108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 854

AN ACT

To provide for the promotion of democracy, human

Belarus sovereignty and independence.and for the consolidation and strengthening ofrights, and rule of law in the Republic of Belarus

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 854

AN ACT

To provide for the promotion of democracy, human rights,

and rule of law in the Republic of Belarus and for

the consolidation and strengthening of Belarus sovereignty and independence.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Belarus Democracy

3 Act of 2004’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress makes the following findings:

6 (1) The United States supports the promotion

7 of democracy, respect for human rights, and the rule

8 of law in the Republic of Belarus consistent with its

9 commitments as a participating state of the Organi10 zation for Security and Cooperation in Europe

11 (OSCE).

12 (2) The United States has a vital interest in the

13 independence and sovereignty of the Republic of

14 Belarus and its integration into the European com15 munity of democracies.

16 (3) In November 1996, Lukashenka orches17 trated an illegal and unconstitutional referendum

18 that enabled him to impose a new constitution, abol19 ish the duly-elected parliament, the 13th Supreme

20 Soviet, install a largely powerless National Assembly,

21 and extend his term of office to 2001.

22 (4) Democratic forces in Belarus have orga23 nized peaceful demonstrations against the

24 Lukashenka regime in cities and towns throughout

25 Belarus which led to beatings, mass arrests, and ex26 tended incarcerations.
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1 (5) Victor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, and

2 Yuri Zakharenka, who have been leaders and sup3 porters of the democratic forces in Belarus, and

4 Dmitry Zavadsky, a journalist known for his critical

5 reporting in Belarus, have disappeared and are pre6 sumed dead.

7 (6) Former Belarus Government officials have

8 come forward with credible allegations and evidence

9 that top officials of the Lukashenka regime were in10 volved in the disappearances.

11 (7) The Belarusian authorities have mounted a

12 major systematic crackdown on civil society through

13 the closure, harassment, and repression of non14 governmental organizations, and independent trade

15 unions.

16 (8) The Belarusian authorities actively suppress

17 freedom of speech and expression, including engag18 ing in systematic reprisals against independent

19 media.

20 (9) The Lukashenka regime has reversed the

21 revival of Belarusian language and culture, including

22 through the closure of the National Humanities Ly23 ceum, the last remaining high school where classes

24 were taught in the Belarusian language.
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1 (10) The Lukashenka regime harasses the

2 autocephalic Belarusian Orthodox Church, the

3 Roman Catholic Church, the Jewish community, the

4 Hindu Lights of Kalyasa community, evangelical

5 Protestant churches (such as Baptist and Pente6 costal groups), and other minority religious groups.

7 (11) The Law on Religious Freedom and Reli8 gious Organizations, passed by the National Assem9 bly and signed by Lukashenka on October 31, 2002,

10 establishes one of the most repressive legal regimes

11 in the OSCE region, severely limiting religious free12 dom and placing excessively burdensome government

13 controls on religious practice.

14 (12) The parliamentary elections of October 15,

15 2000, and the presidential election of September 9,

16 2001, were determined to be fundamentally unfair

17 and nondemocratic.

18 (13) The Government of Belarus has made no

19 substantive progress in addressing criteria estab20 lished by the OSCE in 2000, ending repression and

21 the climate of fear, permitting a functioning inde22 pendent media, ensuring transparency of the elec23 tions process, and strengthening of the functions of

24 parliament.
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1 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY AND CIVIL

2 SOCIETY IN BELARUS.

3 (a) PURPOSES OF ASSISTANCE.—The assistance

4 under this section shall be available for the following pur5 poses:

6 (1) To assist the people of the Republic of

7 Belarus in regaining their freedom and to enable

8 them to join the European community of democ9 racies.

10 (2) To encourage free and fair presidential,

11 parliamentary, and local elections in Belarus, con12 ducted in a manner consistent with internationally

13 accepted standards and under the supervision of

14 internationally recognized observers.

15 (3) To assist in restoring and strengthening in16 stitutions of democratic governance in Belarus.

17 (b) AUTHORIZATION FOR ASSISTANCE.—To carry out

18 the purposes of subsection (a), the President is authorized

19 to furnish assistance and other support for the activities

20 described in subsection (c), to be provided primarily for

21 indigenous Belarusian groups that are committed to the

22 support of democratic processes.

23 (c) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Activities that may be

24 supported by assistance under subsection (b) include—

25 (1) the observation of elections and the pro26 motion of free and fair electoral processes;
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1 (2) development of democratic political parties;

2 (3) radio and television broadcasting to and

3 within Belarus;

4 (4) the development of nongovernmental organi5 zations promoting democracy and supporting human

6 rights;

7 (5) the development of independent media

8 working within Belarus and from locations outside

9 the country and supported by nonstate-controlled

10 printing facilities;

11 (6) international exchanges and advanced pro12 fessional training programs for leaders and members

13 of the democratic forces in skill areas central to the

14 development of civil society; and

15 (7) other activities consistent with the purposes

16 of this Act.

17 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.— There are authorized to be

19 appropriated to the President to carry out this sec20 tion such sums as may be necessary for each of the

21 fiscal years 2005 and 2006.

22 (2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro23 priated pursuant to the authorization of appropria24 tions under paragraph (1) are authorized to remain

25 available until expended.
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1 SEC. 4. RADIO BROADCASTING TO BELARUS.

2 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to

3 authorize increased support for United States Government

4 and surrogate radio broadcasting to the Republic of

5 Belarus that will facilitate the unhindered dissemination

6 of information.

7 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi8 tion to such sums as are otherwise authorized to be appro9 priated, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums

10 as may be necessary for fiscal year 2005 and each subse11 quent fiscal year for radio broadcasting to the people of

12 Belarus in languages spoken in Belarus.

13 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO SANCTIONS

14 AGAINST BELARUS.

15 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con16 gress that the sanctions described in subsection (c) should

17 apply with respect to the Republic of Belarus until the

18 President determines and certifies to the appropriate con19 gressional committees that the Government of Belarus has

20 made significant progress in meeting the conditions de21 scribed in subsection (b).

22 (b) CONDITIONS.—The conditions referred to in sub23 section (a) are the following:

24 (1) The release of individuals in Belarus who

25 have been jailed based on political or religious be26 liefs.
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1 (2) The withdrawal of politically motivated legal

2 charges against all opposition figures and inde3 pendent journalists in Belarus.

4 (3) A full accounting of the disappearances of

5 opposition leaders and journalists in Belarus, includ6 ing Victor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, Yuri

7 Zakharenka, and Dmitry Zavadsky, and the prosecu8 tion of those individuals who are responsible for

9 their disappearances.

10 (4) The cessation of all forms of harassment

11 and repression against the independent media, inde12 pendent trade unions, nongovernmental organiza13 tions, religious organizations (including their leader14 ship and members), and the political opposition in

15 Belarus.

16 (5) The implementation of free and fair presi17 dential and parliamentary elections in Belarus con18 sistent with OSCE commitments.

19 (c) PROHIBITION ON LOANS AND INVESTMENT.—

20 (1) UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FINANC21 ING.—No loan, credit guarantee, insurance, financ22 ing, or other similar financial assistance should be

23 extended by any agency of the United States Gov24 ernment (including the Export-Import Bank and the

25 Overseas Private Investment Corporation) to the
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1 Government of Belarus, except with respect to the

2 provision of humanitarian goods and agricultural or

3 medical products.

4 (2) TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY.—No

5 funds available to the Trade and Development Agen6 cy should be available for activities of the Agency in

7 or for Belarus.

8 (d) MULTILATERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—It is

9 further the sense of Congress that, in addition to the ap10 plication of the sanctions described in subsection (c) to

11 the Republic of Belarus (until the President determines

12 and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees

13 that the Government of Belarus has made significant

14 progress in meeting the conditions described in subsection

15 (b)), the Secretary of the Treasury should instruct the

16 United States Executive Director of each international fi17 nancial institution to which the United States is a member

18 to use the voice and vote of the United States to oppose

19 any extension by those institutions of any financial assist20 ance (including any technical assistance or grant) of any

21 kind to the Government of Belarus, except for loans and

22 assistance that serve humanitarian needs.

23 SEC. 6. MULTILATERAL COOPERATION.

24 It is the sense of Congress that the President should

25 continue to seek to coordinate with other countries, par-
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1 ticularly European countries, a comprehensive, multilat2 eral strategy to further the purposes of this Act, including,

3 as appropriate, encouraging other countries to take meas4 ures with respect to the Republic of Belarus that are simi5 lar to measures described in this Act.

6 SEC. 7. REPORT.

7 (a) REPORT.— Not later than 90 days after the date

8 of the enactment of this Act, and not later than 1 year

9 thereafter, the President shall transmit to the appropriate

10 congressional committees a report that describes, with re11 spect to the preceding 12-month period, and to the extent

12 practicable the following:

13 (1) The sale or delivery of weapons or weapons14 related technologies from the Republic of Belarus to

15 any country, the government of which the Secretary

16 of State has determined, for purposes of section

17 6(j)(1) of the Export Administration Act of 1979

18 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)(1)), has repeatedly pro19 vided support for acts of international terrorism.

20 (2) An identification of each country described

21 in paragraph (1) and a detailed description of the

22 weapons or weapons-related technologies involved in

23 the sale.

24 (3) An identification of the goods, services,

25 credits, or other consideration received by Belarus in
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1 exchange for the weapons or weapons-related tech2 nologies.

3 (4) The personal assets and wealth of Alek4 sandr Lukashenka and other senior leadership of the

5 Government of Belarus.

6 (b) FORM.—A report transmitted pursuant to sub7 section (a) shall be in unclassified form but may contain

8 a classified annex.

9 SEC. 8. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

10 Congress hereby—

11 (1) calls upon the Lukashenka regime to cease

12 its persecution of political opponents or independent

13 journalists and to release those individuals who have

14 been imprisoned for opposing his regime or for exer15 cising their right to freedom of speech;

16 (2) expresses its grave concern about the dis17 appearance of Victor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky,

18 Yuri Zakharenko, and Dmitry Zavadsky and calls

19 upon the Lukashenka regime to cooperate fully with

20 the Belrussian civil initiatve ‘‘We Remember’’ and to

21 extend to this organization all necessary information

22 to find out the truth about the disappearances;

23 (3) calls upon the the Lukashenka regime to co24 operate fully with the Parliamentary Assembly of the

25 Council of Europe (PACE) and its specially ap-
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1 pointed representatives in matters regarding the res2 olution of the cases of the disappeared; and

3 (4) commends the democratic opposition in

4 Belarus for their commitment to participate in Octo5 ber 2004 Parliamentary elections as a unified coali6 tion and for their courage in the face of the repres7 sion of the Lukashenka regime in Belarus.

8 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

9 In this Act:

10 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT11 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com12 mittees’’ means the Committee on International Re13 lations of the House of Representatives and the

14 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

15 (2) OSCE.—The term ‘‘OSCE’’ means the Or16 ganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

17 (3) SENIOR LEADERSHIP OF THE GOVERNMENT

18 OF BELARUS.—The term ‘‘senior leadership of the

19 Government of Belarus’’ includes—

20 (A) the President, Prime Minister, Deputy

21 Prime Ministers, government ministers, Chair22 men of State Committees, and members of the

23 Presidential Administration of Belarus;

24 (B) any official of the Government of

25 Belarus who is personally and substantially in-
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1 volved in the suppression of freedom in Belarus,

2 including judges and prosecutors; and

3 (C) any other individual determined by the

4 Secretary of State (or the Secretary’s designee)

5 to be personally and substantially involved in

6 the formulation or execution of the policies of

7 the Lukashenka regime that are in contradic8 tion of internationally recognized human rights

9 standards.

Passed the House of Representatives October 4,

2004.

Attest:

Clerk.