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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 304 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 304

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 4, 2000

      Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 
 Expressing the condemnation of the continued egregious violations of 
 human rights in the Republic of Belarus, the lack of progress toward 
the establishment of democracy and the rule of law in Belarus, calling 
 on President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime to engage in negotiations 
     with the representatives of the opposition and to restore the 
  constitutional rights of the Belarusian people, and calling on the 
       Russian Federation to respect the sovereignty of Belarus.

Whereas the United States has a vital interest in the promotion of democracy 
        abroad and supports democracy and economic development in the Republic 
        of Belarus;
Whereas in the Fall of 1996, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka devised 
        a controversial referendum to impose a new constitution on Belarus and

abolish the Parliament, the 13th Supreme Soviet, replacing it with a 
rubber-stamp legislature;

Whereas President Lukashenka organized a referendum in violation of the 1994 
        Belarusian Constitution, which illegally extended his term of office to 
        2001;
Whereas Lukashenka's legal term in office expired in July 1999;
Whereas Belarus has effectively become an authoritarian police state, where 
        human rights are routinely violated;
Whereas Belarusian economic development is stagnant and living conditions are 
        deplorable;
Whereas in May 1999, the Belarusian opposition challenged Lukashenka's 
        unconstitutional lengthening of his term by staging alternative 
        presidential elections, unleashing the government crackdown;
Whereas the leader of the opposition, Semyon Sharetsky, was forced to flee 
        Belarus to the neighboring Baltic state of the Republic of Lithuania in 
        fear for his life;
Whereas several leaders of the opposition, including Viktor Gonchar, Anatoly 
        Krasovsky, and Yuri Zakharenka have disappeared;
Whereas the Belarusian regime harasses and persecutes the independent media and 
        works to actively suppress freedom of speech;
Whereas former Prime Minister Mikhail Chygir, who was a candidate in the 
        opposition's alternative presidential elections in May 1999, was held in 
        pretrial detention on trumped up charges from April through November 
        1999;
Whereas the Lukashenka regime provoked the clashes between riot police and 
        demonstrators at the October 17, 1999, ``Freedom March'', which resulted 
        in injuries to demonstrators and scores of illegal arrests;
Whereas hundreds of peaceful demonstrators and over thirty journalists were 
        arrested during a March 25, 2000, pro-democracy rally in Miensk, once 
        again illustrating the Lukashenka regime's disregard for freedom of 
        assembly, association, and information;
Whereas the Lukashenka regime has refused to engage in meaningful dialogue with 
        the opposition and has used the tactics of delay and obfuscation in 
        disregarding the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
        (OSCE)-mediated dialogue process;
Whereas genuine dialogue with the opposition and legitimate, free and fair 
        elections cannot take place in the present climate of repression and 
        fear existing in Belarus;
Whereas on April 3, 1996, Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin and 
        President Lukashenka signed an agreement to form a Union State of Russia 
        and Belarus;
Whereas there have been credible press reports that the Government of the 
        Russian Federation has been providing assistance to the Lukashenka 
        regime since the signing of the agreement to form a Union State, such as 
        official Russian Federation Government credits, uncollected customs 
        duties, assistance for export sales of Belarusian arms and joint 
        manufacturing of arms, and reduced prices for energy supplies;
Whereas there has been a credible estimate cited in press reports that Russian 
        Federation economic subsidies to Belarus reached $1,500,000,000 to 
        $2,000,000,000 in 1996 and 1997 alone, enabling the Lukashenka regime to 
        maintain a large police force and state control of the economy;
Whereas the Union Treaty, signed on December 8, 1999, by Belarus and the Russian 
        Federation, undermines Belarus sovereignty and the prospect of 
        democracy;
Whereas the Consultative Council of Belarusian opposition parties appealed to 
        the Government of the Russian Federation, the State Duma, and the 
        Federation Council calling for a cessation of support for the Lukashenka 
        regime;
Whereas the former Chairmen of the Belarusian Supreme Soviet, Stanislav 
        Shushkevich and Semyon Sharetsky, have stated that economic support from 
        the Russian Federation has been crucial to the survival of the 
        Lukashenka regime;
Whereas a Union Treaty between the Russian Federation and Belarus was ratified 
        by the Russian Parliament and the illegitimate parliament of Belarus;
Whereas the Union Treaty between the Russian Federation and the Lukashenka 
        regime violates Russian Federation Government respect for the 
        sovereignty of Belarus per the memorandum on security guarantees signed 
        by Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin at the December 1994 
        Summit of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Heads of 
        State in Budapest, Hungary; and
Whereas the introduction of any nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, a 
        declared non-nuclear state under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of 
        Nuclear Weapons, would be a violation of Belarus's obligations under 
        that Treaty: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) condemns continued egregious violations of human rights 
        by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime in the Republic of 
        Belarus;
            (2) further condemns the Lukashenka regime's conviction and 
        sentencing of Andrei Klimov, Vasiliy Leonov, and Vladimir 
        Koudinov on politically motivated charges and urges their 
        release;
            (3) is gravely concerned about the disappearances of Viktor 
        Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, and Yuri Zakharenka and calls on 
        the Lukashenka regime to ensure a full and timely investigation 
        of these cases;
            (4) calls for immediate dialogue between the Lukashenka 
        regime and the opposition and the restoration of a 
        democratically elected government in Belarus;
            (5) urges the Lukashenka regime to respect and ensure the 
        human rights of all Belarusian citizens, including those 
        members of the opposition who are currently being illegally 
        detained in violation of their constitutional rights and 
        further urges the regime to respect the rule of law and an 
        independent judiciary;
            (6) further urges Lukashenka to hold legitimate, free and 
        fair parliamentary elections in accordance with Organization 
        for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) standards;
            (7) supports the appeal by the Consultative Council of 
        Belarusian opposition parties to the Government of the Russian 
        Federation, the State Duma, and the Federation Council calling 
        for a cessation of support for the Lukashenka regime;
            (8) calls on the international community to support the 
        opposition in Belarus by continuing to meet with the 
        legitimately elected parliament;
            (9) supports Belarus's sovereignty, independence, and 
        territorial integrity, as well as its market democratic 
        transformation and integration among the broader trans-Atlantic 
        community of nations;
            (10) calls on the President of the United States--
                    (A) to ensure assistance to and cooperation with 
                Belarusian opposition figures;
                    (B) to ensure that adequate resources are made 
                available on an urgent basis to support those programs 
                aimed at strengthening independent media, human rights, 
                civil society, independent trade unions, and the 
                democratic opposition in Belarus; and
                    (C) to support the free flow of information into 
                Belarus;
            (11) calls on the President of the United States to raise 
        the issue of financial support provided by the Russian 
        Federation to the Lukashenka regime at the highest levels of 
        the Russian Federation Government;
            (12) calls on the President of the United States to urge 
        the Government of the Russian Federation, in accordance with 
        its international commitments, to fully respect the sovereignty 
        of Belarus, particularly in light of the illegitimate nature of 
        the Lukashenka regime; and
            (13) calls on the President of the United States to prepare 
        and transmit to the Congress a report on--
                    (A) the human rights situation, democratic process, 
                elections, independence of the media, and the 
                Lukashenka regime's control of the economy in Belarus;
                    (B) the steps undertaken by the United States to 
                persuade the Russian Federation Government to end 
                support to the Lukashenka regime in Belarus; and
                    (C) the status of Russian Federation-Belarus 
                military integration.

            Passed the House of Representatives May 3, 2000.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.
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