I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 515 
To reauthorize the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 26, 2011 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. WOLF, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, 
and Mr. ROHRABACHER) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees 
on the Judiciary and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To reauthorize the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Belarus Democracy 
Reauthorization Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
Sections 2 and 3 of the Belarus Democracy Act of 
2004 (Public Law 109–480; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note) is 
amended to read as follows: 
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‘‘SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
‘‘Congress finds the following: 
‘‘(1) The Government of Belarus has engaged 
in a pattern of clear and uncorrected violations of 
human rights and fundamental freedoms. 
‘‘(2) The Government of Belarus has engaged 
in a pattern of clear and uncorrected violations of 
basic principles of democratic governance, including 
through a series of fundamentally flawed presi-
dential and parliamentary elections undermining the 
legitimacy of executive and legislative authority in 
that country. 
‘‘(3) The Government of Belarus has subjected 
thousands of pro-democratic political activists to 
harassment, beatings, and jailings, particularly as a 
result of their attempts to peacefully exercise their 
right to freedom of assembly and association. 
‘‘(4) The Government of Belarus has attempted 
to maintain a monopoly over the country’s informa-
tion space, targeting independent media, including 
independent journalists, for systematic reprisals and 
elimination, while suppressing the right to freedom 
of speech and expression of those dissenting from 
the dictatorship of Aleksandr Lukashenka, and 
adopted laws restricting the media, including the 
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Internet, in a manner inconsistent with international 
human rights agreements. 
‘‘(5) The Government of Belarus continues a 
systematic campaign of harassment, repression, and 
closure of nongovernmental organizations, including 
independent trade unions and entrepreneurs, and 
this crackdown has created a climate of fear that in-
hibits the development of civil society and social soli-
darity. 
‘‘(6) The Government of Belarus has subjected 
leaders and members of select ethnic and religious 
minorities to harassment, including the imposition of 
heavy fines and denying permission to meet for reli-
gious services. 
‘‘(7) The Government of Belarus has attempted 
to silence dissent by persecuting human rights and 
pro-democracy activists with threats, firings, expul-
sions, beatings and other forms of intimidation, and 
restrictions on freedom of movement and prohibition 
of international travel. 
‘‘(8) The dictator of Belarus, Aleksandr 
Lukashenka, established himself in power by orches-
trating an illegal and unconstitutional referendum 
that enabled him to impose a new constitution, abol-
ishing the duly elected parliament, the 13th Su-
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preme Soviet, installing a largely powerless National 
Assembly, extending his term in office, and removing 
applicable term limits. 
‘‘(9) The Government of Belarus has failed to 
make a convincing effort to solve the cases of dis-
appeared opposition figures Yuri Zakharenka, Viktor 
Gonchar, and Anatoly Krasovsky and journalist 
Dmitry Zavadsky, even though credible allegations 
and evidence links top officials of the Government to 
these disappearance. 
‘‘(10) The Government of Belarus has re-
stricted freedom of expression on the Internet by re-
quiring Internet Service Providers to maintain data 
on Internet users and the sites they view and to pro-
vide such data to officials upon request, and by cre-
ating a government body with the authority to re-
quire Internet Service Providers to block Web sites. 
‘‘(11) On December 19, 2010, the Government 
of Belarus conducted a presidential election that 
failed to meet the standards of the Organization for 
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for 
democratic elections. 
‘‘(12) After the December 19, 2010, presi-
dential election the Government of Belarus re-
sponded to opposition protests by beating an un-
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known number of protestors and detaining more 
than 600 peaceful protestors. 
‘‘(13) After the December 19, 2010, presi-
dential election the Government of Belarus jailed 
seven of the nine opposition presidential candidates 
and abused the process of criminal prosecution to 
persecute them. 
‘‘(14) After the December 19, 2010, presi-
dential election, the Government of Belarus dis-
rupted independent broadcast and Internet media, 
and engaged in repressive actions against inde-
pendent journalists. 
‘‘(15) After the December 19, 2010, presi-
dential election, Belarusian security services and po-
lice conducted raids targeting civil society groups, 
individual pro-democracy activists, and independent 
media. 
‘‘(16) After the December 19, 2010, presi-
dential election, Belarusian officials refused to ex-
tend the mandate of the OSCE Office in Minsk. 
‘‘(17) The Department of State, the Depart-
ment of the Treasury, and other executive branch 
agencies have heretofore made effective use of this 
Act to promote the purposes of this Act, as stated 
in section 3 of this Act. 
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‘‘SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
‘‘It is the policy of the United States to— 
‘‘(1) condemn the conduct of the December 19, 
2010, presidential election and crackdown on opposi-
tion candidates, political leaders, and activists, civil 
society representatives, and journalists; 
‘‘(2) continue to call for the immediate release 
without preconditions of all political prisoners in 
Belarus, including all those individuals detained in 
connection with the December 19, 2010, presidential 
election; 
‘‘(3) continue to support the aspirations of the 
people of Belarus for democracy, human rights, and 
the rule of law; 
‘‘(4) continue to support the aspirations of the 
people of Belarus to preserve the independence and 
sovereignty of their country; 
‘‘(5) continue to support the growth of demo-
cratic movements and institutions in Belarus, with 
the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in that country; 
‘‘(6) continue to refuse to accept the results of 
the fundamentally flawed December 19, 2010, presi-
dential election held in Belarus, and to support calls 
for new presidential and parliamentary elections, 
conducted in a manner that is free and fair accord-
ing to OSCE standards; 
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‘‘(7) continue to call for the fulfillment by the 
Belarusian government of Belarus’s freely under-
taken obligations as an OSCE participating state; 
‘‘(8) continue to call for a full accounting of the 
disappearances of opposition leaders and journalists 
in Belarus, including Victor Gonchar, Anatoly 
Krasovsky, Yuri Zakharenka, and Dmitry Zavadsky, 
and the prosecution of those individuals who are in 
any way responsible for the disappearance of those 
opposition leaders and journalists; 
‘‘(9) continue to work closely with the Euro-
pean Union and other countries and international 
organizations, to promote the conditions necessary 
for the integration of Belarus into the European 
family of democracies; and 
‘‘(10) remain open to reevaluating United 
States policy toward Belarus as warranted by de-
monstrable progress made by the Government of 
Belarus consistent with the aims of this Act as stat-
ed in this section. ridi’’. 
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY AND CIVIL 
SOCIETY IN BELARUS. 
Section 4 of the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 
(Public Law 109–480; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note) is amend-
ed— 
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(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘commu-
nity’’ and inserting ‘‘family’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘inter-
nationally accepted standards and under the su-
pervision of internationally recognized observ-
ers’’ and inserting ‘‘OSCE standards and mon-
itored by OSCE observers’’; 
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘primarily for 
indigenous’’ and inserting ‘‘for independent, indige-
nous’’; 
(3) in subsection (c)— 
(A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(1) facilitating the development of inde-
pendent, indigenous print, radio, television, and 
Internet broadcasting, whether working within 
Belarus or from locations outside the country;’’; and 
(B) 
by 
redesignating 
paragraphs 
(3) 
through (8) as paragraphs (2) through (7), re-
spectively; and 
(4) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘such sums 
as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 
2007 and 2008’’ and inserting ‘‘an amount not to 
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exceed the amount appropriated for fiscal year 2008 
for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2014’’. 
SEC. 
4. 
RADIO 
AND 
TELEVISION 
BROADCASTING 
TO 
BELARUS. 
Section 5 of the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 
(Public Law 109–480; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note) is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 5. RADIO, TELEVISION, AND INTERNET BROAD-
CASTING TO BELARUS. 
‘‘It is the sense of Congress that the President should 
continue to support radio, television, and Internet broad-
casting to the people of Belarus in languages spoken in 
Belarus, by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Voice 
of America, European Radio for Belarus, and Belsat.’’. 
SEC. 
5. 
SANCTIONS 
AGAINST 
THE 
GOVERNMENT 
OF 
BELARUS. 
Section 6 of the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 
(Public Law 109–480; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or ex-
pression, including those individuals jailed 
based on political beliefs or expression in con-
nection with repression that attended the presi-
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dential election of December 19, 2010’’ before 
the period at the end; 
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, in-
cluding politically motivated legal charges made 
in connection with repression that attended the 
presidential election of December 19, 2010’’ be-
fore the period at the end; 
(C) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘and 
violations of human rights, including violations 
of human rights committed in connection with 
the presidential election of December 19, 2010’’ 
before the period at the end; and 
(D) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘inter-
nationally recognized observers’’ and inserting 
‘‘OSCE observers’’; 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraphs: 
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‘‘(4) is a member of any branch of the security 
or law enforcement services of Belarus and has par-
ticipated in the violent crackdown on opposition 
leaders, journalists, and peaceful protestors that oc-
curred in connection with the presidential election of 
December 19, 2010; or 
‘‘(5) is a member of any branch of the security 
or law enforcement services of Belarus and has par-
ticipated in the persecution or harassment of reli-
gious groups, human rights defenders, democratic 
opposition groups, or independent media or journal-
ists.’’; 
(3) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘of each inter-
national financial institution to which’’ and inserting 
‘‘at each international financial institution of 
which’’; and 
(4) in subsection (f)(2)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘(as 
defined in section 40102 of title 49, United States 
Code)’’. 
SEC. 6. REPORT. 
Section 8(a) of the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 
(Public Law 109–480; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— 
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