Resolution on the situation in Belarus
Date: 1999-10-07
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Belarus, EU relations, democracy, election, forced disappearance, freedom of the press, human rights, politics

13.4.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 107/107

Thursday 7 October 1999

7.
Calls on the European Union to discuss with the Indonesian Government the issue of the forced
transfer of Indonesian citizens to other islands because it is this (cid:28) and not only on the Moluccas but
also in other areas such as Irian Jaya (cid:28) which has an unsettling effect and encourages violence and may,
in future, cause even more misery in Indonesia;

8.
Calls on the European Union to do its utmost to help to promote democracy and human rights in
Indonesia, with the Indonesian army being made subordinate to the government and ethnic and religious
minorities respected and protected in accordance with the Indonesian Constitution;

9.
Calls on the European Union to maintain pressure on the Indonesian Government to continue along
the path towards reform and democracy and respect for regional autonomy as part of the democratic
structures of Indonesia;

Calls on the Commission and Council to envisage, with the UN and the Indonesian Government,
10.
a programme aimed at rebuilding a civil society which respects the ethnic and religious balance of Indo-
nesia’s Moluccan islands;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Indonesian

11.
Parliament and Government, the Secretary-General of the UN and the ASEAN.

5. Human rights: Belarus

B5-0146, 0154, 0164 and 0173/1999

Resolution on the situation in Belarus

The European Parliament,

(cid:28) having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Belarus,

(cid:28) having regard to the Council declaration of 15 September 1997,

A. whereas, according to the 1994 Constitution, the mandate of President Lukashenko expired on 20 July
1999, and whereas no other legitimate, democratic structures have been in force since their abolition
by President Lukashenko following a controversial referendum held in 1996; whereas parliamentary
elections are scheduled for the year 2000,

B. noting that opposition politicians continue to be denied access to the state-controlled printed and
electronic media and that even access to the newest media such as the Internet is completely prohib-
ited,

C. deeply concerned about the still unsolved cases concerning the disappearance of Victor Gonchar, dep-
uty speaker of the Thirteenth Supreme Council, and Anatoly Krasovsky, head of the ‘Kraiska’ publish-
ing house, who were last seen on 16 September 1999, as well as that of the former head of Belarus
National Bank, Tamara Vinnikova, and the former Minister of Internal Affairs, General Yuri Zakhar-
enko,

D. noting, furthermore, that the former Prime Minister, Mikhail Chyhir, is being held in prison on the

charge of abuse of office for which, however, no proof has yet been found,

E.

F.

G.

noting, furthermore, that some managers of enterprises were recently arrested in an apparent attempt
to increase State control over those enterprises,

concerned about the mounting criminalisation of journalists of the independent press, which has led
inter alia to the imposition on the major independent journal ‘Naviny’ of a fine of about US$ 20 000
and to a threat of closure being made on behalf of the President himself,

emphasising once again that the European Union, by way of a Partnership and Cooperation Agree-
ment with Belarus, has sought to reinforce its relations with Belarus and to give its full support to the
necessary process of economic and democratic reform in that country,

C 107/108

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.4.2000

Thursday 7 October 1999

H.

emphasising that recent events and the systematic unwillingness to implement democratic reform have
prevented further integration of Belarus into the economic and political structures of Europe,

I. whereas an OSCE Assistance and Monitoring Group has made constant efforts to promote the re-
establishment of democratic structures and dialogue between the opposition and the government;
whereas access to the state-owned media for the opposition is a central issue in the negotiations,

J. whereas the TACIS civil society development programme put into place to strengthen the NGOS and

the independent media has still to be accepted by the Belarusian Interior Minister,

1.
Calls upon the Belarusian authorities to do everything in their power to locate Tamara Vinnikova,
General Yuri Zakharenko and Victor Gonchar, and to ensure their safety, and expects early results of such
investigations;

2.
Calls upon the Belarusian authorities to release immediately all those who are in prison for exercising
their right to freedom of expression, especially Members of Parliament Andry Klimov and Vladimir Kudi-
nov,

3.
Calls on the Belarusian authorities to restore international standards in the fields of human rights and
freedom of the press and of speech, as provided by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
as well as the Paris Charter for a new Europe, to which Belarus is a signatory, and which is also the basis
for the Partnership Agreement between Belarus and the EU,

4.
Calls upon the Belarusian authorities to fulfil immediately the necessary conditions for an improve-
ment in relations between the European Union and Belarus by taking the necessary steps in the process of
economic and democratic reform and respecting international standards in the field of good governance
and respect for human rights, and not to hinder the implementation of the TACIS civil society develop-
ment programme; emphasises again that no further cooperation between the European Union and Belarus
may be undertaken until clear steps towards respect for human rights and democratic and legal reform are
taken by the Belarusian Government,

Gives its full support to the OSCE efforts to urge the president and the opposition to engage in

5.
dialogue so as to avoid deeper divisions,

6.
Calls upon President Lukashenko to allow free and fair presidential elections in 1999 and parliament-
ary elections in 2000, in accordance with OSCE commitments, and to meet the necessary preconditions,
such as unhindered access to the mass media for the opposition,

Instructs its President

7.
to forward this resolution to the Commission,
the government of Belarus and the democratically elected Parliament of Belarus.

the Council,

the OSCE,

6. Human rights: Situation of the Roma people in Kosovo

B5-0147, 0151, 0166 and 0174/1999

Resolution on abuses against Roma and other minorities in the new Kosovo

The European Parliament,

(cid:28) having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Kosovo and the former Yugoslavia,

(cid:28) having regard to the military technical agreement reached on 9 June 1999 between the international
security force (KFOR) and the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of
Serbia,

(cid:28) having regard to the Stability Pact for south-east Europe signed by the Council on 10 June 1999,