Lukashenko regime
responded with violence.
On that day, Belarusian security forces detained or arrested over 600
peaceful protestors. Hundreds more were surrounded by armored tanks and
beaten by thugs dispatched by the regime. The Lukashenko regime
arrested seven opposition candidates who participated in the vote,
severely beating one candidate. In the year that has followed the
election, hundreds of people--including several Presidential
candidates--have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms in sham trials
that have again revealed Belarus' judicial system to be nothing more
than a political tool abused by the regime. It is a system that has
institutionalized torture and denies its prisoners access to family,
lawyers, medical treatment, and open legal proceedings.
I should note that the peaceful protests that erupted in Belarus 1
year ago took place just 2 days after a 26-year-old man in the Tunisian
town of Sidi Bouzid set himself on fire, which in turn sparked a series
of peaceful protests that overthrew the long-ruling dictator in that
country--starting the Arab Spring. But as the winds of change sweep
across north Africa and the Middle East, ousting some of the world's
most entrenched regimes, it is important for us to remember that there
remains one last dictatorship in Europe; that is, the Lukashenko regime
in Belarus.
Despite the extraordinary changes taking place around the world, the
Lukashenko regime has sustained, and even intensified, its crackdown
against its own people. This is a regime that recently outlawed nearly
all forms of public speech and peaceful assembly, including silent
protest. It is a regime that, instead of responding to the legitimate
demands of its people, has sought to cultivate close ties with other
dictatorships, like the regime in Tehran. It is a regime that,
according to reports, delivered military equipment to the Qadhafi
regime in Libya in February 2011 just as it prepared to slaughter its
own people.
[[Page S8729]]
Over the past year, I have been encouraged by the close cooperation
between the United States and the European Union to hold accountable
those in Belarus who are responsible for the brutal crackdown there.
Continued transatlantic coordination on Belarus is vital. The Euro-
Atlantic community of democracies must speak with one voice to ratchet
up pressure on Lukashenko. And while the United States and the EU have
taken strong and important steps, including imposing travel bans on
nearly 200 Belarusian officials, freezing the assets that these
officials hold in the West, and both renewing and imposing new
sanctions on Belarusian state-owned enterprises, more can be done.
In particular, I hope that in the weeks ahead, the United States and
the EU will implement sanctions against other state-owned entities that
enrich the Lukashenko regime at the expense of the Belarusian people.
Furthermore, it is critical that at a moment when the Lukashenko
regime is looking for a financial lifeline to keep himself in power,
the United States and our allies work together to ensure that
responsible international institutions and actors--including the IMF--
do not lend money to that regime. It is clear--as we have seen over the
past 2 years--that such funds will only be used by Lukashenko to prop
up his illegitimate and repressive rule. And I continue to urge our own
government to state publicly that the United States will not support
any further IMF assistance to Belarus until we see credible political
and economic reforms by Belarusian authorities, beginning with the
immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in
Belarus.
At the same time we are shocked and appalled by the cruelty and
thuggishness of the Lukashenko regime, we should also take note of the
remarkable courage and perseverance of the Belarusian people, who press
on in their struggle for greater freedom and opportunity.
Over the past year, I have been honored to meet with Belarusian
opposition leaders and activists. These conversations have been
extremely powerful, as I have heard directly from the men and women who
are facing repression on the front lines and looking for help from us
in their noble struggle.
Today, I join my colleagues in saying to the brave people in Belarus
who are striving to secure their fundamental freedoms: We have not and
will not forget about you and your important cause. We remember your
names. We will stand in solidarity with you and in support of you until
you achieve your goal, which is a free and democratic Belarus. And we
believe more than ever that the day will come when Belarus will be
free.
The extraordinary revolutions that are taking place across the Middle
East and north Africa should remind us all that the United States does
best in the world when we stand with our values and the people who
share them. And there is much we can do to help the Belarusian people.
To begin with, we must work with our European allies to ensure that
the financial and technical assistance we have pledged to the
Belarusian opposition is disbursed and implemented as quickly as
possible, particularly for groups operating inside of Belarus. And we
in Washington must continue to engage with the Belarusian opposition
and its emerging leaders, and lend them our support.
Let me conclude by saying that I do not know when Belarus will be
free, but I have no doubt that someday it will be free. I am confident
that the future of Belarus belongs not to Lukashenko and his thugs but
to the Belarusian people.
Indeed, the future of Belarus belongs to the dissidents who are in
jail or who are being harassed--to Ales Byalitski, the founder of
Belarus' largest human rights organization who recently celebrated his
49th birthday in prison. It belongs to Alyaksandr Klaskouski, a 33-
year-old former traffic police officer in Minsk who pleaded with
security forces on December 19 not to use force against peaceful
protestors and who himself stood between riot police and unarmed
protestors. He, too, is now serving time in a maximum security prison
for his efforts. The future of Belarus belongs also to Natalia Kaliada,
the director of the Belarus Free Theatre, who was arrested on December
19 but continues to press on in her work--to fight dictatorship with
art. Natalia does this, as she put it in January when she testified
before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, because ``we want our
spectators to think. When people start thinking, this is the most
terrifying thing for a dictator.''
The future of Belarus belongs to every Belarusian who seeks a
brighter future for their country--a future of democracy and
opportunity. And we stand with them in their cause on this anniversary
of the December 19, 2010, election--and on every anniversary to come,
until Belarus is free.
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