Sec. 2. Findings
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Section 2 of the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 ( Public Law 109–480 ; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note) is amended to read as follows: Congress finds the following: The Government of Belarus, led by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, continues to engage in a pattern of clear and persistent violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Government of Belarus, led by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, continues to engage in a pattern of clear and uncorrected violations of basic principles of democratic governance, including through a series of fundamentally flawed presidential and parliamentary elections undermining the legitimacy of executive and legislative authority in that country.
The Government of Belarus, led by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, continues to subject thousands of pro-democracy political activists and peaceful protesters to harassment, beatings, and imprisonment, particularly as a result of their attempts to peacefully exercise their right to freedom of assembly and association. The Government of Belarus, led by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, continues to suppress independent media and journalists and to restrict access to the internet, including social media and other digital communication platforms, in violation of the right to freedom of speech and expression of those dissenting from the dictatorship of Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
The Government of Belarus, led by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, continues a systematic campaign of harassment, repression, and closure of nongovernmental organizations, including independent trade unions and entrepreneurs, creating a climate of fear that inhibits the development of civil society and social solidarity. The Government of Belarus, led by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, has pursued a policy undermining the country’s sovereignty and independence by making Belarus political, economic, cultural, and societal interests subservient to those of Russia.
The Government of Belarus, led by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, continues to reduce the independence of Belarus through integration into a so-called Union State that is under the control of Russia. On August 9, 2020, the Government of Belarus conducted a presidential election that was fraudulent and did not meet international standards. There were serious irregularities with ballot counting and the reporting of election results. The Government of Belarus also put in place restrictive measures that impeded the work of local independent observers and did not provide sufficient notice to the OSCE to allow for the OSCE to monitor the elections, as is customary.
After the August 9, 2020, presidential election, the Government of Belarus responded to the peaceful opposition protests, which are the largest in Belarus history, with a violent crackdown, including, according to the United Nations Special Rapporteur, the detention of more than 10,000 peaceful protestors as of September 18, 2020. Thousands of employees at Belarusian state-owned enterprises, who have been seen as Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s traditional base during his 26-year rule, went on strike across the country to protest Lukashenka’s illegitimate election and the subsequent crackdowns, including at some of Belarus’s largest factories such as the BelAZ truck plant, the Minsk Tractor Works, and the Minsk Automobile Plant.
Women have served as the leading force in demonstrations across the country, protesting the police brutality and mass detentions by wearing white, carrying flowers, forming solidarity chains , and unmasking undercover police trying to arrest demonstrators. After the August 9, 2020, presidential election, the Government of Belarus has sought to stop the work of the Coordination Council, which was formed by the leading opposition presidential candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, to facilitate a peaceful transition of power by subjecting the Council’s senior members to violence, detention, and forced exile.
After the August 9, 2020, presidential election, the Government of Belarus restricted the free flow of information to silence the opposition and to conceal the regime’s violent crackdown on peaceful protestors, including by stripping the accreditation of journalists from major foreign news outlets, disrupting internet access, limiting access to social media and other digital communication platforms, and detaining and harassing countless journalists. Before the European Parliament on August 25, 2020, Tsikhanouskaya stressed that a peaceful revolution was underway in Belarus, and that It is neither a pro-Russian nor anti-Russian revolution.
It is neither an anti-European Union nor a pro-European Union revolution. It is a democratic revolution. . Against the will of the majority of the Belarusian people, Russian President Vladimir Putin has propped up the Alyaksandr Lukashenka regime, including by offering security assistance, providing significant financial support, and sending Russian propagandists to help disseminate pro-regime propaganda on Belarus state television. After the August 9, 2020, presidential election, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada condemned the violent crackdown on peaceful protestors, refused to accept the results of the fraudulent election and called for new free and fair elections under independent observation.
On September 8, 2020, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said, The United States, in coordination with our partners and Allies, is considering additional targeted sanctions to promote accountability for those involved in human rights abuses and repression in Belarus. . Following Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s September 23, 2020, secret inauguration, the United States, the European Union, numerous European Union member states, the United Kingdom, and Canada announced they did not recognize him as the legitimately elected leader of Belarus. .
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- Pub. L. 109-480
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