106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 304
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas the United States has a vital interest in the pro-
motion 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 ref-
erendum to impose a new constitution on Belarus and
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abolish the Parliament, the 13th Supreme Soviet, replac-
ing it with a rubber-stamp legislature;
Whereas President Lukashenka organized a referendum in
violation of the 1994 Belarusian Constitution, which ille-
gally 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 po-
lice 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 free-
dom of speech;
Whereas former Prime Minister Mikhail Chygir, who was a
candidate in the opposition’s alternative presidential elec-
tions in May 1999, was held in pretrial detention on
trumped up charges from April through November 1999;
Whereas the Lukashenka regime provoked the clashes be-
tween riot police and demonstrators at the October 17,
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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 Orga-
nization 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 agree-
ment to form a Union State of Russia and Belarus;
Whereas there have been credible press reports that the Gov-
ernment 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 cus-
toms 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 re-
ports 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
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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 Fed-
eration, the State Duma, and the Federation Council
calling for a cessation of support for the Lukashenka re-
gime;
Whereas the former Chairmen of the Belarusian Supreme So-
viet, Stanislav Shushkevich and Semyon Sharetsky, have
stated that economic support from the Russian Federa-
tion 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 Rus-
sian Federation President Boris Yeltsin at the December
1994 Summit of Organization for Security and Coopera-
tion in Europe Heads of State in Budapest, Hungary;
and
Whereas the introduction of any nuclear weapons on the ter-
ritory 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
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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 moti-
vated charges and urges their release;
(3) is gravely concerned about the disappear-
ances of Viktor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, and
Yuri Zakharenka and calls on the Lukashenka re-
gime to ensure a full and timely investigation of
these cases;
(4) calls for immediate dialogue between the
Lukashenka regime and the opposition and the res-
toration of a democratically elected government in
Belarus;
(5) urges the Lukashenka regime to respect
and ensure the human rights of all Belarusian citi-
zens, including those members of the opposition who
are currently being illegally detained in violation of
their constitutional rights and further urges the re-
gime to respect the rule of law and an independent
judiciary;
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(6) further urges Lukashenka to hold legiti-
mate, free and fair parliamentary elections in ac-
cordance with Organization for Security and Co-
operation in Europe (OSCE) standards;
(7) supports the appeal by the Consultative
Council of Belarusian opposition parties to the Gov-
ernment of the Russian Federation, the State
Duma, and the Federation Council calling for a ces-
sation of support for the Lukashenka regime;
(8) calls on the international community to sup-
port the opposition in Belarus by continuing to meet
with the legitimately elected parliament;
(9) supports Belarus’s sovereignty, independ-
ence, 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 inde-
pendent media, human rights, civil society,