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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 304 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.Con.Res.304
                                         Agreed to June 23, 2000        

                       One Hundred Sixth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America

                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
             the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand

                          Concurrent Resolution

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 30 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.
  Attest:

                                 Clerk of the House of Representatives.

  Attest:

                                               Secretary of the Senate.
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