[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 124 Engrossed in House (EH)]
<DOC>
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 appropriate 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 intimidation, 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 authorities have
arbitrarily detained and brutally assaulted tens of thousands of
peaceful protesters, journalists, and opposition 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 excessive 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 prosecution, with many foreign journalists
being stripped of their accreditation;
Whereas Katsyaryna Andreyeva and Darya Chultsovatwo, two journalists who work
for Belsat, an independent Polish-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 Telegram, 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 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
response to peaceful demonstrations and protests'';
Whereas women have played a leading role in peaceful demonstrations across the
country, protesting the police brutality and mass detentions by wearing
red and white, carrying 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
communicate 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 companies and their employees advocating for democracy;
Whereas Belarusian state-owned television channels have encouraged violence
against peaceful demonstrators;
Whereas a recent survey of IT specialists found that 15 percent of IT
specialists working in Belarus have already relocated to neighboring
countries, and over 40 percent of IT specialists no longer want to work
in Belarus, resulting in a devastating loss of talent for Belarus,
possibly permanently damaging the Belarusian technology industry 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
enforcement officers in defecting have faced harassment, financial
penalties, arrest, detention, and other punitive measures;
Whereas several peaceful demonstrators have died as a result of police violence,
including 31-year-old Roman Bondrenko who was violently beaten by
plainclothes police 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 independent trade unions and have been
forced to sign political 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 aspirations of the Belarusian people;
Whereas international advocacy, including by co-host Latvia, succeeded in
preventing the illegitimate Government of Belarus from hosting the 2021
Ice Hockey World Championship;
Whereas the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada
have enacted sanctions and other punitive measures against dozens of
individuals and entities 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 overwhelming, bipartisan support for the democratic movement
in Belarus;
Whereas the Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020 was
signed into law via the fiscal year 2021 omnibus spending bill,
expanding the President's authority to impose sanctions related to
Belarus, including on Russian individuals who have undermined Belarus'
sovereignty, as well as authorizing increased assistance 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 February 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, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) finds that the August 9, 2020, presidential election 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 Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe observation;
(3) affirms that the people of Belarus have the right to determine
the future of Belarus without unwelcome intervention from the Russian
Federation or any outside actors in violation of Belarusian independence
and sovereignty;
(4) condemns the human rights violations committed 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;
(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
citizens;
(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 dialogue with the opposition members
and other stakeholders 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 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 results;
(12) encourages when considering, in coordination with transatlantic
partners, the sanctioning of Belarusian state-owned companies that have
directly violated the rights of their workers as a result of their
participation 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, 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, including to
protect the brave independent journalists reporting 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 aspirations is critical to ensuring the continued
strength of Belarusian sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Attest:
Clerk.