H. Res. 124 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
April 20, 2021. 
Whereas the Republic of Belarus held a presidential election 
on August 9, 2020, that was neither free nor fair; 
Whereas the presidential election took place without appro-
priate observation from local independent groups and 
international delegations; 
Whereas since the presidential election, Belarusians have 
demonstrated their strong desire and commitment to a 
democratic future by organizing peaceful protests in 
Minsk and across the country; 
Whereas 
Belarusian 
civil 
society, 
led 
by 
Sviatlana 
Tsikhanouskaya, has called for the resignation of 
Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the peaceful transition of power, 
the organization of new, free, and fair elections and the 
release of all political prisoners; 
Whereas Belarusian opposition leaders have faced intimida-
tion, harassment, and detention, including direct threats 
leading to the forced exile of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya 
in Lithuania as well as the kidnapping and imprisonment 
of Maria Kalesnikava and other opposition leaders; 
Whereas in the months since the election, Belarusian authori-
ties have arbitrarily detained and brutally assaulted tens
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of thousands of peaceful protesters, journalists, and op-
position figures, of which hundreds remain in detention; 
Whereas human rights groups have documented hundreds of 
horrific accounts of torture, including sexual violence and 
rape, along with other instances ill-treatment and exces-
sive force used against detainees arrested for peaceful 
protest; 
Whereas on August 13 and 14, 2020, relatives of detainees 
held in the infamous ‘‘Akrestsina’’ detention facility in 
Minsk recorded the sounds of ‘‘incessant beatings which 
were clearly audible in the street, and numerous voices 
screaming out in agony with some begging for mercy’’; 
Whereas thousands of Belarusians have fled to neighboring 
countries seeking political asylum; 
Whereas independent journalists and the free media have 
faced intimidation, violence, mass arrests and prosecu-
tion, with many foreign journalists being stripped of their 
accreditation; 
Whereas Katsyaryna Andreyeva and Darya Chultsovatwo, 
two journalists who work for Belsat, an independent Pol-
ish-based satellite television station aimed at Belarus, 
have each been sentenced to two years in prison simply 
for reporting live from a rally in Minsk in November 
2020; 
Whereas Ihar Losik, a popular Belarusian blogger on Tele-
gram, went on a hunger strike for 6 weeks to protest the 
politically-motivated charges that he helped organize riots 
after the fraudulent presidential election; 
Whereas member states of the Organization for Security and 
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), of which the United 
States and Belarus are members, invoked paragraph 12
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of the 1991 Moscow Document of the Conference on the 
Human Dimension of the OSCE (Moscow Mechanism) to 
establish a mission of experts to review allegations of 
human rights violations; 
Whereas the OSCE Rapporteur’s Report under the Moscow 
Mechanism on Alleged Human Rights Violations related 
to the presidential elections of August 9, 2020, in 
Belarus, published November 5, 2020, concluded that 
there was ‘‘overwhelming evidence that the presidential 
elections of 9 August 2020 [had] been falsified and that 
massive and systematic human rights violations [had] 
been committed by the Belarusian security forces in re-
sponse to peaceful demonstrations and protests’’; 
Whereas women have played a leading role in peaceful dem-
onstrations across the country, protesting the police bru-
tality and mass detentions by wearing red and white, car-
rying flowers, and forming ‘‘solidarity chains’’; 
Whereas the information technology (IT) industry in Belarus 
has played a prominent role in the democratic movement 
by demanding an end to violent oppression, as well as 
creating safe platforms for demonstrators to commu-
nicate and track people who have been detained or went 
missing during mass detentions; 
Whereas Belarusian authorities have continually disrupted 
internet channels in an attempt to limit communication 
among demonstrators and targeted lead technology com-
panies and their employees advocating for democracy; 
Whereas Belarusian state-owned television channels have en-
couraged violence against peaceful demonstrators; 
Whereas a recent survey of IT specialists found that 15 per-
cent of IT specialists working in Belarus have already re-
•HRES 124 EH 
located to neighboring countries, and over 40 percent of 
IT specialists no longer want to work in Belarus, result-
ing in a devastating loss of talent for Belarus, possibly 
permanently damaging the Belarusian technology indus-
try along with the Belarusian economy; 
Whereas hundreds of former law enforcement officers in 
Belarus who have defected in defiance of illegal orders to 
commit human rights violations and cover up crimes 
against civilians and those who have assisted law enforce-
ment officers in defecting have faced harassment, finan-
cial penalties, arrest, detention, and other punitive meas-
ures; 
Whereas several peaceful demonstrators have died as a result 
of 
police 
violence, 
including 
31-year-old 
Roman 
Bondrenko who was violently beaten by plainclothes po-
lice officers and, as a result, suffered head injuries that 
resulted in his death; 
Whereas Belarusian universities continue to expel students 
and dismiss educators and researchers for participating 
in peaceful protests; 
Whereas child protective services have threatened multiple 
civic activists with termination of parental rights for 
bringing minor children to peaceful protests; 
Whereas factory workers at state-owned enterprises have 
been continuously harassed for trying to organize inde-
pendent trade unions and have been forced to sign polit-
ical letters opposing sanctions by the European Union 
under threat of termination of their employment; 
Whereas a transatlantic community of legislators has 
emerged in support of uplifting the democratic aspira-
tions of the Belarusian people;
•HRES 124 EH 
Whereas international advocacy, including by co-host Latvia, 
succeeded in preventing the illegitimate Government of 
Belarus from hosting the 2021 Ice Hockey World Cham-
pionship; 
Whereas the United States, the European Union, the United 
Kingdom, and Canada have enacted sanctions and other 
punitive measures against dozens of individuals and enti-
ties found responsible for the perpetration of violence 
against peaceful demonstrators, opposition members, and 
journalists, among others; 
Whereas Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues to undermine the 
sovereignty and independence of Belarus through efforts 
to integrate Belarus into a so-called ‘‘Union States’’ 
under the control of Russia; 
Whereas the House of Representatives passed the Belarus 
Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020 
with unanimous consent, sending a clear message of over-
whelming, bipartisan support for the democratic move-
ment in Belarus; 
Whereas the Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sov-
ereignty Act of 2020 was signed into law via the fiscal 
year 2021 omnibus spending bill, expanding the Presi-
dent’s authority to impose sanctions related to Belarus, 
including on Russian individuals who have undermined 
Belarus’ sovereignty, as well as authorizing increased as-
sistance to counter internet censorship and surveillance 
technology, support women advocating for freedom and 
human rights, and support political refugees fleeing the 
crackdown in Belarus, among other things; and 
Whereas the Belarusian opposition, led by Sviatlana 
Tsikhanouskaya, organized a Day of Solidary on Feb-
•HRES 124 EH 
ruary 7, 2020, where countries, cities, and political and 
elected leaders, as well as everyday citizens around the 
world demonstrated their support for the six months of 
historic peaceful protests since the fraudulent presidential 
election that took place on August 9, 2020: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) finds that the August 9, 2020, presidential elec-
tion in Belarus was neither free nor fair and, therefore, 
does not recognize the government-announced results or 
Alyaksandr Lukashenka as the legitimate President of 
Belarus; 
(2) calls for new free and fair elections under Orga-
nization for Security and Co-operation in Europe obser-
vation; 
(3) affirms that the people of Belarus have the 
right to determine the future of Belarus without unwel-
come intervention from the Russian Federation or any 
outside actors in violation of Belarusian independence 
and sovereignty; 
(4) condemns the human rights violations com-
mitted by Belarusian authorities, including against 
peaceful demonstrators, civil society activists, opposition 
leaders, students, educators, employees at state-owned 
enterprises, medical personnel, and journalists, and calls 
for such authorities to halt any further acts of violence 
against civilians;
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(5) calls for the immediate release of all political 
prisoners and those unlawfully detained in connection 
with the peaceful demonstrations including independent 
journalists and family members of United States citi-
zens; 
(6) recognizes the sacrifices and bravery of the 
Belarusian people and the incredible organization by 
Belarusian women to peacefully demand a free and fair 
democratic process while enduring the state-sponsored 
violence that followed the August 9, 2020, election; 
(7) calls on Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Belarusian 
authorities to engage in an open and constructive dia-
logue with the opposition members and other stake-
holders to bring about a peaceful transition of power; 
(8) calls for the protection of civil society actors and 
members of the opposition against arbitrary arrest and 
violence while conducting peaceful discussions relating to 
the peaceful transition of power in Belarus; 
(9) recognizes the Coordination Council established 
by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya as a legitimate institution 
to participate in a dialogue on a peaceful transition of 
power; 
(10) urges continued cooperation among the United 
States and its transatlantic allies and partners to explore
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avenues in support of the democratic movement in 
Belarus; 
(11) calls for further targeted sanctions coordinated 
between the United States, the European Union, the 
United Kingdom, Canada, and other allies and partners 
against Belarusian authorities who committed human 
rights violations and engaged in activities that resulted 
in the falsification of the August 9, 2020, election re-
sults; 
(12) encourages when considering, in coordination 
with 
transatlantic 
partners, 
the 
sanctioning 
of 
Belarusian state-owned companies that have directly vio-
lated the rights of their workers as a result of their par-
ticipation in or in connection to the ongoing democratic 
movement in Belarus that the Administration take into 
consideration the potential implications of making these 
companies more vulnerable to takeovers by Russian or 
Chinese state-owned companies; 
(13) calls on the transatlantic community to review 
and consider reassessing any financial assistance that 
supports the Lukashenka regime, including participation 
in state debt issuances or procurement contracts; 
(14) supports increasing funds available for foreign 
assistance to Belarusian civil society groups as well as 
legal assistance for activists and independent journalists,
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among others, as called for in the Belarus Democracy, 
Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020; 
(15) urges the President to provide the United 
States Agency for Global Media with a surge capacity 
(as such term is defined in section 316 of the United 
States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 (22 
U.S.C. 6216)) for programs and activities in Belarus, in-
cluding to protect the brave independent journalists re-
porting from within Belarus as called for in the Belarus 
Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 
2020; 
(16) calls for an international investigation into the 
human rights abuses committed during and after the 
August 9, 2020, presidential election; and 
(17) continues to support the aspirations of the 
people of Belarus for democracy, human rights, and the 
rule of law, and reaffirms that the fulfillment of such as-
pirations is critical to ensuring the continued strength of 
Belarusian sovereignty and territorial integrity. 
Attest: 
Clerk.