US Congress releases draft Belarus Democracy Act

June 8, Pozirk. The US Congress has released a draft Belarus Democracy Act of 2024.

The bill, published by Congress.gov yesterday, accuses the Belarusian government of gross human rights violations, such as the persecution of thousands of activists, beatings and imprisonment, the suppression of independent media and journalists, a campaign against NGOs, including trade unions and business owners, and undermining Belarus’ independence by merging it with the Russian-controlled Union State.

In addition, Minsk pursues “a policy undermining the country’s sovereignty and independence by making Belarus’ political, economic, cultural, and societal interests subservient to those of Russia.”

Speaking about the 2020 election campaign, the bill points out that mass reprisals against the government’s opponents began even before the August 9 vote.

The election was held “under undemocratic conditions, did not meet international standards, involved government malfeasance and serious irregularities with ballot counting and the reporting of election results,” they said. In addition, authorities applied “restrictive measures that impeded the work” of independent observers.

“Illegitimate president Alaksandar Łukašenka declared a landslide victory in the election and claimed to have received more than 80 percent of the votes cast in the election,” the bill reads.

“The leading opposition candidate, Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja, formally disputed the reported results and was detained by government authorities before being forced into exile in Lithuania.”

It calls the post-election demonstrations “the largest protest rallies in Belarus’ modern history, with over 1,400 reported as injured by Belarusian police in August and September 2020, over 37,000 detained by May 2021, and several killed for protesting the fraudulent election.”

“After the employees of state media outlets walked off the job in protest . . . Łukašenka confirmed that he ‘asked the Russians’ to send teams of Russian journalists to replace local employees,” according to the bill.

It notes that democratic nations have not recognized the election results and “cannot consider Mr Łukašenka as the legitimately elected leader of Belarus.”

“In response to the Government of Belarus’ repressive actions following the 2020 election, the United States, along with the European Union, imposed various sanctions packages on individuals and entities involved with the suppression of democracy in Belarus,” the bill continues.

It mentions the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk in May 2021, with then-opposition blogger Raman Pratasievič on board. It also mentions political prisoners, the Belarusian government’s involvement in “Russia’s illegal and full-scale invasion of Ukraine” and the “weaponization” of migration flows against the European Union.

Belarus Democracy Act was adopted in 2004 and updated in 2006, 2011 and 2020 to demonstrate consistent US support for an independent, sovereign and democratic Belarus.

It gave the United States more opportunities to sanction the Łukašenka regime and help Belarus’ civil society, independent media, women and political refugees. It denied Łukašenka legitimacy and envisaged coordination between the USA and other countries on Belarus.

On May 16, the opposition United Transitional Cabinet (UTC) said that Belarus Democracy Act was submitted to US Congress and would be adopted by the end of 2024.

It noted that the bill took into account the regime’s involvement in “Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, trafficking in Ukrainian children and providing Belarusian territory for Russian military operations.”

“One of the practical goals is to expand the list of Belarusian officials who can be targeted by US sanctions beyond the country’s top leadership and security forces by including individuals directly responsible for the abduction of Ukrainian children, cooperation with Russia in the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and Russian militarization of Belarusian territory,” the UTC said in a statement.

It said the legislation was co-authored by Bill Keating, Marcy Kaptur and Joe Wilson, members of the Free Belarus Caucus, as well as Thomas Kean, Jr, chair of the congressional subcommittee on Europe.

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